Chapter 6 Thermal oxidation

and the Si/SiO2 interface

1. SiO2 properties and applications.

2. Thermal oxidation basics.
3. Manufacturing methods and equipment.
4. Measurement methods (mechanical, optical, electrical).
5. Deal-Grove model (linear parabolic model).
6. Thin oxide growth, dependence on gas pressure and
crystal orientation.
7. Cl-containing gas, 2D growth, substrate doping effect .
8. Interface charges, dopant redistribution, rapid thermal
oxidation.

NE 343: Microfabrication and thin film technology

Instructor: Bo Cui, ECE, University of Waterloo; http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~bcui/ 1
Textbook: Silicon VLSI Technology by Plummer, Deal and Griffin
 Thin oxide growth
• The Deal-Grove model provides excellent agreement with experimental data
except for thin (<20nm) SiO2 grown in dry O2.
• When using the D-G equations for thick oxides grown in O2 on bare Si (Xi=0), one
needs to “assume” Xi=25nm.
• Or equivalently, one can use τ (≠0) to correct the Deal-Grove model to
compensate for the excess growth that occurs in the initial growth regime.

D-G (τ= 40hr)

~25nm

D-G (τ= 0)

2
 Mechanism for initial oxidation regime
Models to explain the excess growth of thin oxidation
• An electric field exists across oxide that enhances diffusion (if diffusing species is
O2-, but it is not.) during early states of oxidation.
• Thin micro-channels in oxide aid in the movement of O2 to the Si surface.
• Mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients of oxide and Si causes stress in oxide
and this stress may enhance the diffusivity of the oxidizing species.
But NONE of these mechanism gained wide acceptance. The exact mechanism is
still unknown.

3
 Model of Massoud et. al.

For D-G model:

Massoud model:

C=C0exp(-EA/kT)
C0≅3.6×108 μm/hr
EA ≅ 2.35 eV
L ≅ 7 nm

For Xo>>7nm, Massoud model

approaches DG model.
4
High gas pressure oxidation

(111) --------
(100)
t=1hr

Oxide thickness (μm)

920oC

750oC

steam

Steam pressure (atm)

5
 High gas pressure oxidation
• High pressure increases the oxide growth rate, by increasing the linear and parabolic
rate constants, which arises from the increased C* (=HPG).
• Both B/A and B is proportional to PG, the gas pressure.

• Up to 25atm, to reduce temperature/thermal budget in thick oxide fabrication

o ΔP=1atm leads to ΔT=-30oC for the same oxidation rate.
o Or, to grow a given oxide thickness at same temperature, time can be reduced.
• However, still not used in the VLSI fabrication, due to safety concerns at high pressure,
as well as reduced film thickness uniformity.
Experiment shows that:
For H2O oxidation, the growth rate is proportional to PG.
For O2 oxidation, the relationship is not linear.

n=0.7 – 0.8
Here “i” indicate the value at 1atm.
6
Wet oxidation Dry oxidation
 Dependence on crystal orientation
Oxidation rate depends on the availability of reaction sites on the silicon substrate.
Oxidation on the <111> crystal plane occurs at a higher rate because there are a higher
number of surface atoms/chemical bonds than the <100> plane.

7
Most IC made of <100> silicon.
 Dependence on crystal orientation
KS0 is a constant, roughly proportional to the number
of available Si bonds for reaction per unit area.
• Interface reaction rate constant Ks (cm/sec) depends on crystal orientation.
• So the liner grown rate B/A depends on crystal orientation. (B/A) 111= 1.68 (B/A)100
(1.68 ≠ 1.227/0.707=1.735, see previous slide)
• The parabolic rate constant B is NOT dependent on crystal orientation.
• So this effect decreases for high temperature and/or long time oxidation when
oxide become thick.

Figure 6-27
Simulation, (100) Si, in H2O at 900°C for 308 min
 Chapter 6 Thermal oxidation
and the Si/SiO2 interface

1. SiO2 properties and applications.

2. Thermal oxidation basics.
3. Manufacturing methods and equipment.
4. Measurement methods (mechanical, optical, electrical).
5. Deal-Grove model (linear parabolic model).
6. Thin oxide growth, dependence on gas pressure and
crystal orientation.
7. Cl-containing gas, 2D growth, substrate doping effect .
8. Interface charges, dopant redistribution, rapid thermal
oxidation.

