In-Situ Multiprocessing of Ultrathin Silicon Nitride Capacitors for Advanced Dram Cells

ABSTRACTUltrathin silicon nitride capacitors were fabricated using in-situ multiprocessing technology. In this paper we present comparative studies of capacitor formation using standard furnace processing, rapid thermal processing (RTP), and cluster tool processing of ONO dielectric films. We show that, due to better interface control using cluster tool processing, higher capacitance can be obtained for a fixed leakage level for the same thickness of dielectric film when compared to furnace and rapid thermal processing. We discuss the structural and electrical properties of these films and show that, due to an oxide-free interface, the improved film quality results in lower leakage current density and higher reliability.

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Advanced Dram Cell Dielectric Films using Rapid Thermal Processing

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-342-305 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 342 ◽

Author(s):

Randhir P.S. Thakur ◽

Viju K. Mathews ◽

Pierre C. Fazan

Keyword(s):

Silicon Nitride ◽

Thermal Processing ◽

Structural Characteristics ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Random Access ◽

Dielectric Materials ◽

Nonlinear Dependence ◽

Dielectric Films ◽

Storage Node ◽

Carrier Tunneling

ABSTRACTThe reliable operation of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device requires a minimum level of charge to be stored in the capacitor. The nonlinear dependence between the scaling of the minimum charge and the cell area for higher DRAM densities is the driving force in the development of exotic capacitor structures and advanced cell dielectric materials. The conventional option of reducing the thickness of the silicon nitride dielectric films for high density DRAM applications will eventually be constrained by the increase in the leakage current due to direct carrier tunneling or by the decrease in the oxidation resistance of the films.In this paper we discuss the use of rapid thermal processing to modify the interface between the polysilicon storage node of the capacitor and the silicon nitride to improve the electrical and structural characteristics without any loss in capacitance. The influence of electrode roughness on the electrical behavior will also be discussed for the various dielectric stack combinations.

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Rapid Thermal/Plasma Processing for In-Situ Dielectric Engineering (Invited)

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-92-73 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 92 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Mehrdad M. Moslehi

Keyword(s):

Silicon Nitride ◽

Thermal Plasma ◽

Thermal Processing ◽

Microwave Plasma ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Plasma Processing ◽

Plasma Nitridation ◽

Thermal Plasma Processing ◽

Custom Made

ABSTRACTRapid thermal processing of silicon in oxygen and ammonia ambients is an attractive technique for the growth of thin dielectrics such as silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, nitrided oxides, oxidized nitrides, and application-specific (composition-tailored) insulators. Multicycle rapid thermal growth processes are suitable for dielectric engineering and in-situformation of thin layered insulators with a variety of controllable oxygen and nitrogen compositional depth profiles by appropriate design of the temperature and ambient gas cycles. The growth and electrical properties of various dielectrics rapidly grown by the state-of-the-art techniques and their corresponding device performance are examined. Rapid thermal processing and microwave plasma generation have been combined in a novel custom-made multipurpose reactor for rapid plasma-enhanced multiprocessing of Si, Ge, and GaAs. Thin germanium nitride dielectrics can be formed by rapid thermal or plasma nitridation for germanium CMOS applications. Combination of in-situ rapid plasma nitridation followed by silicon nitride deposition may prove to be effective for MIS structures and surface passivation on GaAs. These new applications of rapid thermal/plasma processing are additional steps towards realization of fully RTP-based Si VLSI fabrication processes and development of new devices and technologies on other semiconductor materials.

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Low thermal budget in situ cleaning and passivation for silicon epitaxy in a multichamber rapid thermal processing cluster tool

Materials Letters ◽

10.1016/0167-577x(94)90207-0 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 137-141 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mahesh K. Sanganeria ◽

Katherine E. Violette ◽

Mehmet C. Öztürk ◽

Gari Harris ◽

C.Archie Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Processing ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Thermal Budget ◽

Silicon Epitaxy ◽

Low Thermal Budget ◽

Cluster Tool

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Commercial RTP-A SEMATECH Perspective

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-429-309 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 429 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tony Speranza ◽

Terry Riley ◽

Arun Nanda ◽

Burt Fowler ◽

Kenneth Torres ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Process Control ◽

