Determination of the electrical properties of 2.5 nm thick silicon-based dielectric films: thermally grown SiOx

Ultra-thin (<5 nm thick) thermal oxide and oxynitride films with different compositions are candidates for complementary metal/oxide/semiconductor technology in ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) applications. The latter are expected to offer the best compromise between nitrides and oxides. The aim of this work is to measure the electrical properties of a leaky 2.5 nm thick thermally grown oxide film using the high frequency capacitance–voltage (HF C(V)) measurements. The cleanliness and the surface roughness of the Si(1 0 0) surface were measured prior to in situ oxidation by means of, respectively, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The physical–chemical properties of the thermal oxide film were measured by AES (film thickness, composition), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) (composition, vibration modes), cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (film thickness, homogeneity) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) (gap width determination). The results are compared to those obtained for the native oxide film and a chemical oxide film. The latter was first grown on the silicon substrate to prevent contamination and surface disorder after flash heating in vacuum prior to oxide growth. The substrate Si(1 0 0) surface cleaned in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) was then oxidized in a 10−3 mbar oxygen (O2) gas pressure at 900°C to get the 2.5 nm thick oxide film. The grafting of a self-assembled insulating monolayer (SAM) of organic molecules on the grown oxide film permits us to obtain analysable capacitance as a function of voltage data. Indeed, this monolayer made up of octadecyltrichlorosilane molecules leads to a reduction of the leakage current through the aluminium/self-assembled monolayer/oxide/silicon heterostructure. The resulting current as a function of voltage data were compared to those of a standard 2.5 nm thick oxide film. The method proposed here to extract the electrical parameters of the thermal oxide film is demonstrated to be valid. We show mainly that the reduction of the leakage current through the aluminium/self-assembled monolayer/thermal oxide/silicon heterostructure is seven orders of magnitude bigger than in the case of the native oxide film.