D. Skarlatos

Structural and electrical properties of silicon dioxide layers with embedded germanium nanocrystals grown by molecular beam epitaxy

A sheet of spherical, well-separated, crystalline Ge nanodots embedded in SiO2 on top of a p-(001)Si wafer was fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) combined with rapid thermal processing and characterized structurally and electrically. The average size of the Ge nanodots was estimated to be 4.5 nm with an average aerial density of 3×1011 cm−2, situated at 4.4 nm in average away from the Si/SiO2 interface. Significant charge storage effects were observed through capacitance–voltage measurements of metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitors.

Germanium substrate loss during low temperature annealing and its influence on ion-implanted phosphorous dose loss

In this work we demonstrate germanium loss from uncapped substrates during low temperature drive-in annealing in inert ambient. An Arrhenius law with an activation energy of 2.03 eV describes the measured loss rate of germanium as a function of temperature. Accurate simulations of implanted phosphorous profiles in nonpassivated substrates have been performed considering the extracted germanium loss rate. A capping layer on the germanium surface reduces phosphorous dose loss, with Si3N4 being more efficient than SiO2. The capping layer material also affects the extent of dopant concentration-dependent diffusion for high dose phosphorous implantation.

Point defect injection during nitrous oxidation of silicon at low temperatures

In this work we use dislocation loops and boron-doped δ layers to monitor the interstitial injection during nitrous oxidation of silicon at low temperatures (850–950 °C). The interstitials captured by the loops are measured using transmission electron microscopy. The number of Si atoms released after oxynitridation was calculated from the difference between the total number of atoms stored in the loops for oxidizing and inert ambient. We found that this number is larger compared with the same dry oxygen oxidation conditions, although the oxidation rate is lower during oxynitridation in comparison to dry oxidation. Analysis of the earlier data leads to higher supersaturation ratio of interstitials in the former case. This result is also confirmed by measuring the diffusivity enhancement of boron δ layers during oxidation under both ambients.

Effects of annealing conditions on charge storage of Si nanocrystal memory devices obtained by low-energy ion beam synthesis

The structural and electrical characteristics of thin silicon dioxide layers with embedded Si nanocrystals are reported fabricated by low-energy silicon implantation and with subsequent annealing in inert and diluted oxygen. Thermal treatment in diluted oxygen increases the thickness of the control oxide, does not affect significantly the size of the nanocrystals, and improves the integrity of the oxide. As a result, strong charge storage effects at low gate voltages and enhanced charge retention times are observed through electrical measurements of MOS capacitors. These results indicate that a combination of low-energy silicon implants and annealing in diluted oxygen permits the fabrication of low-voltage nonvolatile memory devices.

Oxidation of nitrogen-implanted silicon: Energy dependence of oxide growth and defect characterization of the silicon substrate

It is well known that nitrogen implantation in silicon leads in reduction of the SiO2 thickness in implanted wafers, which makes this a very promising technique for present and future device processing. In this work we investigate the influence of the implantation energy on oxidation kinetics in nitrogen-implanted silicon. Nitrogen was implanted in silicon wafers at low (3 keV), and medium (25, 80, and 150 keV) energies and oxidations were performed at various temperatures (800–900 °C) and times. The experiment shows that the decrease in the oxide thickness is smaller when nitrogen is implanted closer to the silicon surface. We attribute this to nitrogen out-diffusion during the ramping and the initial oxidation steps, which is more effective when nitrogen is placed closer to the surface. Additional experiments varying the ramping time support this explanation. An additional study of the growth of extended defects under the different implantation conditions has been performed. This study enabled the estim...

ZrO2 and Al2O3 Thin Films on Ge(100) Grown by ALD: An XPS Investigation

Thin films of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) were prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) on p-type (100) germanium substrates. In the present work a detailed analysis of the films by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in order to investigate their chemical composition is presented. This study is dedicated to an XPS investigation of the principal core levels (Al, Zr, O) of Al2O3 and ZrO2 thin films. In particular, wide scan spectra, detailed scans for the Zr 3d, Al 2p, O 1s, and C 1s regions and related data for zirconia and alumina films are presented and discussed. The results point out the formation of Al2O3 and ZrO2 films with the presence of OH groups and carbon contamination on the surface.

