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Growth and characterization of thin oxide films on SiGe

University of British Columbia

Atomic oxygen from a remote plasma oxidation was used to grow a high quality gate oxide on SiGe at low temperatures. Atomic oxygen from a remote O₂ plasma was also used to form thin oxide films on SiGe₀.₀₂₅ that is capped with 12.5 Ā of Si at ~200°C. The characteristics and thicknesses of the oxide were determined by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). It was observed that the oxidation that resulted from exposure to Oatoms, produced a thin oxide film with both Si and Ge oxidized. The interfacial trap densities were continuously monitored with an RF-probe. The changes in trap density were quite rapid during the process of oxidation and subsequent exposure to hydrogen atoms. However, the disappearance of the carrier traps, when the H-atoms were shut off, was found to be slower and could be followed. This is true at all temperatures ranging from 20°C to 200°C. The kinetic analysis of this trap removal process reveals that, this is either a second order reaction with an activation energy of 0.35 eV, or there are two concurrent first order processes with activation energies of 0.21 eV and 0.16 eV. By comparing the behavior of Si capped SiGe₀.₀₂₅ with SiGe₀.₀₂₅, SiGe₀.₃ and intrinsic Si at ~200°C, it was found that all interfaces except SiGe₀.₃ benefit from exposure to atomic hydrogen after oxidation, and that after such a treatment the interfacial trap density is not significantly different on Si capped SiGe₀.₀₂₅, SiGe₀.₀₂₅ and intrinsic Si. The passivation level achieved by low temperature H-atoms treatment was also compared to a high temperature (~450°C) H₂ annealing process which was conducted according to the standard industrial practice. Similar passivation levels were achieved with both techniques.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-04-16

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7264

Chemistry

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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