Impact of Organic Contamination on Thin Gate Oxide Quality

Gendt, Stefan De; Knotter, D. Martin; Kenis, Karine; Depas, Michel; Meuris, Marc; Mertens, Paul; Heyns, Marc

doi:10.1143/jjap.37.4649

Cited by 52 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…It has been reported that surfaces exposed to vacuum conditions are prone to organic contamination pickup compared with surfaces stored in a wafer box. [7] Therefore, the primary cause of contact angle increase in our study was exposure to the vacuum environment of the SIMS chamber. A quick effective SIMS measurement is essential to minimise changes in the surface chemistry and accumulated contamination within the SIMS instrument.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Predicting the wettability of patterned ITO surface using ToF‐SIMS images

Shard

Lee

et al. 2010

Surface & Interface Analysis

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Partial least squares (PLS) regression has been increasingly used as a tool for modelling linear relations between multivariate surface analytical measurements and measures of performance. However, the use of PLS to obtain quantitative predictions has only been partially explored. In this study, we construct a PLS model using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and water contact angle (WCA) data obtained from a series of differently treated indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces. This model displays a reasonable correlation between the WCA values and the SIMS data. To validate the model, ITO surfaces patterned with different areas of wettability were examined using ToF-SIMS imaging to produce WCA maps. The PLS model was applied to predict the spatial variation in WCA across the sample. The direct measurement of WCA on the patterned ITO surface was achieved using a small-scale interval grid from picolitre volume water droplets. We present the correlations between the predicted WCA from SIMS and the measured WCA, and highlight the discrepancies that arises in the comparison of the two datasets. This work is of direct benefit to industries where wettability is crucial but direct contact angle measurements are acquired on a scale smaller than it is possible to produce liquid drops, such as the plastic electronics and microfluidics industries.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Predicting the wettability of patterned ITO surface using ToF‐SIMS images

Shard

Lee

et al. 2010

Surface & Interface Analysis

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“…Various kinds of chemical compounds existing in the ambient atmosphere, such as acids, bases, organic compounds, inorganic compounds, and metals, can adsorb at the material surface [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. This potentially multiple-component contamination is a fundamental problem in many industrial processes that use or produce highly clean surfaces, such as wet cleaning, lithography, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Adsorption and Desorption Behavior on Silicon Surface in a Complex Ambient Atmosphere Containing Vapors of Diethylphthalate, Acetic Acid and Water

Habuka

Ono²,

Sakurai³

et al. 2013

AJAC

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Using a complex ambient atmosphere containing vapors of an organic compound, acid and water, the molecular adsorption and desorption behavior on a silicon surface was studied using the in-situ measurement of a quartz crystal microbalance linked to the rate theory. Because the behavior of diethylphthalate (DEP) could be reproduced assuming a single-component system, acetic acid (ACA) and DEP are concluded to separately exist in the water film and at the water film surface, respectively. This conclusion was obtained from both the adsorption and desorption behaviors. The process developed in this study is useful for determining the layer in which chemical compounds are present.

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“…Numerous examples in literature indicate also the possible effects that organic and silicon based contaminants can have on IC processes. At the wafer level these kinds of molecules may form a nanometric layer on the surface affecting gate oxide Time Zero Dielectric Breakdown (TZBD) reliability [4][5][6] as well as thickness ellipsometry and/or reflectometry measurements [7]. During lithography processes it has been widely reported that organics and silicon based compounds may condense on lenses, causing "hazing"; further their presence in the laser light path between the lens and substrate can result in poor optical transmission and laser throughput [8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%