Degradation of the thermal oxide of the Si/SiO2/Al system due to vacuum ultraviolet irradiation

The generation of point defects in Si/SiO2/Al capacitors due to exposure to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) (10 eV) radiation has been investigated by studying the electron and hole trapping properties and electron‐spin‐resonance spectroscopy for exposures ranging from 1014 up to 1019 photons cm−2 absorbed in the oxide. At low VUV exposures, the generation of hydroxyl groups and electron traps with cross section ≥10−16 cm2 is observed; however, for exposures larger than 1017 cm−2 these centers are subsequently eliminated. For exposures larger than 1018 cm−2 the oxide network is gradually destroyed; oxygen atoms are removed from their network positions and decorated with hydrogen atoms, thus producing water molecules and trivalent silicon centers in comparable numbers. At an exposure of 1019 cm−2, of the order of 1014 cm−2 of oxygen atoms are removed, without any indication that the process would saturate. A tentative model is presented in which the degeneration process takes place at regular network sites; a def...

[1]  D. Dimaria,et al.  Radiation damage in silicon dioxide films exposed to reactive ion etching , 1979 .

[2]  E. V. D. Drift,et al.  Hydrogen induced donor‐type Si/SiO2 interface states , 1994 .

[3]  Donald R. Young,et al.  Electron trapping by radiation‐induced charge in MOS devices , 1976 .

[4]  Arnold Reisman,et al.  The distribution of radiation‐induced charged defects and neutral electron traps in SiO2, and the threshold voltage shift dependence on oxide thickness , 1990 .

[5]  A. Edwards.  Dissociation of H2 at silicon dangling orbitals in a-SiO2: a quantum mechanical treatment of nuclear motion☆ , 1995 .

[6]  James Stasiak,et al.  Trap creation in silicon dioxide produced by hot electrons , 1989 .

[7]  Electron spin resonance observation of defects in device oxides damaged by soft x rays , 1987 .

[8]  Donald R. Young,et al.  Electron trapping in electron‐beam irradiated SiO2 , 1978 .

[9]  R. A. Kushner,et al.  Total dose radiation hardness of MOS devices in hermetic ceramic packages , 1988 .

[10]  B. Eitan,et al.  Current induced trap generation in SiO2 , 1982 .

[11]  D. R. Wolters,et al.  Trapping of hot electrons , 1989 .

[12]  D. Dimaria,et al.  Determination of insulator bulk trapped charge densities and centroids from photocurrent‐voltage charactersitcs of MOS structures , 1976 .

[13]  Masakazu Shimaya,et al.  Neutral electron trap generation in SiO2 by hot holes , 1990 .

[14]  Hisham Z. Massoud,et al.  Electron trapping in SiO2 at 295 and 77 °K , 1979 .

[15]  M. Heyns,et al.  Trap generation and electron detrapping in SiO2 during high‐field stressing of metal‐oxide‐semiconductor structures , 1984 .

[16]  D. R. Young,et al.  Identification of electron traps in thermal silicon dioxide films , 1981 .

[17]  J. F. Conley,et al.  Molecular hydrogen, E' center hole traps, and radiation induced interface traps in MOS devices , 1993 .

[18]  Study of hydrogen incorporation in MOS-structures after various process steps using nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) , 1993 .

[19]  D. Dimaria,et al.  Temperature dependence of trap creation in silicon dioxide , 1990 .

[20]  T. P. Ma,et al.  Ionizing radiation effects in MOS devices and circuits , 1989 .

[21]  Arnold,et al.  Theory of high-field electron transport and impact ionization in silicon dioxide. , 1994, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[22]  J. Sun,et al.  Deactivation of the boron acceptor in silicon by hydrogen , 1983 .

[23]  A. Reisman,et al.  Radiation‐Induced Neutral Electron Trap Generation in Electrically Biased Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor Gate Insulators , 1991 .

[24]  James H. Stathis,et al.  Passivation and depassivation of silicon dangling bonds at the Si/SiO2 interface by atomic hydrogen , 1993 .

[25]  Y. Nissan-Cohen,et al.  Trap generation and occupation dynamics in SiO2 under charge injection stress , 1986 .

[26]  Lionel C. Kimerling,et al.  Recombination enhanced defect reactions , 1978 .

[27]  Fischetti.  Model for the generation of positive charge at the Si-SiO2 interface based on hot-hole injection from the anode. , 1985, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[28]  William Eccleston,et al.  Electron trap generation in thermally grown SiO2 under Fowler-Nordheim stress , 1992 .

[29]  D. Young.  Characterization of electron traps in SiO2 as influenced by processing parameters , 1981 .

[30]  C. Magee,et al.  Current-induced hydrogen migration and interface trap generation in aluminum-silicon dioxide-silicon capacitors , 1984 .

[31]  E. Bassous,et al.  Transmission, photoconductivity, and the experimental band gap of thermally grown SiO 2 films , 1979 .

[32]  Fowler,et al.  Hydrogen-acceptor pairs in silicon: Pairing effect on the hydrogen vibrational frequency. , 1985, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[33]  P. Balk,et al.  SiO2 hole traps with small cross section , 1995 .

[34]  D. Arnold,et al.  Impact ionization, trap creation, degradation, and breakdown in silicon dioxide films on silicon , 1993 .

[35]  Bruce E. Deal,et al.  ESR centers, interface states, and oxide fixed charge in thermally oxidized silicon wafers , 1979 .

[36]  P. Lenahan.  Electron spin resonance and instabilities in metal insulator semiconductor systems , 1993 .

[37]  Tak H. Ning,et al.  Electron trapping in SiO2 due to electron‐beam deposition of aluminum , 1978 .

[38]  P. Balk,et al.  Nature of defects in the Si‐SiO2 system generated by vacuum‐ultraviolet irradiation , 1994 .

[39]  Douglas A. Buchanan,et al.  Hot-electron-induced hydrogen redistribution and defect generation in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors , 1994 .

[40]  Chenming Hu,et al.  Substrate hole current and oxide breakdown , 1986 .

[41]  P. Balk,et al.  The microscopic nature of donor-type SiSiO2 interface states , 1995 .

[42]  Massimo V. Fischetti,et al.  Electron heating studies in silicon dioxide: Low fields and thick films , 1986 .

[43]  E. J. Friebele,et al.  ESR studies of damage processes in X‐irradiated high purity a‐SiO2:OH and characterization of the formyl radical defect , 1983 .

[44]  R. A. Gdula,et al.  The Effects of Processing on Hot Electron Trapping in SiO2 , 1976 .

[45]  Tsuneo Ajioka,et al.  Electron trap center generation due to hole trapping in SiO2 under Fowler–Nordheim tunneling stress , 1987 .

[46]  D. Dimaria,et al.  Hole trapping in the bulk of SiO2 layers at room temperature , 1980 .

[47]  Stathis,et al.  Atomic hydrogen reactions with Pb centers at the (100) Si/SiO2 interface. , 1994, Physical review letters.

[48]  C. Sah,et al.  A study of oxide traps and interface states of the silicon‐silicon dioxide interface , 1980 .

[49]  Chenming Hu,et al.  Electron-trap generation by recombination of electrons and holes in SiO2 , 1987 .

[50]  Donald R. Young,et al.  Hydrogen migration under avalanche injection of electrons in Si metal‐oxide‐semiconductor capacitors , 1983 .

[51]  John F. Conley,et al.  Observation and electronic characterization of ‘‘new’’ E′ center defects in technologically relevant thermal SiO2 on Si: An additional complexity in oxide charge trapping , 1994 .