Electrical properties of 6.3 nm RF oxygen plasma oxide grown near room temperature with in situ dry cleaning of Si surface

Abstract

6.3 nm RF oxygen plasma oxide is grown near room temperature in a barrel reactor at 1.0 torr dynamic pressure and 70 W RF power with an in situ effective dry cleaning process preceding the oxide growth step. The as-grown oxide is very uniform and reproducible in thickness (6.3±0.3 nm). The as-grown oxide after post-oxidation anneal in 6% O2N2 ambient at 600°C for 30 min has 10 times more static sheet resistance just before the onset of FN emission (5 MV/cm) and has more dynamic sheet resistance at FN voltages than the RTO and furnace oxide. It shows a low leakage current density of 1 × 10-8 A/cm2 at FN onset field of 5 MV/cm, but exhibits low Eb in the 6-7 MV/cm range. It also shows high Nf of 1.5-3.0 × 1011 cm-2 and midgap Nit of 5-7 × 1011 cm-2 eV-1. © 1995.