D. Bouvet et al., INFLUENCE OF NITROGEN PROFILE AN ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FURNACE-NITRIDED OR RAPID THERMALLY NITRIDED SILICON DIOXIDE FILMS, Journal of applied physics, 79(9), 1996, pp. 7114-7122
Thin silicon dioxide films nitrided in N2O by rapid thermal processing
(RTP) or in a classical furnace were investigated by x-ray photoelect
ron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and electrical meas
urements on metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors. Differences between
the two nitridation processes were observed and explained. In lightly
nitrided films, nitrogen occupies two configurations. Nitrogen is boun
d to three silicon atoms with at least one in the substrate or all thr
ee in the oxide. In RTP-nitrided films, both of these species are conf
ined to within 1.5 nm of the Si/SiO2 interface. In furnace-nitrided fi
lms, the first species is also located close to the interface whereas
the second one fills most of the regrown oxide thickness. In furnace-g
rown films, which are more heavily nitrided, a third structure due to
Si-2=N-O is observed throughout the layer. The electrical characterist
ics are well correlated with the amount of nitrogen at the interface t
hat is bound to Si atoms in the substrate. (C) 1996 American Institute
of Physics.