Enhancement in soft breakdown occurrence of ultra-thin gate oxides caused by photon eect in rapid thermal post-oxidation annealing
نویسندگان
چکیده
Soft breakdown properties aected by photon energy during rapid thermal post-oxidation annealing (POA) of ultrathin gate oxide are investigated. Generally, breakdown can be classi®ed into normal hard breakdown (HBD) and soft breakdown (SBD). It was found that the occurrence of HBD and SBD depends on the process and stress ®eld. Samples with front and back sides illuminated by a tungsten±halogen lamp during rapid thermal POA were examined. We ®nd that front side illuminated oxides show easier SBD than back side ones. These results indicate that the photon energy may not only enhance the strength of Si±O bonds to suppress the lateral propagation of breakdown spots, but also to localize defects to form a conductive path of the leakage current. The understanding of the photon eect in rapid thermal POA is useful for controlling the electrical properties of ultra-thin gate oxides. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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