Title :
Effect of postoxidation annealing on the reliability of rapid thermal thin gate oxides
Author :
Chen, Chin-Yang ; Hwu, Jenn-Gwo
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Taiwan Univ., Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract :
The reliability of thin gate oxides grown by rapid thermal oxidation in O/sub 2/ followed by one and two step postoxidation annealing (POA) in N/sub 2/ was studied. The one step POA was carried out by switching O/sub 2/ into N/sub 2/ immediately after oxidation without changing temperature, while the two step POA was cooled down first and subsequently heated to the same temperature as oxidation in N/sub 2/. It was experimentally observed that the oxide thickness increases significantly with the POA time in one step POA, while the oxide thickness shows very little change during two step POA. The interfacial properties and the oxide breakdown endurance can be improved by the two step POA. Also, the radiation hardness of oxide is less degraded by the two step POA than by one step POA. The effect of oxide thickness variation due to POA is chiefly responsible for the observation and is important to thin gate oxides.
Keywords :
MOS capacitors; annealing; insulating thin films; oxidation; radiation hardening (electronics); rapid thermal processing; semiconductor device reliability; MOS capacitors; N/sub 2/; O/sub 2/; interfacial properties; oxide breakdown endurance; oxide thickness; postoxidation annealing; radiation hardness; rapid thermal oxidation; rapid thermal thin gate oxides; reliability; Argon; Degradation; Electric breakdown; Furnaces; Nitrogen; Oxidation; Rapid thermal annealing; Rapid thermal processing; Stability; Temperature;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
