Low-temperature formation of silicon nitride gate dielectrics by atomic-layer deposition

Nakajima, Akira; Yoshimoto, Takashi; Kidera, Toshirou; Yokoyama, Shiyoshi

doi:10.1063/1.1388026

Cited by 52 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…Recently, silicon nitrides deposited by atomic-layer deposition showed very promising results. 7 However, the deposition rate is very low and it also needs a high temperature around 550°C. PECVD silicon nitride as a low temperature alternative is limited to around 500°C due to deterioration of the conformality as well as film quality.…”

Section: Conformal Thin-film Silicon Nitride Deposited By Hot-wire Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conformal thin-film silicon nitride deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Wang

Ward

Gedvilas

et al. 2004

Applied Physics Letters

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We have studied silicon nitride thin films deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition as a function of the substrate temperature and hydrogen dilution. We found that adding H2 to the process significantly enhances silicon nitride film deposition. High-quality films can be grown at low substrate temperatures (<350 °C). At optimized conditions, a 500-Å-thick silicon nitride film gives a nearly 100% surface coverage on a 100 nm scale object. H dilution dramatically increases the NH2 radicals in the process and leads to conformal films.

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Section: Conformal Thin-film Silicon Nitride Deposited By Hot-wire Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conformal thin-film silicon nitride deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Wang

Ward

Gedvilas

et al. 2004

Applied Physics Letters

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“…3 and is consistent with the film thickness of the deposited ALD Si nitride obtained from the deposition rate. 17 This suggests that the amorphous layer between ALD ZrO 2 and the Si substrate is presumably ALD Si nitride and the growth of the interfacial SiO x layer could be suppressed. The smooth interface observed between ALD ZrO 2 and the Si nitride layer is also noteworthy.…”

Section: ͑2͒mentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and electrical properties of atomic-layer deposited ZrO2/Si-nitride stack gate dielectrics

Ishii

Nakajima

Yokoyama

2004

Journal of Applied Physics

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Articles you may be interested inStructural and dielectric properties of thin ZrO 2 films on silicon grown by atomic layer deposition from cyclopentadienyl precursor Characterization of atomic-layer-deposited silicon nitride / SiO 2 stacked gate dielectrics for highly reliable pmetal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors Atomic-layer-deposited silicon-nitride/SiO 2 stacked gate dielectrics for highly reliable pmetal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistorsWe deposited ZrO 2 thin films by atomic-layer deposition ͑ALD͒ using zirconium tertiary-butoxide ͓Zr(t-OC 4 H 9 ) 4 , ͑ZTB͔͒ and H 2 O source gases on Si substrates at low temperatures. We grew ZrO 2 films layer by layer in a temperature range of 175-250°C to minimize surface roughness. The deposited ZrO 2 film thickness had self-limiting properties with the exposure time of ZTB and vapor pressures of ZTB and H 2 O. The deposition rate per cycle was independent of the vapor pressure of ZTB from 0.01 kPa to 0.04 kPa. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the formation of an SiO x interfacial layer could be suppressed by using an ALD ZrO 2 /ALD Si-nitride ͑ϳ0.5 nm͒ stack structure. We found the fixed charge, interface trap density, and leakage current density in the ALD ZrO 2 /ALD Si-nitride stack dielectrics to be less than those in ALD ZrO 2 dielectrics. In spite of the same equivalent oxide thickness of 1.6 nm, the relative dielectric constant r ͑11.5͒ of the ALD ZrO 2 /ALD Si-nitride stack capacitor was higher than that ͑10.5͒ of the ALD ZrO 2 capacitor due to the suppression of formation of the interfacial SiO x layer ͑1.0-1.5 nm͒ by an ultrathin ALD Si nitride ͑ϳ0.5 nm͒. The current conduction mechanism is identified as direct tunneling of electron except at very low dielectric fields. Comparing structural and electrical properties, ALD ZrO 2 /ALD Si-nitride stack dielectrics are promising candidates for sub-0.1-m metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors.

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“…The physical thickness (T phy ) was observed to be about 3.5 nm. As described in the previous report, 14 the equivalent thickness (T eq ) of the ALD silicon-nitride samples was determined to be 2.4 nm. This was determined by comparing the ratio of the accumulation capacitances of the silicon-nitride sample against the SiO 2 sample with T ox ϭ2.1 nm.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-temperature formation of highly reliable silicon-nitride gate dielectrics with suppressed soft-breakdown phenomena for advanced complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology

Nakajima

Khosru

Yoshimoto

et al. 2002

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena

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Thin (equivalent oxide thickness Teq of 2.4 nm) silicon nitride was deposited on Si substrates by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) at low temperatures (<550 °C). Substantial enhancement of reliability was obtained with respect to the conventional SiO2 samples. An exciting feature of suppressed soft breakdown events was observed. Injected-carrier-induced physical damage, which results in the formation of the conductive filaments at the poly-Si/ALD-Si-nitride and ALD-Si-nitride/Si-substrate interfaces, is suppressed due to the higher stability of the Si–N bonds than that of the strained Si–O bonds. This suppression of physical damage leads to enhanced reliability. Therefore, the ALD silicon nitride can be a good choice for a highly reliable ultrathin gate dielectric in deep submicron complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology.

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Low-temperature formation of silicon nitride gate dielectrics by atomic-layer deposition

Cited by 52 publications

References 16 publications

Conformal thin-film silicon nitride deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Conformal thin-film silicon nitride deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Growth and electrical properties of atomic-layer deposited ZrO2/Si-nitride stack gate dielectrics

Low-temperature formation of highly reliable silicon-nitride gate dielectrics with suppressed soft-breakdown phenomena for advanced complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology

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