Ultraviolet light induced annihilation of silicon dangling bonds in hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride films
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1349 (United States)
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2108 (United States)
- IBM Storage Systems Products Division, San Jose, California 95193 (United States)
We report results of electron paramagnetic resonance, photothermal deflection spectroscopy, and capacitance-voltage measurements on amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride ({ital a}-SiN{sub {ital x}}:H) thin films exposed to ultraviolet (UV) illumination. It has been previously shown that exposure to UV light activates silicon dangling-bond defects, i.e., {ital K}{sup 0} centers, in {ital a}-SiN{sub {ital x}}:H thin films. Here, we demonstrate that the initially UV-activated {ital K}{sup 0} center can be irreversibly annihilated at long illumination times. Because this effect seems to scale with H content of the measured films, we propose that hydrogen may be passivating the {ital K}{sup 0} defects during the extended UV exposure. We also show that films subjected to long UV exposures trap charge as efficiently as those having much larger {ital K}{sup 0} concentrations. A few possibilities to explain this effect are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratory
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 45975
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 77; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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