Modelling of silicon oxynitridation by nitrous oxide using the reaction rate approach

Abstract

Large technological progress in oxynitridation processing leads to the introduction of silicon oxynitride as ultra-thin gate oxide. On the theoretical side, few studies have been dedicated to the process modelling of oxynitridation. Such an objective is a considerable challenge regarding the various atomistic mechanisms occurring during this fabrication step. In this article, some progress performed to adapt the reaction rate approach for the modelling of oxynitride growth by a nitrous ambient are reported. The Ellis and Buhrman's approach is used for the gas phase decomposition modelling. Taking into account the mass balance of the species at the interface between the oxynitride and silicon, a minimal kinetic model describing the oxide growth has been calibrated and implemented. The influence of nitrogen on the reaction rate has been introduced in an empirical way. The oxidation kinetics predicted with this minimal model compares well with several experiments