Chester T. Dziobkowski

Nitrogen Implantation and Diffusion in Silicon

Nitrogen implantation can be used to control gate oxide thicknesses [1,2]. This study aims at studying the fundamental behavior of nitrogen diffusion in silicon. Nitrogen at sub-amorphizing doses has been implanted as N 2 + at 40 keV and 200 keV into Czochralski silicon wafers. Furnace anneals have been performed at a range of temperatures from 650°C through 1050°C. The resulting annealed profiles show anomalous diffusion behavior. For the 40 keV implants, nitrogen diffuses very rapidly and segregates at the silicon/ silicon-oxide interface. Modeling of this behavior is based on the theory that the diffusion is limited by the time to create a mobile nitrogen interstitial.

Phase Transformation and Microstructural Properties in Sputtered Vs. CVD WSi, Films

CVD WSi, films produced by dichlorosilane reduction at 570°C and WSi, films sputter deposited at 50°C were characterized by in situ x-ray diffraction (IS-XRD), in situ resistivity (ISRes), in situ stress (IS-stress), ex situ/in situ transmission electron microscopy (EX/IS-TEM) and ex situ Auger electron spectrometry (EX-AES) over the temperature range 25–1100°C. The CVD films were crystalline after deposition, with columnar grains in the hexagonal phase and a Si:W atomic ratio of 2.6:1. The CVD films exhibited a sharp hexagonal to tetragonal phase transformation near 750°C. The final grain size was greater than the film thickness, with no evidence of voiding. Avrami analyses gave traditional curves with n values of 2 for the phase transition in the CVD films. In comparison, the sputtered films were amorphous as deposited (Si:W atomic ratio of 2.8:1 ) and crystallized to a different hexagonal phase microstructure than did the CVD films. The sputtered films showed a broad hexagonal to tetragonal phase transformation near 800°C, and a final grain size that was less than the fihn thickness with much voiding. A low Avrami exponent of 0.2 to 0.4 was obtained for the transformation of the sputtered films.

Structural and Chemical Characterization of Tungsten Gate Stack for 1 Gb Dram

Material interaction during integration of tungsten gate stack for 1 Gb DRAM was investigated by Transition Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction analysis (XRD) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). During selective side-wall oxidation tungsten gate conductor undergoes a structural transformation. The transformation results in the reduction of tungsten crystal lattice spacing, re-crystallization of tungsten and/or growth of grains. During a highly selective oxidation process, a relatively small but noticeable amount of oxygen was incorporated into the tungsten layer. The incorporation of oxygen is attributed to the formation of a stable WO x (x