Atomic structures at a Si–nitride/Si(001) interface

Abstract

We used high-resolution transmission electron microscopy to show that the atomic structures at a Si3N4/Si interface are clearly different from those at a SiO2/Si interface. Using first-principles calculations, we also found that, in one of the observed N-induced interfacial geometries, a dangling bond was produced on a Si atom adjacent to a N atom. We thus argue that such N-induced interfacial dangling bonds can cause degradation in the performance of metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors with Si–oxynitride (SiON) gate dielectrics when the N concentration is increased at the SiON/Si interfaces. We also argue that the difference in flatness between Si3N4 and SiON/Si interfaces and SiO2/Si interfaces is the result of the difference between their atomic structures.

The interface of a-SiNx:H and Si: Linking the nano-scale structure to passivation quality

“…Park et al showed a relation between the plasmon loss energy and the composition of a-SiN x :H [8] and we find that this is also valid for the interface. The relation between plasmon loss energy and composition combined with the increase in plasmon loss energy occuring at the Si side (~1nm) indicates the presence of N inside Si, besides H. The presence of N was also found inside Si surface by Ikarashi et al [9]. The composition is determined from the L 2,3 peak onset in the high-loss region of EELS (around 99 eV) and it could not be found to change for t<0.5 nm; this indicates that the N content is relatively low.…”

Molecular dynamics studies of the bonding properties of amorphous silicon nitride coatings on crystalline silicon

“…There has been a lot of experimental work done in characterizing the stoichiometric with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that N atoms were present on the c-Si side of the interface up to the second layer 19 . Such penetration of N, into the c-Si layer is also known to be extremely sensitive to the conditions during the deposition of the ARC 8 .…”

Reoxidation of silicon nitride studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy

“…[1][2][3] SiO x N y has thus been extensively studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ͑XPS͒, 4 Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy ͑SIMS͒, and transmission electron microscopy ͑TEM͒. Oxynitrides can be obtained by direct oxynitridation of Si, or by annealing SiO 2 in a nitridizing ambient, 5,6 or finally, by oxidizing a predeposited Si 3 N 4 7-13 or SiO x N y film. 4 Not only is oxidizing Si 3 N 4 of technical importance in that it reduces the pin hole density in Si 3 N 4 and thus leads to a lower leakage current in a MOS capacitor, 8 but it also has scientific merits of its own.…”