Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO2/SiC(4H) structures

Li, Xiuyan; Lee, Sang Soo; Li, Mengjun; Ermakov, Alexei; Medina-Ramos, Jonnathan; Fister, Timothy T.; Amarasinghe, Voshadhi; Gustafsson, Torgny; Garfunkel, Eric; Fenter, Paul; Feldman, Leonard C.

doi:10.1063/1.5048220

Title: Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO₂/SiC(4H) structures

Abstract

Here, the electron density and physical stress at the thermally oxidized SiC/SiO₂ interface, and their change with nitrogen incorporation, were observed using x-ray reflectivity, Raman scattering, and a novel stress determination technique. There is no evidence for residual carbon species at the SiO₂/SiC. Instead, a ~1 nm thick low electron density layer is formed at this interface, consistent with interfacial suboxides (SiO_x, 0.3 < x < 2), along with high interfacial stress. Nitrogen passivation, a known process to improve the interface state density and electronic properties, eliminates the low density component and simultaneously releases the interface stress. On the basis of these findings, a new chemical interaction model is proposed to explain the effect of the nitrogen, and a guideline, stress managing together with elemental control of the dielectric/SiC interface, is suggested to achieve high quality gate stack on SiC.

Authors:

Li, Xiuyan ^[1]; Lee, Sang Soo ^[2]; Li, Mengjun ^[3]; Ermakov, Alexei ^[3]; Medina-Ramos, Jonnathan ^[2]; Fister, Timothy T. ^[2]; Amarasinghe, Voshadhi ^[3]; Gustafsson, Torgny ^[3]; Garfunkel, Eric ^[3]; Fenter, Paul ^[2]; Feldman, Leonard C. ^[3]

Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., Shanghai (People'e Republic of China); Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)

Publication Date:: Mon Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2018

Research Org.:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division

OSTI Identifier:: 1481859

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Applied Physics Letters

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 113; Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; SiO2; nitrogen passivation; wide band gap device

Citation Formats


                    Li, Xiuyan, Lee, Sang Soo, Li, Mengjun, Ermakov, Alexei, Medina-Ramos, Jonnathan, Fister, Timothy T., Amarasinghe, Voshadhi, Gustafsson, Torgny, Garfunkel, Eric, Fenter, Paul, and Feldman, Leonard C. Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO2/SiC(4H) structures.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1063/1.5048220.

Copy to clipboard


                    Li, Xiuyan, Lee, Sang Soo, Li, Mengjun, Ermakov, Alexei, Medina-Ramos, Jonnathan, Fister, Timothy T., Amarasinghe, Voshadhi, Gustafsson, Torgny, Garfunkel, Eric, Fenter, Paul, & Feldman, Leonard C. Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO2/SiC(4H) structures.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5048220

Copy to clipboard


                    Li, Xiuyan, Lee, Sang Soo, Li, Mengjun, Ermakov, Alexei, Medina-Ramos, Jonnathan, Fister, Timothy T., Amarasinghe, Voshadhi, Gustafsson, Torgny, Garfunkel, Eric, Fenter, Paul, and Feldman, Leonard C. Mon .  
"Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO2/SiC(4H) structures".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5048220.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1481859.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1481859,

  title        = {Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO2/SiC(4H) structures},

  author       = {Li, Xiuyan and Lee, Sang Soo and Li, Mengjun and Ermakov, Alexei and Medina-Ramos, Jonnathan and Fister, Timothy T. and Amarasinghe, Voshadhi and Gustafsson, Torgny and Garfunkel, Eric and Fenter, Paul and Feldman, Leonard C.},

