High quality ultrathin dielectric films grown on silicon in a nitric oxide ambient

Abstract

High quality ultrathin silicon oxynitride films (3.5 nm) have been grown in a nitric oxide ambient using rapid thermal processing. The physical and electrical properties of these films are compared with those formed in a nitrous oxide environment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show that the nitric oxide (NO) grown films have a significantly different nitrogen distribution compared to the nitrious oxide (N2O) grown films. The capacitance-voltage and current-voltage characteristics of the NO grown and NO-modified films are, in general, better than those of the same thickness grown in either N2O or O2.