Increase in oxide hole trap density associated with nitrogen incorporation at the SiO2/SiC interface

Nitrogen incorporation at the SiO2/SiC interface via high temperature nitric oxide annealing leads to the passivation of electrically active interface defects, yielding improved inversion mobility in the semiconductor. However, we find that such nitrided oxides can possess a larger density of hole traps than as-grown oxides, which is detrimental to the reliability of devices (e.g., can lead to large threshold voltage instabilities and to accelerated failure). Three different charge injection techniques are used to characterize this phenomenon in metal–oxide–semiconductor structures: x-ray irradiation, internal photoemission and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling. Some nitrogen-based atomic configurations that could act as hole traps in nitrided SiO2 are discussed based on first-principles density functional calculations.

[1]  D. Vanderbilt,et al.  Soft self-consistent pseudopotentials in a generalized eigenvalue formalism. , 1990, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[2]  Patrick M. Lenahan,et al.  Hole traps and trivalent silicon centers in metal/oxide/silicon devices , 1984 .

[3]  Max J. Schulz,et al.  Band offsets and electronic structure of SiC/SiO2 interfaces , 1996 .

[4]  A. Stesmans,et al.  Valence band offset and hole injection at the 4H-, 6H-SiC/SiO2 interfaces , 2000 .

[5]  S. Pantelides,et al.  Atomic-scale dynamics of the formation and dissolution of carbon clusters in SiO(2). , 2001, Physical review letters.

[6]  C. Maggiore,et al.  Determination of Trace Elements in Samples by Nuclear Scattering and Reaction Techniques , 1971 .

[7]  A. Goetzberger,et al.  Low-temperature hysteresis effects in metal-oxide-silicon capacitors caused by surface-state trapping , 1968 .

[8]  Arnold,et al.  Acoustic-phonon runaway and impact ionization by hot electrons in silicon dioxide. , 1992, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[9]  P. T. Lai,et al.  MOS characteristics of NO-grown oxynitrides on n-type 6H-SiC , 2002, Microelectron. Reliab..

[10]  H. B. Harrison,et al.  Analysis of Fowler–Nordheim injection in NO nitrided gate oxide grown on n-type 4H–SiC , 2000 .

[11]  A. Krishnan,et al.  Atomic-Scale Defects Involved in the Negative-Bias Temperature Instability , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability.

[12]  High-resolution elemental profiles of the silicon dioxide∕4H-silicon carbide interface , 2005 .

[13]  L. Feldman,et al.  Comparison of nitrogen incorporation in SiO2/SiC and SiO2/Si structures , 2000 .

[14]  Jackson,et al.  Atoms, molecules, solids, and surfaces: Applications of the generalized gradient approximation for exchange and correlation. , 1992, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[15]  Vitaly Danchenko,et al.  Characteristics of thermal annealing of radiation damage in MOSFET's. , 1968 .

[16]  H. B. Harrison,et al.  Slow-trap profiling of NO and N2O nitrided oxides grown on Si and SiC substrates , 1999 .

[17]  G. Kresse,et al.  Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set , 1996 .

[18]  Andre Stesmans,et al.  Mechanisms responsible for improvement of 4H-SiC/SiO2 interface properties by nitridation , 2003 .

[19]  peixiong zhao,et al.  Total Dose Radiation Response of Nitrided and Non-nitrided SiO$_{2}$/4H-SiC MOS Capacitors , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

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

[21]  A. Hefner,et al.  Reliability of SiC MOS devices , 2004 .

[22]  S. Dhar,et al.  Suppression of interface state generation upon electron injection in nitrided oxides grown on 4H-SiC , 2007 .

[23]  Daniel Mathiot,et al.  Links between oxide, interface, and border traps in high‐temperature annealed Si/SiO2 systems , 1994 .

[24]  T. Oldham,et al.  Ionizing radiation effects in MOS oxides , 2000 .

[25]  Fischetti,et al.  Coulombic and neutral trapping centers in silicon dioxide. , 1991, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[26]  Leonard C. Feldman,et al.  Fowler–Nordheim hole tunneling in p-SiC/SiO2 structures , 2000 .

[27]  T. Arias,et al.  Iterative minimization techniques for ab initio total energy calculations: molecular dynamics and co , 1992 .

[28]  A. Stesmans,et al.  SiC/SiO2 interface-state generation by electron injection , 1999 .

[29]  E. H. Nicollian,et al.  Mos (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Physics and Technology , 1982 .

[30]  Andre Stesmans,et al.  Hole traps in oxide layers thermally grown on SiC , 1996 .

[31]  S. Dhar,et al.  Bonding at the SiC-SiO2 interface and the effects of nitrogen and hydrogen. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[32]  H. B. Harrison,et al.  Investigation of nitric oxide and Ar annealed SiO2/SiC interfaces by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy , 1999 .

[33]  L. Feldman,et al.  Effect of nitric oxide annealing on the interface trap densities near the band edges in the 4H polytype of silicon carbide , 2000 .

[34]  Á. Gali,et al.  The Mechanism of Interface State Passivation by NO , 2007 .

[35]  S. Dimitrijev,et al.  Effects of nitridation in gate oxides grown on 4H-SiC , 2001 .

[36]  Paul J. McWhorter,et al.  Modeling the anneal of radiation-induced trapped holes in a varying thermal environment , 1990 .

[37]  L. Feldman,et al.  Characterization and modeling of the nitrogen passivation of interface traps in SiO2/4H–SiC , 2003 .

[38]  P.T. Lai,et al.  Improved performance and reliability of N2O-grown oxynitride on 6H-SiC , 2000, IEEE Electron Device Letters.