Paramagnetic defects in annealed ultrathin layers of SiO{sub x}, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and ZrO{sub 2} on (100)Si

Journal Article · Mon Oct 25 04:00:00 UTC 2004 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1787152· OSTI ID:20634373

Stesmans, A; Afanas'ev, V V ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Leuven, 3001 Leuven (Belgium)

Electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements on (100)Si/SiO{sub x}/ZrO{sub 2} and (100)Si/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZrO{sub 2} stacks with nm-thick dielectric layers reveal, upon postdeposition oxidation (PDO) in the range of 650-800 deg. C, the appearance of various SiO{sub 2}-characteristic defects, including E{sup '} and EX centers and a 95-G doublet. These defects generally grow during PDO treatment, attesting to significant modification of the SiO{sub x} interlayer, and/or additional SiO{sub x} interlayer growth. The ESR results on E{sup '} indicate that the SiO{sub x} interlayer formed in (100)Si/SiO{sub x}/ZrO{sub 2} is drastically inferior to standard thermal (100)Si/SiO{sub 2}, exhibiting over one order of magnitude more O-deficiency centers. The (100)Si/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} system appears more robust in terms of SiO{sub x} interlayer growth, and has better interlayer properties.

• OSTI ID: 20634373
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 85; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
ANNEALING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
COLOR CENTERS
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE
LAYERS
OXIDATION
PARAMAGNETISM
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON
SILICON OXIDES
THIN FILMS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
ZIRCONIUM OXIDES