Thin films and interfaces in microelectronics: composition and chemistry as function of depth

Opila, R. L.; Eng, Joseph

doi:10.1016/s0079-6816(01)00049-1

Cited by 85 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Significant efforts have been recently made to resolve the atomic structure of the deposited films. 21,22 After PDA in oxygen ͑T Ͼ 770 K͒, hafnia films on Si adopt the monoclinic structure. [23][24][25] This is in contrast with zirconia which may crystallize into either a monoclinic or a tetragonal structure depending on the film thickness and stoichiometry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of nitrogen-related defects in high-k dielectric oxides: Density-functional studies

Gavartin

Foster

Bersuker

et al. 2005

Journal of Applied Physics

152

110

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Using ab initio density functional total energy and molecular dynamics simulations, we study the effects of various forms of nitrogen post deposition anneal (PDA) on the electric properties of hafnia in the context of its application as a gate dielectric in field effect transistors (FET). We consider the atomic structure and energetics of nitrogen containing defects which can be formed during the PDA in various N-based ambients: N2, N + 2 , N, NH3, NO, N2O. We analyse the role of such defects in fixed charge accumulation, electron trapping and in the growth of the interface SiO2 layer. We find that nitrogen anneal of the oxides leads to an effective immobilization of native defects such as oxygen vacancies and interstitial oxygen ions, which may inhibit growth of silica layer. Nitrogen in any form effectively incorporates into the pre-existing oxygen vacancies and, therefore may decrease the concentration of shallow electron traps. However, nitrogen in any form is unlikely to significantly reduce the fixed charge in the dielectric.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of nitrogen-related defects in high-k dielectric oxides: Density-functional studies

Gavartin

Foster

Bersuker

et al. 2005

Journal of Applied Physics

152

110

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“…semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) 5 ; the dielectric thickness of this material typically is less than 5 nm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 The approach of a three-layer model, 6,7 which calculates thickness and composition of thin films truly nondestructively, requires the acquisition of the XPS spectra at only one angle, but the information on the film composition is averaged and not in-depth resolved. Angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) is in principle a suitable method for the nondestructive evaluation of the in-depth composition profile of thin films, 8 but the reconstruction of the depth profile based on the assumption of model structures might be misleading because real data contain noise and there can be a large number of very different model structures that match the experimental data within the precision of measurement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nondestructive in‐depth composition profile of oxy‐hydroxide nanolayers on iron surfaces from ARXPS measurement

Olla¹,

Navarra²,

Elsener³

et al. 2006

Surface & Interface Analysis

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In this work the maximum entropy method (MEM) is applied, for the first time, to angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) data from oxy-hydroxide films on iron surfaces. This nondestructively derives information on the in-depth distribution of the composition and chemical state. An MEM algorithm was created and first tested on the simulated data. The reconstructed composition depth profiles agreed very well with the theoretical ones up to 5% Gaussian noise added to the data. The same algorithm was then applied to ARXPS data from iron samples to investigate the in-depth variations in the composition and chemical state of the nanosized oxy-hydroxide film naturally grown on the iron surface. The resulting surface film presents a complex multilayer structure with concentration gradients. The effect of air exposure on the structure was also investigated.

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“…Examples include particle detection, diagnostic surface characterization techniques such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) [6][7][8][9], X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) [10], Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) [11,12] and surface fabrication (lithography and chemical vapor deposition) [13][14][15][16]. When not directly exploited, particlesurface interactions often cause artifacts to be acknowledged, understood, and, if possible, eliminated.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most relevant in this context are sputtering, implantation, and dislocation processes, since they can lead to degradation of the detector surface. We have used atomic force microscopy (AFM [35]) for surface topography studies and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS [10]) to track chemical modification of the uppermost layers of the pixels.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

IonCCD Detector for Miniature Sector-Field Mass Spectrometer: Investigation of Peak Shape and Detector Surface Artifacts Induced by keV Ion Detection

Hadjar

Schlathölter

Davila

et al. 2011

J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom.

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A recently described ion charge coupled device detector IonCCD (Sinha and Wadsworth, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76(2), 2005; Hadjar, J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 22(4), [612][613][614][615][616][617][618][619][620][621][622][623][624] 2011) is implemented in a miniature mass spectrometer of sector-field instrument type and MattauchHerzog (MH)-geometry (Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62(11), 2618-2620, 1991; Burgoyne, Hieftje and Hites J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 8(4), 307-318, 1997; Nishiguchi, Eur. J. Mass Spectrom. 14 (1), 7-15, 2008) for simultaneous ion detection. In this article, we present first experimental evidence for the signature of energy loss the detected ion experiences in the detector material. The two energy loss processes involved at keV ion kinetic energies are electronic and nuclear stopping. Nuclear stopping is related to surface modification and thus damage of the IonCCD detector material. By application of the surface characterization techniques atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectrons spectroscopy (XPS), we could show that the detector performance remains unaffected by ion impact for the parameter range observed in this study. Secondary electron emission from the (detector) surface is a feature typically related to electronic stopping. We show experimentally that the properties of the MH-mass spectrometer used in the experiments, in combination with the IonCCD, are ideally suited for observation of these stopping related secondary electrons, which manifest in reproducible artifacts in the mass spectra. The magnitude of the artifacts is found to increase linearly as a function of detected ion velocity. The experimental findings are in agreement with detailed modeling of the ion trajectories in the mass spectrometer. By comparison of experiment and simulation, we show that a detector bias retarding the ions or an increase of the B-field of the IonCCD can efficiently suppress the artifact, which is necessary for quantitative mass spectrometry.

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Thin films and interfaces in microelectronics: composition and chemistry as function of depth

Cited by 85 publications

References 49 publications

The role of nitrogen-related defects in high-k dielectric oxides: Density-functional studies

The role of nitrogen-related defects in high-k dielectric oxides: Density-functional studies

Nondestructive in‐depth composition profile of oxy‐hydroxide nanolayers on iron surfaces from ARXPS measurement

IonCCD Detector for Miniature Sector-Field Mass Spectrometer: Investigation of Peak Shape and Detector Surface Artifacts Induced by keV Ion Detection

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