1.0 nm Oxynitride Dielectrics Prepared by RTP in Mixtures of N 2 and O 2 Ambient

This work presents a reliable method of growing aggressively scaled, 1.0 nm thick, gate dielectric in mixtures of N 2 and O 2 ambient at 900°C for 15 s by rapid thermal processing (RTP). These oxynitride films have excellent interface properties, 100 times lower leakage current density, and better charge trapping properties than rapid thermal oxidation SiO 2 of identical thickness prepared in pure O 2 ambient. The effect of interfacial nitrogen concentration on the device characteristics with gate oxynitride films grown in various N 2 /O 2 gas flow ratios was also investigated. The results demonstrate that the uniform nitrogen content increases with the N 2 /O 2 gas flow ratio and that high-quality oxynitride films can be obtained by RTP in an optimum gas flow ratio of N 2 /O 2 = 5/1 (slm).