Analysis of the effect of hydrogen-radical annealing for SiO2 passivation

The effect of hydrogen-radical annealing for SiO2 passivation was examined. The annealing effect was analyzed by measuring effective lifetime and C-V characteristics and was compared with the effects of forming gas annealing (FGA) and hydrogen RF plasma annealing. The effect of hydrogen-radical annealing is much higher than those of FGA and hydrogen RF plasma annealing. It was also confirmed that both changes of surface recombination velocity and interface state density showed the same tendency. Furthermore, the investigations of hydrogen-radical density showed that by using microwave afterglow method, hydrogen-radicals could be generated much more than that by RF plasma. Accordingly, more interface trap density could be terminated and surface recombination velocity was effectively decreased by using microwave afterglow method.