bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Accelerated Breakdown in Thin Oxide Films Due to Interfacial Stress and Carrier Depletion
Authors: Subramanian V. , Bhat N. , Saraswat K. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractWe present the results of experiments studying the effect of carrier depletion and interfacial stress on time to breakdown of'thin oxide films during constant current stressing High energy electrons resulting from carrier depletion conditions increase damage to oxides during tunneling. Carrier depletion conditions cause a dramatic decrease in time to breakdown and increase the number of early failures substantially. Mechanical interfacial stress results in a degradation in oxide reliability. Anode interfacial stress has been uniquely isolated from other phenomena such as cathode surface roughness, and has been shown to result in accelerated breakdown. These results have implications on oxide reliability and on test methodologies to obtain a measure of the same
Structure and Growth of N2O Gate Oxynitrides
Authors: Ellis K. A. , Carr E. C. , Buhrman R. A. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractA series of investigations have been conducted into the properties of N2O silicon oxynitride gate dielectrics, and the various methods of their growth. One of the principle advantages of these oxides is their resistance to interface state generation. This is linked to the presense of nitrogen near the substrate interface, where it is triply bonded to silicon. It is also demonstrated that during N2O-based furnace growth, the total concentration of NOx species varies strongly with the flow rate of N2O. This has been correlated to the temperature profile of the furnace, which can be affected by the exothermic decomposition of N2O. This property has been exploited to controllably adjust the rate of nitrogen incorporation by up to a factor of three. Although nitrogen incorporation during furnace processing is generally stable, it is shown that atomic oxygen is capable of removing previously incorporated nitrogen. Sources of atomic oxygen include the decomposition of N2O during RTP treatment, N2O processing in a high flow rate furnace, or from ozone annealing.
A Two-Step, Lightly Nitrided Gate Oxidation Process For Sub-0.5 μm Cmos Technology
Authors: Roy P. K. , Ma Y. , Flemming M. T. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThis work describes a two-step, lightly nitrided gate oxidation process for sub-0.5 jtm CMOS technology. This process is a simple extension of conventional oxidation using an in-situ N2O post oxidation anneal for nitrogen incorporation. Light nitrogen incorporation (∼3%) near the Si/SiO2 interface has improved oxide characteristics such as defect density (Do.), wear-out (Nbd), breakdown (Vbd) and tunneling (VFN) without altering its charge trapping behavior. Impacts of nitridation are more significant for thinner (<65Å) gate oxides (GOX).
Trapping Behavior of Thin Siliconoxynitride Layers Prepared by Rapid Thermal Processing
Authors: Beyer R. , Burghardt H. , Reich R. , Thomas E. , Grambole D. , Herrmann F. , Scholz T. , Albrecht J. , Zahn D. R. T. , Gessner T. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractSiliconoxynitride layers with thicknesses between 5 and 10 nm were grown on (100) oriented silicon by rapid thermal processing (RTP) using either N2O or NH3 as nitridant. In order to study the trapping behaviour at the interface and in the insulator bulk, capacitance-voltage (CV) and current-voltage (IV) measurements have been performed combined with different magnitudes of Fowler-Nordheim stress. In addition, Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) has been applied for interface state detection. Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) has been used to obtain depth profiles for Si, N, O and C. The deconvolution of the AES signal displays significant peak contributions related to intermedium oxidation states. Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) was successfully applied for hydrogen detection in buried SiOxNy thin films.
An Optical Approach to Evaluating the Effects of Chlorine on the Quality Of Si/SiO2 Interfaces
Authors: Sherry Julia , Lowell John , Hossain Tim , Debusk Damon 
Published: April 2011

AbstractIn CMOS, the addition of chlorine particularly in TCA form to the growth of thermal oxides in logic technologies is well-known and pervasive. In addition to the increasing environmental concerns of chlorine use, one of the important parameters is the amount of metallic contamination due to transition metals such as Fe in the Si, and alkali metals like Na in the oxide since these phenomena effect both device performance and quality. However, the ability to measure this parameter on product material is not generally available due to inherent problems with most known methods. In this paper we report on the application of high-injection, frequency based optical surface photovoltage (SPV) and a more recent technique known as a contact potential difference (CPD) to both quantify and qualify as-grown oxides on CZ P-type silicon.