  abstractNote = {Here, the electron density and physical stress at the thermally oxidized SiC/SiO2 interface, and their change with nitrogen incorporation, were observed using x-ray reflectivity, Raman scattering, and a novel stress determination technique. There is no evidence for residual carbon species at the SiO2/SiC. Instead, a ~1 nm thick low electron density layer is formed at this interface, consistent with interfacial suboxides (SiOx, 0.3 < x < 2), along with high interfacial stress. Nitrogen passivation, a known process to improve the interface state density and electronic properties, eliminates the low density component and simultaneously releases the interface stress. On the basis of these findings, a new chemical interaction model is proposed to explain the effect of the nitrogen, and a guideline, stress managing together with elemental control of the dielectric/SiC interface, is suggested to achieve high quality gate stack on SiC.},

  doi          = {10.1063/1.5048220},

  journal      = {Applied Physics Letters},

  number       = 13,

  volume       = 113,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2018},

  month        = {Mon Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2018}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

Free Publicly Available Full Text

Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Publisher's Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5048220

Other availability

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 6 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Works referenced in this record:

Improved oxidation procedures for reduced SiO2/SiC defects
journal, May 1996

Lipkin, L. A.; Palmour, J. W.
Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 25, Issue 5
DOI: 10.1007/BF02666657

The effect of rapid thermal N ₂ O nitridation on the oxide/Si(100) interface structure
journal, November 1995

Lu, Z. H.; Tay, S. P.; Cao, R.
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 67, Issue 19
DOI: 10.1063/1.114801

Systematic structural and chemical characterization of the transition layer at the interface of NO-annealed 4H-SiC/SiO ₂ metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors
journal, January 2013

Taillon, Joshua A.; Hyuk Yang, Joon; Ahyi, Claude A.
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 113, Issue 4
DOI: 10.1063/1.4789924

Model-independent one-dimensional imaging of interfacial structures at $< 1 Å$ resolution
journal, August 2005

Fenter, P.; Zhang, Z.
Physical Review B, Vol. 72, Issue 8
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.72.081401

Removal of near-interface traps at SiO2/4H–SiC (0001) interfaces by phosphorus incorporation
journal, May 2010

Okamoto, Dai; Yano, Hiroshi; Hatayama, Tomoaki
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 96, Issue 20
DOI: 10.1063/1.3432404

Oxidation induced stress in SiO ₂ /SiC structures
journal, April 2017

Li, Xiuyan; Ermakov, Alexei; Amarasinghe, Voshadhi
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 110, Issue 14
DOI: 10.1063/1.4979544

Microscopic structure of the ${SiO}_{2}$ /Si interface
journal, September 1988

Himpsel, F. J.; McFeely, F. R.; Taleb-Ibrahimi, A.
Physical Review B, Vol. 38, Issue 9
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.38.6084

Co-refinement of multiple-contrast neutron/X-ray reflectivity data using MOTOFIT
journal, March 2006

Nelson, Andrew
Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 39, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1107/S0021889806005073

Density of interface states, electron traps, and hole traps as a function of the nitrogen density in SiO2 on SiC
journal, June 2009

Rozen, John; Dhar, Sarit; Zvanut, M. E.
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 105, Issue 12
DOI: 10.1063/1.3131845

Atomic state and characterization of nitrogen at the SiC/SiO ₂ interface
journal, January 2014

Xu, Y.; Zhu, X.; Lee, H. D.
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 3
DOI: 10.1063/1.4861626

Synchrotron x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on thermally grown SiO ₂ /4H-SiC(0001) interface and its correlation with electrical properties
journal, July 2011

Watanabe, Heiji; Hosoi, Takuji; Kirino, Takashi
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1063/1.3610487

Structure and stoichiometry of (0001) 4H–SiC/oxide interface
journal, August 2010

Zhu, Xingguang; Lee, Hang Dong; Feng, Tian
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 7
DOI: 10.1063/1.3481672

Photoemission study of Si-rich $4 H − Si C$ surfaces and initial $Si O_{2} ∕ Si C$ interface formation
journal, May 2005

Virojanadara, C.; Johansson, L. I.
Physical Review B, Vol. 71, Issue 19
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.71.195335