NE 343 Microfabrication and thin film technology

Instructor: Bo Cui, ECE, University of Waterloo 9
Textbook: Silicon VLSI Technology by Plummer, Deal and Griffin
 Oxidation using Cl-containing gas mixture
Addition of Cl (1-3%) bearing species to oxidation ambient leads to:
• Faster oxide growth. Both B/A and B increases, because bond energy of Si-O is 4.25eV, Si-
Cl is 0.5eV, so Cl2 reacts with Si first to form Si-Cl, which then reacts with O2 to form SiO2.
Here Cl2 is a kind of catalyst.
• Cleaner oxide, less metallic contamination, since Cl is a metal getter. Most heavy metal
atoms react with Cl to form volatile metal chloride. Metallic contaminants originate from
heating elements and insulation around the fused silica flow tube in which the oxidation
is done.
• Enhanced dielectric strength, reduced oxide density, improved Si/SiO2 interface with
lower interface state density, thus improved device performance.

Chlorine species:
• Anhydrous chloride (CI2)
• Anhydrous hydrogen chloride (HCI)
• Trichloroethylene – TCE (C2HCl3)
• Trichloroethane – TCA (C2H3Cl3)
10
 Oxidation using Cl-containing gas mixture

The generated H2O makes the growth B faster (?)

Parabolic rate constant B (μm2/hr)

Linear rate constant B/A (μm/hr)

HCl concentration (vol. %) HCl concentration (vol. %)

11
 Two dimensional oxidation
Experiment shows that:
• Oxidation is slower for convex or concave
corners.
• Concave corner is even slower than convex
corner.
• The smaller the curvature radius is, the slower.
• More serious for low temperature oxidation, no
effect for high temperature 1200oC (when oxide
can “flow”).

Figure 6-29
Experiment Drawing to show the structure 12
 Fabrication steps for the structure in previous slide

Etch Si ring by reactive ion etching.

Side view

Grow oxide and deposit poly-silicon

Polish

13
 Two dimensional oxidation mechanism
Several physical mechanisms are important in explaining these results.
• Crystal orientation dependant rate.
• 2D oxidant diffusion (different from 1D).
• Stress due to volume expansion (we know when Si oxidizes, it expands). As the oxide
grows, the “newly” formed oxide pushes out the “old” oxide which rearranges itself
through viscous flow. Stress occurs typically on curved surfaces.
• To model the stress effects, Kao et. al. suggested modifying the Deal Grove parameters.

Newly
SiO2 grown
SiO2

Si

Top view

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 Effect of stress

σn and σt are stress along normal and tangential direction.

P is the hydrostatic pressure in the growing oxide.
VR, VT , VD and VS(≈0) are volume fitting parameters.
Sheer stress in oxide

Viscosity of SiO2

Stress-independent viscosity

(You are not required to remember or well understand those equations) 15

 Dopant dependence
Common Si dopants all tend to enhance oxidation rate of Si when present in the substrate
in high concentrations.
The effect is particularly important at lower temperatures and for thinner oxides, and is
more important for N+ doping than P+ doping.
The oxidation rate depends on:
The dopant concentration in SiO2 for diffusion controlled oxidation (B dominates).
The dopant concentration at Si surface for reaction controlled oxidation (B/A dominates).

B segregates into oxide,

weakens SiO2 bond
structure, increases oxidant
diffusivity D.

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 Dopant dependence: phosphorus
• Phosphorous piles up at Si surface, leads to more vacancies in Si (oxidation process need
space/vacancies), enhances oxidation rate in the reaction controlled regime (increase k s).
• Linear rate coefficient increases rapidly for surface doping levels greater than 10 20/cm3.
• Parabolic rate coefficient B shows only modest increases.

5× thicker for the heavily

doped region (right side) than
lightly doped region (left side)
2× thicker

17
 Chapter 6 Thermal oxidation
and the Si/SiO2 interface

1. SiO2 properties and applications.

2. Thermal oxidation basics.
3. Manufacturing methods and equipment.
4. Measurement methods (mechanical, optical, electrical).
5. Deal-Grove model (linear parabolic model).
6. Thin oxide growth, dependence on gas pressure and
crystal orientation.
7. 2D growth, Cl-containing gas, substrate doping effect.
8. Interface charges, dopant redistribution, rapid thermal
oxidation.