Adhesion Reliability of Cu-Cr Alloy Films to Polyimide
Authors: Ahn E. C. , Yu Jin , Oh T. C. , Park I. S. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractCuCr alloys with varying Cr content were sputter deposited on polyimide films, and the metal/polyimide films were maintained under 350°C/N2 environment up to 10 hours for reliability measurements. Before exposure to 350°C, the peel strength increased proportionally with the Cr content in the alloy layer up to 17% and saturated. After exposure to 350°C, the peel strength dropped for all the specimens due to the formation of Cr2O3 at the metal/polyimide interface, and the effect was most drastic for the specimen with the lowest Cr content, which failed along the Cr-oxide/polyimide interface. Depletion of carbidic bonds at the metal/polyimide interface accompanied the oxide formation, and the result was quite devastating for the specimens with low Cr content in the alloy layer.
Effect of the Finite Source Material on Electromigration Performance of a Novel Interconnect Test Structure
Authors: Bui Nguyen D. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractEffects of finite source material, in multilevel interconnect systems, on reliability has been investigated. Two types of novel test structures were used in this study: 1] asymmetrical design structure in width and thickness for the top and bottom conductor layers, 2] symmetrical design structure in width and thickness for the top and bottom conductor layers. The results of the asymmetric contact and via chains studies showed that the electromigration lifetimes were not effected by the difference in the magnitude of the finite source material. The electromigration lifetimes of the symmetrical via structure, in width and thickness for the top and bottom conductor layers, exhibited a strong dependence on the finite source material. A failure model is proposed to explain the effect of finite source material on electromigration performance in such interconnect systems.
RTA Processing of W-Polycide Dual-Gate Sub-Micron Structures for Low-Voltage CMOS Technology
Authors: Bevk J. , Furtsch M. , Georgiou G. E. , Hillenius S. J. , Schielein D. , Schiml T. , Silverman P. J. , Luftman H. S. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractDeep submicron CMOS technology for low-power, low-voltage applications requires the use of symmetric n+/p+ poly gate structures. This requirement introduces a number of processing challenges, involving fundamental issues of atomic diffusion over distances of 1Å to ∼30μm. Two of the critical issues are dopant cross-diffusion between P- and NMOS devices with connected gates, resulting in large threshold voltage shifts, and boron penetration through the gate oxide. We show that in devices with W-polycide dual-gat:e structure most of these problems can be alleviated by using rapid thermal annealing, RTA, in combination with a few additional, simple processing steps (e. g., low-temperature recrystallization of a-Si layer and selective nitrogen coimplants). The RTA step, in particular, ensures thai: the boron activation in the p+ poly-Si remains high and negates any effects of arsenic cross-diffusion. CMOS devices with properly processed gates have low gate stack profiles, small threshold voltage shifts (<30mV), and excellent device characteristics.
Evaluation of Applied Materials' Rapid Thermal Processor Using SEMATECH Methodologies for 0.25 m Technology Thermal Applications-Part I
Authors: Riley Terrence J. , Nanda Arun K. , Miner Gary , Pas Michael F. , Hossain-Pas Sylvia , Velo Lino A. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractUnder a joint development contract with Applied Materials (AMAT) and Texas Instruments (TI), SEMATECH undertook a project (Joint Development Project J100) with a goal of delivering a cost effective, technically advanced Rapid Thermal Processor (RTP). The RTP tool was specified to meet the present and future manufacturing needs of SEMATECH's member companies. The J100 results contained here will focus on the temperature and control performance of the AMAT RTP tool. The evaluation methodology included passive data collection (PDC) to check the tool stability, screening experiments to isolate the variable interaction and to define the process window, broad range and narrow range sensitivity studies to determine the sheet resistance dependence on thermal budget for small increments in temperature set point, perturbation experiments to determine localized control, and stability experiments to check for drift and process repeatability. The impact of wafer emissivity on source/drain rapidthermal annealing was evaluated by processing wafers with varying backside films. The PDC experiments demonstrated the tool to be stable. Screening experiments revealed the strong effect of temperature, followed by time, and time-temperature interaction on sheet resistance. Boron implanted (p+/n) wafers were found to be sensitive at a temperature of 1025 °C or less for a 10 second anneal whereas arsenic implanted wafers (n+/p) showed greater sensitivity at temperatures ranging from 1025 °C to 1100 °C for a 10 second anneal.
