Low-temperature formation of high-quality gate oxide by ultraviolet irradiation on spin-on-glass

Although a UV cure was found to effectively convert a perhydropolysilazane (PHPS) spin-on-glass film into a dense SiOx film at low temperature, the electrical characteristics were never reported in order to recommend the use of PHPS as a gate-oxide material that can be formed at low temperature. We have formed a high-quality gate oxide by UV irradiation on the PHPS film, and obtained an interface midgap trap density of 3.4 × 1011 cm−2 eV−1 by the UV wet oxidation and UV post-metallization annealing (PMA), at a temperature as low as 160 °C. In contrast to the UV irradiation using short-wavelength UV light, which is well known to enhance oxidation by the production of the excited states of oxygen, the UV irradiation was carried out using longer-wavelength UV light from a metal halide lamp. The UV irradiation during the wet oxidation of the PHPS film generates electron-hole pairs. The electrons ionize the H2O molecules and facilitate dissociation of the molecules into H and OH−. The OH− ions are highly react...