Thermal oxidation of 6H-SiC studied by oxygen isotopic tracing and narrow nuclear resonance profiling

Trimaille, I.; Ganem, J.‐J.; Vickridge, Ian; Rigo, S.; Battistig, G.; Szilágyi, E.; Baumvol, Israel Jacob Rabin; Radtke, C.; Stedile, Fernanda Chiarello

doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2004.01.187

Cited by 14 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…We therefore refrain from connecting them to processes at the atomistic scale. Nevertheless, compared to Si-face SiC, the double oxidation experiments at C-face SiC show much higher enrichment of 18 O at the second oxidation, [32][33][34] consistent with molecular oxygen mechanism being the major contributor. In addition, the linear rate on C-face increases linearly with the pressure, [35] also supporting the molecular mechanism.…”

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confidence: 57%

Competing atomic and molecular mechanisms of thermal oxidation—SiC versus Si

Shen

Tuttle

Pantelides

2013

Journal of Applied Physics

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The oxidation of SiC and Si provide a unique opportunity for studying oxidation mechanisms because the product is the same, SiO 2 . Silicon oxidation follows a linear-parabolic law, with molecular oxygen identified as the oxidant. SiC oxidation obeys the same linearparabolic law but has different rates and activation energies and exhibits much stronger facedependence. Using results from first-principles calculations, we show that atomic and molecular oxygen are the oxidant for Si-and C-face SiC respectively. Comparing SiC with Si, we elucidate how the interface controls the competition between atomic and molecular mechanisms.Oxidation is a ubiquitous process that occurs in most solids including metals, insulators, and semiconductors. The atomic-scale processes that underlie oxidation are of fundamental interest as they control the quality of both the resulting oxide and its interface with the substrate.Furthermore, elucidation of these processes would also benefit applications as thermal oxidation is widely used to fabricate oxide films, such as gate dielectrics and insulating layers, in electronic devices, [1,2] in nanostructures, [3] and in applications of ceramics materials [4]. The best-known example is Si oxidation, which produces a high-quality oxide/semiconductor interface and is one of the most important techniques that enable semiconductor technology. Meanwhile, for materials used at high temperatures, stability against thermal oxidation is a major concern [5].Silicon and SiC provide a unique opportunity for investigating thermal oxidation because they have the same native oxide, SiO 2 . Si oxidation has been extensively studied and the kinetics has been well described by a model proposed by Deal and Grove,[6] where the oxidation time t and the oxide thickness x are related by: t = x 2 /B + x/(B/A).The parabolic rate B is related to the oxidant diffusivity D by:

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mentioning

confidence: 57%

Competing atomic and molecular mechanisms of thermal oxidation—SiC versus Si

Shen

Tuttle

Pantelides

2013

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…After sequential 16 O 2 / 18 O 2 or 18 O 2 / 16 O 2 oxidations of SiC, the 18 O profiles were seen to be markedly different from those observed in Si oxidation, which led to the identification of different mechanisms of oxygen incorporation and transport. The gradual nature of the SiO 2 / SiC interface was also evidenced by the 18 O depth distributions in samples oxidized in a single step in 18 O-enriched O 2 . A probable explanation for this gradual SiO 2 / SiC interface is shown to be the formation of C clusters during oxidation.…”

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confidence: 94%

“…Thermal oxidation of 6H-SiC was investigated by means of isotopic tracing and narrow nuclear resonant reaction profiling techniques. The mechanisms of oxygen transport and incorporation were accessed by sequential oxidations in dry O 2 enriched or not in the 18 O isotope and subsequent determinations of the 18 O profiles. After sequential 16 O 2 / 18 O 2 or 18 O 2 / 16 O 2 oxidations of SiC, the 18 O profiles were seen to be markedly different from those observed in Si oxidation, which led to the identification of different mechanisms of oxygen incorporation and transport.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mechanisms of oxygen transport and incorporation were accessed by sequential oxidations in dry O 2 enriched or not in the 18 O isotope and subsequent determinations of the 18 O profiles. After sequential 16 O 2 / 18 O 2 or 18 O 2 / 16 O 2 oxidations of SiC, the 18 O profiles were seen to be markedly different from those observed in Si oxidation, which led to the identification of different mechanisms of oxygen incorporation and transport. The gradual nature of the SiO 2 / SiC interface was also evidenced by the 18 O depth distributions in samples oxidized in a single step in 18 O-enriched O 2 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Oxygen transport and incorporation mechanisms in the dry thermal oxidation of 6H-SiC