Studies of the Effect of Various Gas Species on Si-SiO2 Interface Charges and Surface Roughness for Rapid Thermal Deposited Gate Oxides
Authors: Bayoumi A. M. , Hauser J. R. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe formation of Si-SiO2 interfaces for 40–60Å rapid thermal CVD (RTCVD) MOS gate oxides has been studied, using cluster tool technology. SiH4/N2O chemistry is used to deposit stoichiometric oxides. In-situ thermal treatments, prior to oxide deposition, typically at 800–900°C, 30–60 sec, and 50 Torr. are conducted using O2, N2O, SiH4, NH3, HCl/N2 and HCl/O2. The effect of gas flow ratios during temperature ramp-up for RTCVD interface formation is also studied. This paper presents a new quick-turnaround approach for non-destructive evaluation of Si-SiO2 interface quality for fully fabricated devices, in terms of interface charges and surface roughness.
Thin Nitride Films: Pushing the Limits Using Rapid Thermal Processing
Authors: DeBoer S. J. , Thakur R. P. S. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractSilicon nitride, a celebrated dielectric material in semiconductor processing, is used extensively in almost all of today's key technologies (DRAM, microprocessor, SRAM, Flash memories, etc.). The physical and electrical properties of this material are well understood, and integration of silicon nitride in a given process is simple. As a result of these benefits, alternate dielectric material technologies have found limited acceptance. As feature sizes shrink, the formation of reliable thin nitride films is critical and the performance of these nitride films is very dependent on the technology used for their preparation. In this paper, we show that an incremental and overall improvement in the physical and electrical properties of nitride films can be attained by using rapid thermal processing technology.We present the nucleation behavior of the <100 Å nitride films on polysilicon surfaces. We investigate the integrity of these films as a function of predeposition environment and discuss the oxidation and punch-through resistance of cluster tool-deposited films. The results of our studies of the conduction mechanism in thin silicon nitride films and scaling limits for these films are shown. We also discuss the structural and electrical changes these films undergo during the subsequent reoxidation process performed for leakage current reduction.
GOI Impact of Cu, Ni and Al Atoms on the Wafer Surface Prior to RTP and Furnace Oxidations
Authors: Aderhold W. R. , Shah N. , Bogen S. , Bauer A. , Burte E. P. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe effects of Al, Cu, and Ni on Gate Oxide Integrity (GOI) are evaluated in a critical process sequence relevant for current CMOS technology. The test process is designed to evaluate the GOI effect of these metals after multiple oxide growth and strip steps. This work compares oxide growth in a furnace and Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP). Wearout and E ramp measurements show that Ni contamination is detrimental for GOI only after multiple oxidations. Atomic Force Measurement (AFM) showed that precipitates (presumably NiSi2) form at the interface during the first oxidation. These precipitates are oxidized during the next oxidation and lead to oxide surface roughness and local Fowler Nordheim (FN) current enhancements. RTP results in a higher density of these defects as compared to furnace oxidation. Cu is fast-diffusing into the substrate and leads to defects only during the n+-poly process. Therefore, no influence of the oxide process variations on the Cu defect formation was found. In addition, no difference for furnace or RTP processes was observed. Cu precipitates that form at the poly/oxide interface lead to very pronounced FN current enhancements. As Al is built in the oxide structure, no electrode roughness occurs that leads to FN current enhancement. RTP grown oxides are less affected by Al contamination. Al can be removed by stripping the oxide, whereas Ni and Cu cannot.
