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Title: Controlling the defects and transition layer in SiO2 films grown on 4H-SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation

Abstract

The structural stability and electrical performance of SiO2 grown on SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation were investigated. To investigate the changes in the electronic structure and electrical characteristics caused by the interfacial reaction between the SiO2 film (thickness ~5 nm) and SiC, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and electrical measurements were performed. The SiO2 films grown via direct plasma-assisted oxidation at room temperature for 300s exhibited significantly decreased concentrations of silicon oxycarbides (SiOxCy) in the transition layer compared to that of conventionally grown (i.e., thermally grown) SiO2 films. Moreover, the plasma-assisted SiO2 films exhibited enhanced electrical characteristics, such as reduced frequency dispersion, hysteresis, and interface trap density (Dit ≈ 1011 cm-2 · eV-1). In particular, stress induced leakage current (SILC) characteristics showed that the generation of defect states can be dramatically suppressed in metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structures with plasma-assisted oxide layer due to the formation of stable Si-O bonds and the reduced concentrations of SiOxCy species defect states in the transition layer. That is, energetically stable interfacial states of high quality SiO2 on SiC can be obtained by the controlling the formation of SiOxCy through the highly reactive direct plasma-assisted oxidationmore » process.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [1]
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  1. Yonsei Univ., Seoul (Korea)
  2. Yonsei Univ., Wonju (Korea)
  3. Seonam Univ., Namwon (Korea)
  4. Samsung, Hwaseong-si (Korea)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Samsung Electronics; Yonsei University
OSTI Identifier:
1624861
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-98CH10886
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; science & technology - other topics; electronic properties and materials; structural properties

Citation Formats

Kim, Dae-Kyoung, Jeong, Kwang-Sik, Kang, Yu-Seon, Kang, Hang-Kyu, Cho, Sang W., Kim, Sang-Ok, Suh, Dongchan, Kim, Sunjung, and Cho, Mann-Ho. Controlling the defects and transition layer in SiO2 films grown on 4H-SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/srep34945.
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Kim, Dae-Kyoung, Jeong, Kwang-Sik, Kang, Yu-Seon, Kang, Hang-Kyu, Cho, Sang W., Kim, Sang-Ok, Suh, Dongchan, Kim, Sunjung, & Cho, Mann-Ho. Controlling the defects and transition layer in SiO2 films grown on 4H-SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep34945
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Kim, Dae-Kyoung, Jeong, Kwang-Sik, Kang, Yu-Seon, Kang, Hang-Kyu, Cho, Sang W., Kim, Sang-Ok, Suh, Dongchan, Kim, Sunjung, and Cho, Mann-Ho. Mon . "Controlling the defects and transition layer in SiO2 films grown on 4H-SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep34945. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1624861.
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@article{osti_1624861,
title = {Controlling the defects and transition layer in SiO2 films grown on 4H-SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation},
author = {Kim, Dae-Kyoung and Jeong, Kwang-Sik and Kang, Yu-Seon and Kang, Hang-Kyu and Cho, Sang W. and Kim, Sang-Ok and Suh, Dongchan and Kim, Sunjung and Cho, Mann-Ho},
abstractNote = {The structural stability and electrical performance of SiO2 grown on SiC via direct plasma-assisted oxidation were investigated. To investigate the changes in the electronic structure and electrical characteristics caused by the interfacial reaction between the SiO2 film (thickness ~5 nm) and SiC, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and electrical measurements were performed. The SiO2 films grown via direct plasma-assisted oxidation at room temperature for 300s exhibited significantly decreased concentrations of silicon oxycarbides (SiOxCy) in the transition layer compared to that of conventionally grown (i.e., thermally grown) SiO2 films. Moreover, the plasma-assisted SiO2 films exhibited enhanced electrical characteristics, such as reduced frequency dispersion, hysteresis, and interface trap density (Dit ≈ 1011 cm-2 · eV-1). In particular, stress induced leakage current (SILC) characteristics showed that the generation of defect states can be dramatically suppressed in metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structures with plasma-assisted oxide layer due to the formation of stable Si-O bonds and the reduced concentrations of SiOxCy species defect states in the transition layer. That is, energetically stable interfacial states of high quality SiO2 on SiC can be obtained by the controlling the formation of SiOxCy through the highly reactive direct plasma-assisted oxidation process.},
doi = {10.1038/srep34945},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = 1,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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Journal Article:
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https://doi.org/10.1038/srep34945
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Cited by: 27 works
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Cross-sectional HR-TEM images of the (a) thermally grown and (b) plasma-assisted SiO2 films on SiC substrates. (c) Si 2p core-level spectra of the thermally grown and plasma-assisted SiO2 films on SiC substrates.
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Effect of pulsed UV laser irradiation on 4H-SiC MOS with thermal gate oxide
    journal, January 2020

    • Luo, Zhipeng; Wan, Caiping; Xu, Hengyu
    • Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, Vol. 31, Issue 8
    • DOI: 10.1007/s10854-019-02610-4

    On the unusual amber coloration of nanoporous sol-gel processed Al-doped silica glass: An experimental study
    journal, August 2019

    High-pressure microwave plasma oxidation of 4H-SiC with low interface trap density
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    • Liu, Xinyu; Hao, Jilong; You, Nannan
    • AIP Advances, Vol. 9, Issue 12
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5115538

    Solvent-Free Process for the Development of Photocatalytic Membranes
    journal, December 2019

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