Electron paramagnetic resonance investigation of charge trapping centers in amorphous silicon nitride films
- Sandia National Laboratories, Advanced Materials Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106 (United States)
- IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States)
- National Power Laboratories, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22-7SE (United Kingdom)
- Army Research Laboratory, Electronics and Power Sources Directorate, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 07703-5601 (United States)
- Silicon Technologies Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-5800 (United States)
We have explored the nature of the silicon dangling-bond center in amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride ([ital a]-SiN[sub [ital x]]:H) thin films, and its relationship to the charge trapping centers using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and capacitance-voltage ([ital C]-[ital V]) measurements. We have investigated the quantitative relationship between the concentration of silicon dangling bonds using EPR and the concentration of charge traps, measured by [ital C]-[ital V] measurements, for both UV-illuminated and unilluminated [ital a]-SiN[sub [ital x]]:H thin films subjected to both electron and hole injection sequences. A theoretical framework for our results is also discussed. These results continue to support a model in which the Si dangling bond is a negative-U defect in silicon nitride, and that a change in charge state of preexisting positively and negatively charged Si sites is responsible for the trapping phenomena observed in these thin film dielectrics.
- OSTI ID:
- 6048154
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics; (United States), Vol. 74:6; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Paramagnetic point defects in amorphous silicon dioxide and amorphous silicon nitride thin films
The influence of deposition conditions on hydrogen bond configuration and trap sites in sputtered Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/