Radtke

Baumvol

Ferrera

et al. 2004

Applied Physics Letters

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Thermal oxidation of 6H-SiC was investigated by means of isotopic tracing and narrow nuclear resonant reaction profiling techniques. The mechanisms of oxygen transport and incorporation were accessed by sequential oxidations in dry O2 enriched or not in the O18 isotope and subsequent determinations of the O18 profiles. After sequential O216∕O218 or O218∕O216 oxidations of SiC, the O18 profiles were seen to be markedly different from those observed in Si oxidation, which led to the identification of different mechanisms of oxygen incorporation and transport. The gradual nature of the SiO2∕SiC interface was also evidenced by the O18 depth distributions in samples oxidized in a single step in O18-enriched O2. A probable explanation for this gradual SiO2∕SiC interface is shown to be the formation of C clusters during oxidation.

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“…This is significantly thicker than the film that was expected to grow in the employed oxidation conditions (up to 10 nm). 15 After etching, the three remaining samples were oxidized under the same conditions again and sample i2 was separated for analysis. The removal/oxidation step was performed once more for sample i3 and twice more for sample i4 (see Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Reoxidations and Thermal Treatments with Hydrogen Peroxide in the SiO2/SiC Interfacial Region

Pitthan

Corrêa

Palmieri

et al. 2011

Electrochem. Solid-State Lett.

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Thermal growth/removal steps of SiO 2 films are largely used in the fabrication of electronic devices. The effect on the SiO 2 thermal growth rate and on the SiO 2 /SiC interfacial region thickness of samples submitted to sequential steps of removal/growth of Si 18 O 2 on 4H-SiC was investigated, using nuclear reaction analyses, in the Si and C faces interspersed or not with a H 2 O 2 thermal treatment. In the Si face structures the H 2 O 2 treatment lead to a reduction of the SiO 2 /SiC interfacial region and to an increase in the SiO 2 growth rate. Results of additional experiments performed to investigate the effects of the H 2 O 2 treatment are also reported.Silicon carbide (SiC) is an alternative semiconductor to substitute Si in device applications that require high-power (>3 kW), high-frequency (>5 GHz), and/or high-temperature (>300 C). 1-3 In addition, a SiO 2 film can be thermally grown in a similar way to that on Si, allowing the technology used to produce MOS (metal-oxidesemiconductor) devices to be adapted to the case of SiC. 4 However, MOS devices based on SiC did not reach the maximum of their potential because of the high interface state density (D it ) in the SiO 2 /SiC interface 3 attributed, at least partially, to the presence of silicon oxycarbides (SiC x O y ) and/or C-rich regions in the interfacial region. 5,6 These carbonaceous compounds were observed to present a high chemical inertness when submitted to different chemical environments. 7 Among the treatments that can significantly reduce this D it , post-oxidation annealings in NO followed by H 2 were shown to be the most efficient. 8 Previous investigations evidenced that NO treatments can partially remove SiC x O y and reduce this interfacial region thickness. 9 Reduction of the C species in the SiO 2 film bulk as well as reduction of the D it in films thermally grown in N 2 O and then annealed in Ar by rapid thermal processing (RTP) was also recently reported. 10 A flux of O 2 bubbled through hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) also proved to be efficient, due to the high oxidizing power of the H 2 O 2 which can partially remove these SiC x O y . 11 The thickness of this interfacial region was observed to be inversely proportional to the channel mobility of MOSFETs. 12 Thus a reduction of this interfacial region should improve the electrical properties in the SiO 2 /SiC interface, allowing SiC-MOS devices to reach the maximum of their potential. To accomplish these goals, the influence of previously neglected factors must be understood. Due to the technological need of sequential thermal growths followed by etchings steps, 13 it is important to understand how this interfacial region behaves when submitted to those repeated processes.In the present work, 4H-SiC substrates were submitted to sequential removal/growth steps of SiO 2 films (reoxidations) a different number of times. Samples were probed by nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and nuclear reaction profiling (NRP). Also, sequential reoxidation steps were interspersed with a treatment whi...

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Thermal oxidation of 6H-SiC studied by oxygen isotopic tracing and narrow nuclear resonance profiling

Cited by 14 publications

References 19 publications

Competing atomic and molecular mechanisms of thermal oxidation—SiC versus Si

Competing atomic and molecular mechanisms of thermal oxidation—SiC versus Si

Oxygen transport and incorporation mechanisms in the dry thermal oxidation of 6H-SiC

Effect of Reoxidations and Thermal Treatments with Hydrogen Peroxide in the SiO2/SiC Interfacial Region

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