NE 343 Microfabrication and thin film technology

Instructor: Bo Cui, ECE, University of Waterloo 18
Textbook: Silicon VLSI Technology by Plummer, Deal and Griffin
 Oxide charge definitions
• Interface trapped charge (Qit): located at Si/SiO2 interface.
• Fixed oxide charge (Qf): positive charge located within 3nm of Si/SiO2 interface.
• Oxide trapped charges (Qot): associated with defects in the SiO2.
• Mobile ionic charges (Qm): result from contamination from Na or other alkali ions.

19
 Fixed oxide charges (Qf)
• Located in the oxide within approximately 3nm of the SiO2/Si interface.
• Qf cannot be charged or discharged easily (unchanged during device operation),
and it is reproducible/predictable.
• It is positive charge, with density 109-1011/cm2.
≡Si·
• It is due to incomplete oxidation of Si.
• Qf depends on temperature, smaller for higher temperature.
• Smaller Qf for faster cooling or cooling down in inert gas N2 or Ar.
• Addition of Cl-containing gas also reduces Qf.
This is why IC uses <100> Si.
• Qf <111> : Qf<110> : Qf <100>=3 : 2 : 1

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 Interface trapped charge (state) Qit
• Energy of those interface states are within the band gap, so Qit can be positive, negative or
neutral, depending on bias voltage. (i.e. those states can be filled with electrons or holes)
• They originate from structural defects related to the oxidation process, metallic impurities,
and bond-breaking processes (dangling bond ≡Si·).
• It has the same origin as Qf, so high Qf always means high Qit.

Low temperature hydrogen

(“forming gas”, 10% H2 + 90%
N2) anneal at 400-450oC after
metallization process
effectively neutralizes most
interface-trapped charges.

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 Mobile ionic charge Qm

• Mobile ion charges (Qm) are attributed to alkali ions such as Na, K, and Li, as well as
negative ions and heavy metals.
• It can shift MOSFET threshold voltage and cause device stability problems.
• It can be anywhere in the oxide layer, can move at high temperature or bias voltage.
• They originate from processing materials, chemicals, ambient, or handling.
• Common techniques employed to minimize Qm include:
o Cleaning the furnace tube in a chlorine ambient
o Addition of cl-containing gas during oxidation
o Gettering with phospho-silicate glass (PSG) to replace quartz tube
o Using masking layers such as Si3N4 to prevent the contaminants from getting into
the oxide.
• It was a big problem in 1960s, nowadays no longer a serious issue.

22
 Oxide trapped charge (state) Qot

• Oxide-trapped charges (Qot) may be positive or negative, due to holes or electrons

being trapped in the bulk of the oxide.
• It is caused by broken Si-O, Si-H or Si-OH bonds, due to ionization irradiation and
other energetic processes during evaporation (generate x-ray for e-beam
evaporation), sputtering (plasma), RIE and ion implantation.
• They can be annealed out by low-temperature (300oC) treatment in H2 or inert gas.
• 1000oC dry oxidation improves oxide structure and make it less susceptible to
irradiation.
• Oxide can also be protected from irradiation by covering with Al2O3 and Si3N4 that
are resistant to irradiation.
• Qot received more attention in recent years because, as the device shrinks, the
electric field within the oxide is increased. The high field may cause electrons to
inject to the traps in the oxide (charge trapping), which shifts the threshold voltage.

23
 Dopant re-distribution during oxidation
The ratio of the equilibrium concentration of the impurity in silicon to that in SiO 2 at
the interface is called the equilibrium segregation coefficient.
Two additional factors influence the redistribution process:
o The diffusivity of the impurity in the oxide (if large, the dopant can diffuse
through the oxide rapidly, thereby affecting the profile near the Si-SiO 2 interface).
o The rate at which the interface moves with respect to the diffusion rate.

24
Four cases of interest

Dopant piling up near Si interface

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 Rapid thermal oxidation (RTO)
• Conventional thermal oxidation for gate oxides < 30 Å must be performed at < 800°C, which
increases Si/SiO2 interfacial roughness and reduces channel mobility.
• Solution: RTO at around 1050°C using radiation heating source, time can be < 1min.
• RTO also reduces dopant re-distribution.
• RTO may be influenced by both thermally activated processes and a photon-induced
process involving mono-atomic O atoms generated by UV, thus creating a parallel oxidation
reaction that dominates at lower temperature.
• RTO growth kinetics exhibit activation energies differing from conventionally grown oxides.
• In the initial stage (~20 seconds), the RTO growth rate is linear followed by nonlinear
growth. Duration of the linear region is hardware dependent, particular the heating source.

Halogen lamps

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