Comparison of the vacuum-ultraviolet radiation response of HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si dielectric stacks with SiO{sub 2}/Si

Journal Article · Mon Feb 12 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2591371· OSTI ID:20971825

Upadhyaya, G S; Shohet, J L ^[1]

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1. Plasma Processing and Technology Laboratory, and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

Vacuum ultraviolet (vuv) emitted during plasma processing degrades dielectrics by generating electron-hole pairs. VUV-induced charging of SiO{sub 2}/p-Si and HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/p-Si dielectric stacks are compared. For SiO{sub 2}/p-Si, charging is observed for photon energies >15 eV by ionization of dielectric atoms from photoinjected electrons. In HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/p-Si, charging is observed for photon >10 eV and is due to ionization by photoinjected electrons and by H{sup +} trapping in the HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} bulk. Hydrogen appears during annealing at the Si-SiO{sub 2} interface forming Si-H, which, during irradiation, is depassivated by photoinjected electrons. The authors conclude that dielectric charging in thin oxides (<10 nm) occurs more easily in HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} than in SiO{sub 2}.

• OSTI ID: 20971825
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 90; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTRONS
FAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
HAFNIUM OXIDES
HOLES
HYDROGEN IONS 1 PLUS
INTERFACES
IONIZATION
PHOTOEMISSION
PHOTONS
PLASMA
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON
SILICON OXIDES
SURFACE POTENTIAL
THIN FILMS
TRAPPING