ChemInform Abstract: The Combined Effect of Hydrogen and Oxygen Impurities in the Silicon Nitride Film of MNOS Devices

Abstract

The Combined Effect of Hydrogen and Oxygen Impurities in the Silicon Nitride Film of MNOS Devices -(MNOS: metal-nitrideoxide-semiconductor). The detailed study of the effect of hydrogen and oxygen impurities in the Si3N4 films on the memory properties of MNOS devices shows that the incorporation of hydrogen and oxygen improves the overall average device retention by . apprx.40% and the endurance from 107 to 108 cycles. The hydrogen and oxygen impurities may passivate the silicon dangling-bonds associated with shallow traps within the bandgap of silicon nitride and, thus, allow the carriers to become trapped in deep traps, yielding enhanced memory properties in MNOS devices. -(KAPOOR, V. J.; XU, D.; BAILEY, R. S.; TURI, R. A.; J. Electrochem. Soc. 139 (1992) 3, 915-921; Dep. Electr. Comput. Eng., Univ. Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0030, USA; EN)

Physical and Electrical Properties of Memory Quality PECVD Silicon Oxynitride

“…Recently, silicon oxynitride has become the focus of investigations for application in tunnel metal-insulator-silicon (MIS) diodes (2), as interlevel dielectrics for multilevel metallization structures (3), in local oxidation of silicon (4), and as final passivation layers (5). It is also being explored as a replacement for silicon nitride in the MNOS structure (6)(7)(8)(9)(10). To date, plasma-enhanced chemically vapor deposited (PECVD) films have not found widespread use in electrically active regions of integrated circuits.…”