Nitrogen at Si-SiO2 interfaces: Chemical bonding and electrical performance

This paper addresses the controlled incorporation of nitrogen atoms in the monolayer concentration range at Si-SiO2 interfaces by low-temperature plasma-assisted processing. The paper discusses i) the processing approach by which nitrogen has been incorporated at the Si-SiO2 interfaces, ii) the characterizations that have been used to establish the concentration and localization of these nitrogen atoms at the Si-SiO2 interface, iii) the growth of ultrathin oxide layers by plasma-assisted oxidation that accompanies the interface nitridation, iv) the stability of bonded interfacial nitrogen to downstream processing, v) the improvements in electrical performance and reliability that derive from interfacial nitrogen bonding, and vi) why interfacial nitrogen atoms threefold coordinated to silicon are more resistant to defect generation than interfacial nitrogen-hydrogen groups or oxygen atoms that are twofold coordinated to silicon.