The effect of remote plasma nitridation on the integrity of the ultrathin gate dielectric films in 0.13 μm CMOS technology and beyond

Author

Ting, S.-F. ; Fang, Y.K. ; Chen, C.H. ; Yang, C.W. ; Hsieh, W.T. ; Ho, J.-J. ; Yu, M.C. ; Jang, S.M. ; Yu, C.H. ; Liang, M.S. ; Chen, S. ; Shih, R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan, Taiwan

Volume

22

Issue

7

fYear

2001

fDate

7/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

327

Lastpage

329

Abstract

The authors report the effect of the remote plasma nitridation (RPN) process on characteristics of ultrathin gate dielectric CMOSFETs with the thickness in the range of 18 /spl Aring//spl sim/22 /spl Aring/. In addition, the effect of RPN temperature on the nitrogen-profile within the gate dielectric films has been investigated. Experimental results show that the thinner the gate dielectric films, the more significant effect on reducing the gate current and thinning the thickness of gate dielectric films by the RPN process. Furthermore, the minimum dielectric thickness to block the penetration of B and N has been estimated based on the experimental results. The minimum RPN gate dielectric thickness is about 12 /spl Aring/.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; dielectric thin films; nitridation; plasma materials processing; 0.13 micron; 12 to 22 A; CMOSFETs; N; N profile; deep submicron technology; gate dielectric integrity; gate dielectric thickness; plasma nitridation temperature; remote plasma nitridation; ultrathin gate dielectric films; Boron; CMOS process; CMOS technology; CMOSFETs; Dielectric films; Electrodes; Nitrogen; Plasma confinement; Plasma temperature; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.930680

Filename

930680