Oxidation of nitrogen-implanted silicon: Comparison of nitrogen distribution and electrical properties of oxides formed by very low and medium energy N2+ implantation

In a previous work [Skarlatos et al., J. Appl. Phys. 93, 1832 (2003)] we investigated the influence of implantation energy on oxide growth and defect formation in nitrogen-implanted silicon substrates. It was shown that as the implantation energy decreases from medium to very low values the oxide reduction decreases. This was attributed to nitrogen out-diffusion, which is more effective when nitrogen is placed closer to the silicon surface. On the other hand very low implantation energy avoids the formation of dislocation loops in the silicon substrate, a key point for modern devices performance. In this second part we compare the nitrogen distribution and electrical properties of ultrathin (25–30 A) oxides grown under the same oxidation conditions on very low (3 keV) and medium (25 keV) energy nitrogen-implantated silicon. Nitrogen distribution measurements show that a lower content of nitrogen remains within the oxides formed using 3 keV energy as compared to the 25 keV case supporting the results of th...

Inert ambient annealing effect on MANOS capacitor memory characteristics.

In this work we report on the influence of nitrogen ambient thermal effects on the performance of Pt/Al2O3/Si3N4/SiO2/Si memory capacitors. Two post deposition annealing (PDA) furnace steps were employed, at 850 and 1050 °C both for 15 min. The alumina films were deposited by atomic layer deposition using TMA/H2O at 250 °C. The structural characteristics of the stacks were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray reflectivity measurements. The memory performance of the stacks was evaluated by write/erase and erase/write measurements, endurance and retention testing. It was found that in as-deposited state the Al2O3 layer is defective resulting in strong leakage currents, controlled by deep defects states. Thus, this behavior inhibits the memory functionality of the stacks. PDA crystallizes and condenses the Al2O3 transforming the layer from amorphous to polycrystalline. During this transformation the Al2O3 electrical quality improves greatly indicating that a significant number of these deep defects have been removed during annealing. Physical reasoning implies that the most plausible origin of these deep defects is hydrogen. However, the polycrystalline Al2O3 films showed inferior retention characteristics which are attributed to grain boundary related shallow defects. The findings of this work could pave the way for more efficient annealing schemes, in which an important factor is the time interval for hydrogen out-diffusion from the Al2O3 layer.

Oxidation-enhanced diffusion of boron in very low-energy N2+-implanted silicon

In this article we study the interstitial injection during oxidation of very low-energy nitrogen-implanted silicon. Buried boron δ layers are used to monitor the interstitial supersaturation during the oxidation of nitrogen-implanted silicon. No difference in boron diffusivity enhancement was observed compared to dry oxidation of nonimplanted samples. This result is different from our experience from N2O oxynitridation study, during which a boron diffusivity enhancement of the order of 20% was observed, revealing the influence of interfacial nitrogen on interstitial kinetics. A possible explanation may be that implanted nitrogen acts as an excess interstitial sink in order to diffuse towards the surface via a non-Fickian mechanism. This work completes a wide study of oxidation of very low-energy nitrogen-implanted silicon related phenomena we performed within the last two years [D. Skarlatos, C. Tsamis, and D. Tsoukalas, J. Appl. Phys. 93, 1832 (2003); D. Skarlatos, E. Kapetanakis, P. Normand, C. Tsamis, M. Perego, S. Ferrari, M. Fanciulli, and D. Tsoukalas, J. Appl. Phys. 96, 300 (2004)].In this article we study the interstitial injection during oxidation of very low-energy nitrogen-implanted silicon. Buried boron δ layers are used to monitor the interstitial supersaturation during the oxidation of nitrogen-implanted silicon. No difference in boron diffusivity enhancement was observed compared to dry oxidation of nonimplanted samples. This result is different from our experience from N2O oxynitridation study, during which a boron diffusivity enhancement of the order of 20% was observed, revealing the influence of interfacial nitrogen on interstitial kinetics. A possible explanation may be that implanted nitrogen acts as an excess interstitial sink in order to diffuse towards the surface via a non-Fickian mechanism. This work completes a wide study of oxidation of very low-energy nitrogen-implanted silicon related phenomena we performed within the last two years [D. Skarlatos, C. Tsamis, and D. Tsoukalas, J. Appl. Phys. 93, 1832 (2003); D. Skarlatos, E. Kapetanakis, P. Normand, C. Tsamis, ...

Interstitial injection in silicon after high-dose, low-energy arsenic implantation and annealing

In this work, we investigate the interstitial injection into the silicon lattice due to high-dose, low-energy arsenic implantation. The approach consists in monitoring the diffusion of the arsenic profile as well as of the boron profile in buried δ-doped layers, when amounts of the as-implanted arsenic profile are removed by low-temperature wet silicon etching. The experimental results indicate that the contribution of the implantation damage to the transient enhanced diffusion of boron, and thus the interstitial injection, is not the main one. On the contrary, interstitial generation due to arsenic clustering seems to be more important for the present conditions.