• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.37-40
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• 1999

For the first time, charge trapping nonvolatile semiconductor memories with the deoxidized oxynitride gate dielectric is proposed and demonstrated. Gate dielectric wit thickness of less than 1 nm have been grown by postnitridation of pregrown thermal silicon oxides in NO ambient and then reoxidation. The nitrogen distribution and chemical state due to NO anneal/reoxidation were investigated by M-SIMS, TOF-SIMS, AES depth profiles. When the NO anneal oxynitride film was reoxidized on the nitride film, the nitrogen at initial oxide interface not only moved toward initial oxide interface, but also diffused through the newly formed tunnel oxide by exchange for oxygen. The results of reoxidized oxynitride(ONO) film analysis exhibits that it is made up of SiO$_2$(blocking oxide)/N-rich SiON interface/Si-rich SiON(nitrogen diffused tunnel oxide)/Si substrate. In addition, the SiON and the S1$_2$NO Phase is distributed mainly near the tunnel oxide, and SiN phase is distributed mainly at tunnel oxide/Si substrate interface.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.224-230
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• 2001

The characteristics of $NO/N_2O$ annealed reoxidized nitrided oxide being studied as super thin gate oxide and gate dielectric layers of Non-Volatile Semiconductor Memory (NVSM) were investigated by Dynamic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (D-SIMS), Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). The specimen was annealed by $NO/N_2O$ after initial oxide process and then rcoxidized for nitrogen redistribution in nitrided oxide. Out-diffusion of incorporated nitrogen during the wet oxidation in reoxidation process took place more strongly than that of the dry oxidation. It seems to indicate that hydrogen plays a role in breaking the Si N bonds. As reoxidation proceeds, incorporated nitrogen of $NO/N_2O$ annealed nitrided oxide is obsen-ed to diffuse toward the surface and substrate at the same time. ToF-SIMS results show that SiON species are detected at the initialoxide interface, and Si,NO species near the new $Si_2NO$ interface that formed after reoxidation. These SiON and $Si_2NO$ species most likely to relate to the origin of the state of memory charge traps in reoxidized nitrided oxide, because nitrogen dangling bonds of SiON and silicon dangling bonds of $Si_2NO$ are contained defects associated with memory effect.