Thin (3-300 nm) oxides were grown on single crystal silicon substrates at temperatures from 523 K to 673 K in a low pressure electron cyclotron resonance oxygen plasma. Oxides were grown under floating, anodic or cathodic bias conditions, although only the oxides grown under floating or anodic bias conditions are acceptable for use as gate dielectrics in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) technology. Oxide thickness uniformity as measured by ellipsometry decreased with increasing oxidation time for all bias conditions. Oxidation kinetics under anodic conditions can be explained by negatively charged atomic oxygen, O", transport limited growth. Constant current anodizations yielded three regions ofgrowth: 1) a concentration gradient dominated regime for oxides thinner than 10 nm; 2) a field dominated regime with ohmic charged oxidant transport for oxide thickness inthe range of10 nm to approximately 100 nm; and 3)a space-charge limited regime for films thicker than approximately 100 nm. The relationship between oxide thickness (x^), overall potential drop (Vâ nd ion current (jj) in the space-charge limited transport region was of the form: yx a V^/ x^.
Nucleation and growth of Cu by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using hexafluoracetylacetonato-Cu(I)-trimethylvinylsilane [hfac(Cu)tmvs] on different physical vapor deposition (PVD) diffusion barriers, namely, tantalum (Ta) and tantalum nitride (TaN x with x < 0.5), were studied by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy to understand the dependence of morphology and microstructure on deposition parameters. X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out to study the orientation of the polycrystalline films. Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the surface roughness. The results were compared to sheet resistance and reflectivity measurements. Nucleation on bare Ta and TaN x surfaces is significantly more difficult than on Ta with a 200 Å PVD Cu "flash" layer. The films directly deposited on Ta or TaN x show a random orientation and an amorphous interlayer between the CVD Cu film and the barrier. CVD Cu films grown on a PVD Cu "flash" layer expose a highly preferred <111> orientation of the grains and no amorphous interlayer.
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