Effects of Reflective Surfaces on Silicon Emissivity and Temperature Measurements
Authors: Xu H. , Sturm J. C. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe effects of front-side reflective surfaces on the emissivity and temperature measurement of silicon wafers in a Rapid Thermal Processing chamber with backside heating are examined through optics modeling. Two schemes are contrasted. In (1), the pyrometry detector looks at the back-side of the wafer; in (2), it looks at the front-side of the wafer. In both cases, the temperature errors occur when the reflector's reflectivity deviates from unity. However, the error dependence on the reflector reflectivity exhibits interesting differences in these two schemes. Under the working conditions proposed in this paper, a non-ideal reflector introduces a bigger temperature error in the “backside-detector” scheme than in the “front-detector” scheme. Practical implications of these results are also discussed.
Emissivity Independent Process Control in a Short Wavelength ARC Lamp RTP Chamber
Authors: Lefrançois Marcel E. , Camm David M. , Hickson Brendon J. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractTwo dimensional temperature measurements of patterned wafers are presented. The measurements are made using a commercially available CCD camera operating at λ=900nm, yielding a spatial resolution of 1 pixel per mm2 and a relative accuracy of ±0.25 °C. The emissivity is determined using a reflectivity measurement made possible by the unique properties of a short wavelength arc lamp RTP chamber. The use of this measurement system for closed loop control is discussed and the application to maintaining accurate time temperature profiles independent of emissivity is described.
Memory Effect in RTCVD Epitaxy of Si and SiGe
Authors: Rittier G. , Tillack B , Wolansky D. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractIn the paper presented the memory effect of boron (B), phosphorus (P), and germanium (Ge) have been studied during the chemical vapor deposition of homoepitaxial Sifilms and heteroepitaxial SiGe- layers in different RTCVD equipment. The CVDprocesses were controlled by surface kinetics on Si substrates from H2, SiH4, GeH4, PH3, and B2H6 at the pressure of 2 mbar in the temperature range of 500°cC–700°C. T1e aufodoping effect from the wafer has been separated from the loading effect of the reactor. The memory effect has been shown to be small for Ge in Si and for B in Si and SiGe. However, a remarkable high memory effect has been found for P, especially in SiGe-films. There are different methods reducing the memory effect in RTCVD-reactors. In-situ gas phase etching by HCI or NF3 gives the best results in the reactors studied here. Based on the obtained results the opportunities and limitations of integrated processing of different Si and SiGe-films (e.g. complete stacks for Si/SiGe-HBT) in the same reaction chamber have been discussed.
Microwave Processing Applied to Ceramic Reactions
Authors: Gonzalez M. , Gomez I. , Aguilar J. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe necessary energy for processing ceramics usually comes from gas firing or electricity. With gas firing, ceramics processing is conducted at relative low temperatures. In the case of electric arc furnace, temperatures are high enough to smelt the material and the reaction takes place in a liquid state. In this work we use microwave radiation for conducting reactions between oxides to produce ceramic materials, mainly spinels. The microwave energy was supplied using an 800W magnetron operating at 2.45 GHz. The microstructure and the mineral composition were studied by means of SEM and X-Ray diffractometer respectively.
Continuous Processing of Sheet-Like Materials by Microwave Energy
Authors: Lewis David A. , Whitehair Stanley J. , Viehbeck Alfred , Shaw Jane M. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractInitial results for the continuous microwave processing of wide webs using a new microwave applicator are presented. The results show that acceptable uniformity can be obtained using this system and that with the appropriate controls, a very tight process window can be maintained to produce preimpregnated glass cloth (prepreg) for use in circuit board manufacture.
Microwave Sintering of Large Products
Authors: Saji Tasaburo 
Published: April 2011

AbstractA practical microwave ceramic sintering technology has been developed. To achieve the highest merit from microwave sintering, susceptors were not used. In this paper, the ceramic sintering process using the 28GHz mm-wave energy generated by a Gyrotron oscillator is described. Large sized (Φ 200 × 200 ) and complex shaped material of Si3N4, A12O3, and ZrO2 were successfully and reproducibly sintered. The sintered bodies exhibited high density and fine crystalline structure. The processed materials were found to have exceptional strength and toughness.The critical processing technology developed dealt with the means by which uniform and defect free sintered bodies are obtained. The processing stressed the importance of achieving a uniform electric field within the applicator and to decrease the sintering dependence on the materials’ temperature based dielectric loss properties. With the use of innovative support and thermal insulation structures, the processing system allowed for very precise temperature controls.