Structure and Energetics of the Si- ${SiO}_{2}$ Interface
journal, May 2000

Tu, Yuhai; Tersoff, J.
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 84, Issue 19
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.4393

Defect levels of carbon-related defects at the SiC/SiO $_{2}$ interface from hybrid functionals
journal, May 2011

Devynck, Fabien; Alkauskas, Audrius; Broqvist, Peter
Physical Review B, Vol. 83, Issue 19
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.83.195319

SiO2/SiC interface proved by positron annihilation
journal, June 2003

Maekawa, M.; Kawasuso, A.; Yoshikawa, M.
Applied Surface Science, Vol. 216, Issue 1-4
DOI: 10.1016/S0169-4332(03)00436-7

Material science and device physics in SiC technology for high-voltage power devices
journal, March 2015

Kimoto, Tsunenobu
Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 54, Issue 4
DOI: 10.7567/JJAP.54.040103

Si-rich $6 H$ - and $4 H - SiC (0001)$ 3×3 surface oxidation and initial ${SiO}_{2} / S i C$ interface formation from 25 to 650 °C
journal, April 2002

Amy, F.; Soukiassian, P.; Hwu, Y. K.
Physical Review B, Vol. 65, Issue 16
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.65.165323

X-ray specular reflection studies of silicon coated by organic monolayers (alkylsiloxanes)
journal, January 1990

Tidswell, I. M.; Ocko, B. M.; Pershan, P. S.
Physical Review B, Vol. 41, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.41.1111

Advances in SiC MOS Technology
journal, July 1997

Cooper, Jr., J. A.
physica status solidi (a), Vol. 162, Issue 1
DOI: 10.1002/1521-396X(199707)162:1<305::AID-PSSA305>3.0.CO;2-7

Effect of nitric oxide annealing on the interface trap densities near the band edges in the 4H polytype of silicon carbide
journal, March 2000

Chung, G. Y.; Tin, C. C.; Williams, J. R.
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 76, Issue 13
DOI: 10.1063/1.126167

Scaling Between Channel Mobility and Interface State Density in SiC MOSFETs
journal, November 2011

Rozen, John; Ahyi, Ayayi C.; Zhu, Xingguang
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 58, Issue 11
DOI: 10.1109/TED.2011.2164800

Transition layers at the SiO2∕SiC interface
journal, July 2008

Zheleva, Tsvetanka; Lelis, Aivars; Duscher, Gerd
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 93, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1063/1.2949081

Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections:

Low-temperature preparation of GaN-SiO{sub 2} interfaces with low defect density. II. Remote plasma-assisted oxidation of GaN and nitrogen incorporation

Journal Article Bae, Choelhwyi ; Lucovsky, Gerald - Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

Low-temperature remote plasma-assisted oxidation and nitridation processes for interface formation and passivation have been extended from Si and SiC to GaN. The initial oxidation kinetics and chemical composition of thin interfacial oxide were determined from analysis of on-line Auger electron spectroscopy features associated with Ga, N, and O. The plasma-assisted oxidation process is self-limiting with power-law kinetics similar to those for the plasma-assisted oxidation of Si and SiC. Oxidation using O{sub 2}/He plasma forms nearly pure GaO{sub x}, and oxidation using 1% N{sub 2}O in N{sub 2} forms GaO{sub x}N{sub y} with small nitrogen content, {approx}4-7 at. %. The interfacemore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1807411
Structural and electronic properties of the transition layer at the SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC interface

Journal Article Li, Wenbo ; Wang, Dejun ; Zhao, Jijun - AIP Advances

Using first-principles methods, we generate an amorphous SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC interface with a transition layer. Based this interface model, we investigate the structural and electronic properties of the interfacial transition layer. The calculated Si 2p core-level shifts for this interface are comparable to the experimental data, indicating that various SiC{sub x}O{sub y} species should be present in this interface transition layer. The analysis of the electronic structures reveals that the tetrahedral SiC{sub x}O{sub y} structures cannot introduce any of the defect states at the interface. Interestingly, our transition layer also includes a C-C=C trimer and SiO{sub 5} configurations, which lead tomore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4906257
Insights into ultraviolet-induced electrical degradation of thermally grown SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC(0001) interface