Thermal Processing ◽

Semiconductor Manufacturing ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Component Technology ◽

Tool Development ◽

Productivity Improvement ◽

The Past ◽

Vertical Furnace ◽

Cluster Tool

AbstractThis paper discusses various commercial aspects of Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP). It provides an overview of SEMATECH's efforts to improve the manufacturing viability of RTP. Over the past several years SEMATECH, a U.S. Government/Industry consortium, has identified thermal equipment and processing needs relating to semiconductor manufacturing. It has aggressively pursued solutions to these needs through specific equipment projects. These projects include: RTP Installed Base Productivity Improvement, 0.25um RTP Tool Development, and RTP Modeling and Component Technology. Also discussed are several thermal projects which focus on the performance of more traditional tools. A comparison between RTP and a vertical furnace with model based process control and a small batch fast ramp furnace is made. A brief discussion of an RTP gate stack cluster tool project is followed by a review of future thermal processing needs, including 300mm.

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Design and operation of a cluster-tool-based rapid thermal processing module

[1993] Proceedings of the Tenth Biennial University/Government/Industry Microelectronics Symposium ◽

10.1109/ugim.1993.297053 ◽

2002 ◽

Author(s):

A.M. Bayoumi ◽

C.L. Silvestre ◽

R.T. Keuhn ◽

J.R. Hauser

Keyword(s):

Thermal Processing ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Processing Module ◽

Cluster Tool

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Polarity asymmetry of electrical characteristics of thin nitrided polyoxides prepared by in-situ multiple rapid thermal processing

Solid-State Electronics ◽

10.1016/0038-1101(91)90086-e ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 181-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G.Q. Lo ◽

A.W. Cheung ◽

D.L. Kwong ◽

N.S. Alvi

Keyword(s):

Thermal Processing ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Electrical Characteristics

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Temperature Monitoring by Ripple Pyrometry in Rapid Thermal Processing

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-429-291 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 429 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Binh Nguyenphu ◽

Minseok Oh ◽

Anthony T. Fiory

Keyword(s):

Temperature Control ◽

Integrated Circuit ◽

Thermal Processing ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Back Side ◽

Integrated Circuit Manufacturing ◽

Current Trends ◽

Processing Steps ◽

Electrical Data

AbstractCurrent trends of silicon integrated circuit manufacturing demand better temperature control in various thermal processing steps. Rapid thermal processing (RTP) has become a key technique because its single wafer process can accommodate the reduced thermal budget requirements arising from shrinking the dimensions of devices and the trend to larger wafers. However, temperature control by conventional infrared pyrometry, which is highly dependent on wafer back side conditions, is insufficiently accurate for upcoming technologies. Lucent Technologies Inc., formerly known as AT&T Microelectronics and AT&T Bell Laboratories, has developed a powerful real-time pyrometry technique using the A/C ripple signal from heating lamps for in-situ temperature measurement. Temperature and electrical data from device wafers have been passively collected by ripple pyrometers in three RTP systems and analyzed. In this paper we report the statistical analysis of ripple temperature and electrical data from device wafers for a typical implant anneal process temperature range of 900 to 1000 °C.

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Polysilicon Emitter Transistors Manufactured using a Novel Limited Reaction Processing System

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-146-133 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 146 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fred Ruddell ◽

Colin Parkes ◽

B Mervyn Armstrong ◽

Harold S Gamble

Keyword(s):

Thermal Processing ◽

Rapid Thermal Processing ◽

Processing System ◽

Bipolar Transistors ◽

Native Oxide ◽

Plasma Oxidation ◽

Oxide Removal ◽

Polysilicon Emitter ◽

Reaction Processing

ABSTRACTThis paper describes a LPCVD reactor which was developed for multiple sequential in-situ processing. The system is capable of rapid thermal processing in the presence of plasma stimulation and has been used for native oxide removal, plasma oxidation and silicon deposition. Polysilicon layers produced by the system are incorporated into N-P-N polysilicon emitter bipolar transistors. These devices fabricated using a sequential in-situ plasma clean-polysilicon deposition schedule exhibited uniform gains limited to that of long single crystal emitters. Devices with either plasma grown or native oxide layers below the polysilicon exhibited much higher gains. The suitability of the system for sequential and limited reaction processing has been established.

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