Oxidation of Si and SiGe at a low substrate temperature using electron cyclotron resonance plasma

This work provides new information on the fabrication of high quality Si and SiGe oxide films at a low substrate temperature using an electron cyclotron resonance plasma. High quality silicon oxide films were produced by a low-thermal budget plasma oxidation process. The electrical properties of the silicon oxide films were found to be similar to the oxide films produced by a conventional thermal oxidation of silicon. The ultrathin oxides featured very low interface state densities, which are comparable to that of state-of-the-art thermally grown oxides. The oxide films also possessed a high cumulative breakdown voltage and a low leakage current.; A comprehensive study of plasma grown oxide films was performed and a set of universal guidelines for the manufacturing of high quality oxide films was developed. The influence of different oxidation parameters on the electrical properties of the oxide film was investigated.; A mathematical model of the plasma flow was developed in order to determine the optimal operating conditions of the electron cyclotron plasma source. It provided qualitative information on ion energy distributions in the plasma stream. A low kinetic energy of the incident ions was found to be essential for the growth of high quality silicon oxide films.; A new method to reduce the kinetic energy of the incident ions in the plasma stream was suggested by introducing a biased conductive grid between the sample holder and the plasma source. Improvement of the electrical properties of the oxide films was observed due to the reduction of the damage from high energy ions.; Ultrathin silicon oxynitride films were fabricated using electron cyclotron resonance plasma. Accumulation of nitrogen at the oxide-semiconductor interface was observed in the oxynitride films at a low temperature. This phenomenon resulted in improved reliability of the oxynitride films compared to the oxide films.; A novel technique for the improvement of the SiGe oxide films grown by an electron cyclotron resonance plasma was developed. It was established that SiGe oxide quality was improved after annealing in water vapor.