Journal Article Ikeguchi, Daisuke ; Hosoi, Takuji ; Shimura, Takayoshi ; ... - Applied Physics Letters

The harmful impact of ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation on thermally grown SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC structures was investigated by means of electrical measurements of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. Unlike Si-based MOS devices, significant electrical degradation, such as positive flatband voltage (V{sub FB}) shift and hysteresis in the capacitance-voltage (C-V) curves of SiC-MOS capacitors was induced by UV irradiation with a low-pressure mercury lamp. The interfacial fixed charge density increased with UV-irradiation (22.6 mW/cm{sup 2} for 16 h) to 1.7 × 10{sup 12} cm{sup −2}, which was an order of magnitude larger than that of the as-grown SiO{sub 2}/SiC interface. A detailed study based on single wavelengthmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4860987
Study of SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC interface nitridation by post-oxidation annealing in pure nitrogen gas

Journal Article Chanthaphan, Atthawut ; Hosoi, Takuji ; Shimura, Takayoshi ; ... - AIP Advances

An alternative and effective method to perform interface nitridation for 4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices was developed. We found that the high-temperature post-oxidation annealing (POA) in N{sub 2} ambient was beneficial to incorporate a sufficient amount of nitrogen atoms directly into thermal SiO{sub 2}/SiC interfaces. Although N{sub 2}-POA was ineffective for samples with thick thermal oxide layers, interface nitridation using N{sub 2}-POA was achieved under certain conditions, i.e., thin SiO{sub 2} layers (< 15 nm) and high annealing temperatures (>1350°C). Electrical characterizations of SiC-MOS capacitors treated with high-temperature N{sub 2}-POA revealed the same evidence of slow trap passivation and fast trapmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4930980
Near interface traps in SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors monitored by temperature dependent gate current transient measurements

Journal Article Fiorenza, Patrick ; La Magna, Antonino ; Vivona, Marilena ; ... - Applied Physics Letters

This letter reports on the impact of gate oxide trapping states on the conduction mechanisms in SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). The phenomena were studied by gate current transient measurements, performed on n-channel MOSFETs operated in “gate-controlled-diode” configuration. The measurements revealed an anomalous non-steady conduction under negative bias (V{sub G} > |20 V|) through the SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC interface. The phenomenon was explained by the coexistence of a electron variable range hopping and a hole Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunnelling. A semi-empirical modified FN model with a time-depended electric field is used to estimate the near interface traps in the gate oxide (N{sub trap} ∼ 2 × 10{supmore » 11} cm{sup −2}).« less
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4955465

Similar Records

Title: Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO2/SiC(4H) structures

Abstract

Citation Formats

Improved oxidation procedures for reduced SiO2/SiC defects journal, May 1996

The effect of rapid thermal N 2 O nitridation on the oxide/Si(100) interface structure journal, November 1995

Systematic structural and chemical characterization of the transition layer at the interface of NO-annealed 4H-SiC/SiO 2 metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors journal, January 2013

Model-independent one-dimensional imaging of interfacial structures at < 1 Å resolution journal, August 2005

Removal of near-interface traps at SiO2/4H–SiC (0001) interfaces by phosphorus incorporation journal, May 2010

Oxidation induced stress in SiO 2 /SiC structures journal, April 2017

Microscopic structure of the SiO 2 /Si interface journal, September 1988

Co-refinement of multiple-contrast neutron/X-ray reflectivity data using MOTOFIT journal, March 2006

Density of interface states, electron traps, and hole traps as a function of the nitrogen density in SiO2 on SiC journal, June 2009

Atomic state and characterization of nitrogen at the SiC/SiO 2 interface journal, January 2014

