Electrical properties of ultra thin gate oxide in thickness of 4 to 10 nm have been
evaluated, manufactured either by wet or dry oxidation process. The relationship
between silicon/oxide interfacial structure and the electrical properties was analyzed. In
addition, the effect of post oxidation annealing (POA) temperature on improvement of
the electrical characteristics of the gate oxide has been evaluated when the temperature
was lower than 950°C, the conventional POA temperature. The leakage current of the
ultra thin gate oxide was found to increase as the thickness decreased. The accelerated
degradation of breakdown characteristics was observed as the thickness decreased below
7 nm. The physical properties of the silicon/oxide interface were found to depend on
oxidation ambient and POA temperature. The wet oxidation process resulted in a
smoother surface than the dry oxidation process did. The POA treatment further decreased the micro-roughness of the silicon/oxide interface. The electrical properties of
the gate oxide were found to be closely related to the micro-roughness of the silicon/oxide interface. Good electrical properties were obtained for the gate oxide
manufactured by the wet oxidation process followed by the POA
treatment at 850°C.
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