Hydrogen Termination Effect on SiO2/Si Interface State Density in CH3O-Molecular-Ion-Implanted Silicon Epitaxial Wafer for CMOS Image Sensors

The reduction in SiO2/Si interface state density (D-it) at the SiO2/Si interface region is important to improve the performance of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors. The CH3O-ion-implanted region stores hydrogen and releases the stored hydrogen during the subsequent heat treatment. This study demonstrates that a CH3O-ion-implanted epitaxial silicon wafer can reduce the D-it and Pb-0 center density in SiO2/Si interface regions, as analyzed by quasi-static capacitance-voltage and electron spin resonance measurements, respectively. Both D-it and Pb-0 center density in the CH3O-implanted wafer decreased with increasing heat treatment temperature. Moreover, the activation energy is estimated to be 1.57 eV for the hydrogen termination reactions induced by the CH3O-ion-implanted wafer. The activation energy is close to those of hydrogen molecules and Si dangling bonds at the SiO2/Si interface. This result means that D-it can be reduced by hydrogen from inside the silicon wafer, regardless of the heat treatment atmosphere. It has unique characteristics not found in conventional silicon wafers. The termination effect of the CH3O-molecular-ion-implanted epitaxial silicon wafers can contribute to the high electrical performance of CMOS image sensors.