Charging damage during contact etch triggered by increased borderless nitride conductivity

Author

Cacciaot, A. ; Scarpa, A. ; Evseev, S. ; Diekema, M.

Author_Institution

Philips Semicond., Nijmegen, Netherlands

fYear

2003

fDate

24-25 April 2003

Firstpage

20

Lastpage

23

Abstract

In this paper we evaluate the effect of nitride conduction on charging damage during contact etch. In particular, it is demonstrated that photoconduction is triggered in silicon nitride films when they are exposed to plasma during contact etch. As a consequence of this increased conductivity, they act as antennas, being able to collect charges from unstable plasmas and inject them into the gate oxide, thus causing charging damage.

Keywords

MOSFET; charge injection; dielectric thin films; photoconductivity; semiconductor device measurement; semiconductor device reliability; silicon compounds; sputter etching; NMOS transistor; PMOS transistor; Si₃N₄; Si₃N₄ films; antennas; borderless nitride conductivity; charge collection; charge injection; charging damage; contact etch; current density; gate oxide; gate oxide reliability; photoconduction triggering; plasma exposure; plasma-induced UV photons; unstable plasmas; Antenna measurements; Conductivity; Electrodes; Etching; Plasma applications; Plasma chemistry; Plasma materials processing; Plasma temperature; Plasma transport processes; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Plasma- and Process-Induced Damage, 2003 8th International Symposium

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7747-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PPID.2003.1199721

Filename

1199721