Processing and Characterization of Microwave and Conventionally Sintered Bulk YBCO High-Tc Superconductors
Authors: Al-Dawery I. A. H , Binner J. G. P. , Cross T. E. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe use of microwave energy for the sintering and annealing of high-Tc YBCO superconductors has been investigated with a view to taking advantage of the opportunities presented by this heating technique. It has been found to offer the possibility of sintering 'from the inside out' due to the nature of the temperature profile developed and as a result bulk YBCO bodies measuring 35 mm in diameter by 5 mm thick have been produced with completely uniform and high oxygen content (x = 7 in Yba2Cu3Ox) and densities of ≈ 98% of theoretical. These properties were achieved using processing times approximately one sixth of those required conventionally. A model for the microwave heating process is proposed.
Microwave Reaction Sintering of Tungsten Carbide Cobalt Hardmetals
Authors: Gerdes T. , Willert-Porada M. , Rödiger K. , Dreyer K. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractMicrowave reaction sintering of tungsten- carbon-, cobalt mixtures is described as a method that combines the liquid phase reaction sintering of tungsten carbide cobalt hardmetals with the enhanced densification behavior of hardmetals in the microwave field. Starting with green parts composed of W-, Co- powder, soot as carbon source and with varying amount of additives a dense and extremely fine grained hardmetal can be obtained in one pressureless microwave reaction sintering step.By this method hardmetals with improved mechanical properties can be obtained in a drastically simplified processing cycle, without time consuming steps such as carburizing and milling.
Cavity Effects and Hot Spot Formulation Inmicrowave Heated Ceramic Fibers
Authors: Kriegsmann G. A. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractRecently the heating of a thin ceramic cylinder in a single mode applicator was modeled and analyzed assuming a small Biot number and a known uniform electric field through out the sample. The resulting simplified mathematical equations explained the mechanism for the generation and growth of localized regions of high temperature. The results predicted that a hot-spot, once formed, will grow until it consumes the entire sample. Most experimental observations show that the hot-spot stabilizes and moves no further.A new model is proposed which incorporates the effect of the cavity and the nlonuiniform character of the electric field along the axis of the sample. The resulting simplified mathematical equations indicate that these effects stabilize the growth of hot-spots.
Dielectric Measurement Of Multi-Layered Medium Using An Open-Ended Waveguide
Authors: Tantot O. , Chatard-Moulin M. , Guillon P. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe use of a circular waveguide radiating into a multi-layered media allows the characterization of heterogeneous and fluid subtances. Many microwave measurement devices, based on reflection coefficient measurements, are subjected to air gap problems that introduce some inaccuracy in the determination of the unknown complex permittivity of the materials. Our purpose is to try and take the air gap into account in these measurements.
Measurement Of The Dielectric Properties Of Polystyrene Particles In Electrolyte Solution
Authors: Grosse C. , Tirado M. C. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractThe permittivity and conductivity of suspensions of spherical sub micron size polystyrene particles were measured in the 10 kHz to 10 MHz frequency range using a HP 4192A Impedance Analyzer. Due to the high conductivity of the samples (0.1 to 0.6 S/m) every detail of the measurements had to be optimized. For each sample, the instrument was calibrated as an electric quadrupole, by means of short, open, and reference measurements, using for this last a standard electrolyte with a conductivity similar to that of the sample. The results obtained were combined with measurements in the 1 MNHz to 28 GHz range made in Goettingen, Germany, using precisely the same samples. The final spectra cover the broadest frequency range to date for these systems.
3-D Temperature Distributions Produced by a Microwave Spot Heating Applicator
Authors: Roos R. M. , Thomas J. R. 
Published: April 2011

AbstractNumerical simulations were used to investigate the effectiveness for materials processing of recently announced microwave spot-heating applicators. These devices can produce heating in depth over a region a centimeter or two in diameter. Computed 3-D time-dependent temperature distributions for both stationary and moving samples suggest that such applicators could be very useful for joining of ceramics, such as alumina. Moving the beam relative to the workpiece at an appropriate rate avoids thermal runaway.