Nitrogen Implantation and Diffusion in Silicon

Nitrogen implantation can be used to control gate oxide thicknesses [1,2]. This study aims at studying the fundamental behavior of nitrogen diffusion in silicon. Nitrogen at sub-amorphizing doses has been implanted as N 2 + at 40 keV and 200 keV into Czochralski silicon wafers. Furnace anneals have been performed at a range of temperatures from 650°C through 1050°C. The resulting annealed profiles show anomalous diffusion behavior. For the 40 keV implants, nitrogen diffuses very rapidly and segregates at the silicon/ silicon-oxide interface. Modeling of this behavior is based on the theory that the diffusion is limited by the time to create a mobile nitrogen interstitial.