Synchrotron x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on thermally grown SiO 2 /4H-SiC(0001) interface and its correlation with electrical properties journal, July 2011

Structure and stoichiometry of (0001) 4H–SiC/oxide interface journal, August 2010

Photoemission study of Si-rich 4 H − Si C surfaces and initial Si O 2 ∕ Si C interface formation journal, May 2005

Structure and Energetics of the Si- SiO 2 Interface journal, May 2000

Defect levels of carbon-related defects at the SiC/SiO 2 interface from hybrid functionals journal, May 2011

SiO2/SiC interface proved by positron annihilation journal, June 2003

Material science and device physics in SiC technology for high-voltage power devices journal, March 2015

Si-rich 6 H - and 4 H − SiC ( 0001 ) 3×3 surface oxidation and initial SiO 2 / S i C interface formation from 25 to 650 °C journal, April 2002

X-ray specular reflection studies of silicon coated by organic monolayers (alkylsiloxanes) journal, January 1990

Advances in SiC MOS Technology journal, July 1997

Effect of nitric oxide annealing on the interface trap densities near the band edges in the 4H polytype of silicon carbide journal, March 2000

Scaling Between Channel Mobility and Interface State Density in SiC MOSFETs journal, November 2011

Transition layers at the SiO2∕SiC interface journal, July 2008

Title: Effect of nitrogen passivation on interface composition and physical stress in SiO₂/SiC(4H) structures

Improved oxidation procedures for reduced SiO2/SiC defects
journal, May 1996

The effect of rapid thermal N ₂ O nitridation on the oxide/Si(100) interface structure
journal, November 1995

Systematic structural and chemical characterization of the transition layer at the interface of NO-annealed 4H-SiC/SiO ₂ metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors
journal, January 2013

Model-independent one-dimensional imaging of interfacial structures at $< 1 Å$ resolution
journal, August 2005

Removal of near-interface traps at SiO2/4H–SiC (0001) interfaces by phosphorus incorporation
journal, May 2010

Oxidation induced stress in SiO ₂ /SiC structures
journal, April 2017

Microscopic structure of the ${SiO}_{2}$ /Si interface
journal, September 1988

Co-refinement of multiple-contrast neutron/X-ray reflectivity data using MOTOFIT
journal, March 2006

Density of interface states, electron traps, and hole traps as a function of the nitrogen density in SiO2 on SiC
journal, June 2009

Atomic state and characterization of nitrogen at the SiC/SiO ₂ interface
journal, January 2014

Synchrotron x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on thermally grown SiO ₂ /4H-SiC(0001) interface and its correlation with electrical properties
journal, July 2011

Structure and stoichiometry of (0001) 4H–SiC/oxide interface
journal, August 2010

Photoemission study of Si-rich $4 H − Si C$ surfaces and initial $Si O_{2} ∕ Si C$ interface formation
journal, May 2005

Structure and Energetics of the Si- ${SiO}_{2}$ Interface
journal, May 2000

Defect levels of carbon-related defects at the SiC/SiO $_{2}$ interface from hybrid functionals
journal, May 2011

SiO2/SiC interface proved by positron annihilation
journal, June 2003

Material science and device physics in SiC technology for high-voltage power devices
journal, March 2015

Si-rich $6 H$ - and $4 H - SiC (0001)$ 3×3 surface oxidation and initial ${SiO}_{2} / S i C$ interface formation from 25 to 650 °C
journal, April 2002

X-ray specular reflection studies of silicon coated by organic monolayers (alkylsiloxanes)
journal, January 1990

Advances in SiC MOS Technology
journal, July 1997

Effect of nitric oxide annealing on the interface trap densities near the band edges in the 4H polytype of silicon carbide
journal, March 2000

Scaling Between Channel Mobility and Interface State Density in SiC MOSFETs
journal, November 2011

Transition layers at the SiO2∕SiC interface
journal, July 2008