Profiling nitrogen in ultrathin silicon oxynitrides with angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract

Articles you may be interested inAnalysis of electronic structure of amorphous InGaZnO/SiO2 interface by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy Angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ͑AR-XPS͒ is utilized in this work to accurately and nondestructively determine the nitrogen concentration and profile in ultrathin SiO x N y films. With furnace growth at 800-850°C using nitric oxide ͑NO͒ and oxygen, 10 13 -10 15 cm Ϫ2 of nitrogen is incorporated in the ultrathin (р4 nm͒ oxide films. Additional nitrogen can be incorporated by low energy ion ( 15 N 2 ) implantation. The nitrogen profile and nitrogen chemical bonding states are analyzed as a function of the depth to understand the distribution of nitrogen incorporation during the SiO x N y thermal growth process. AR-XPS is shown to yield accurate nitrogen profiles that agree well with both medium energy ion scattering and secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis. Preferential nitrogen accumulation near the SiO x N y /Si interface is observed with a NO annealing, and nitrogen is shown to bond to both silicon and oxygen in multiple distinct chemical states, whose thermal stability bears implications on the reliability of nitrogen containing SiO 2 .

Nondestructive in‐depth composition profile of oxy‐hydroxide nanolayers on iron surfaces from ARXPS measurement

“…Livesey and Smith first applied this method to ARXPS studies. 9,12 Other examples of MEM applications can be found in Opila et al, 5,13 where the method was applied to ARXPS data from gate dielectric layers and from metal layers on SAM films, and in Champaneria et al, 14 where the method was applied to ARXPS data from high-k dielectric layers on silicon. Splinter et al 15 applied the MEM to the curve fitting of the XPS spectra.…”

Non‐destructive analysis of ultrathin dielectric films

“…Such methods have been described in detail elsewhere 10,11 and the description will not be repeated here. The low-binding-energy O 1s peak is thought to be from the HfO 2 and the high-binding-energy O 1s peak is from both SiO 2 and the oxygen contained in adsorbed materials.…”

Application of Maximum Entropy Method to Semiconductor Engineering

“…The most popular application in this field may be the extraction of the depth distribution of atoms inside ultrathin films [16][17][18][19][20]. In using MEM to analyze angle resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) data, Chang et al reconstructed nitrogen depth distribution in nitrided silicon oxide films (SiON) and concluded that MEM enables nondestructive determination of depth distribution [19]. Moreover, MEM made it possible to determine even the chemical-state-resolved depth distribution [19,20].…”

“…Although not many reports have been issued in this regard, MEM is gradually becoming popular as a powerful analyzing tool. The most popular application in this field may be the extraction of the depth distribution of atoms inside ultrathin films [16][17][18][19][20]. In using MEM to analyze angle resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) data, Chang et al reconstructed nitrogen depth distribution in nitrided silicon oxide films (SiON) and concluded that MEM enables nondestructive determination of depth distribution [19].…”

“…In using MEM to analyze angle resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) data, Chang et al reconstructed nitrogen depth distribution in nitrided silicon oxide films (SiON) and concluded that MEM enables nondestructive determination of depth distribution [19]. Moreover, MEM made it possible to determine even the chemical-state-resolved depth distribution [19,20]. This information cannot be obtained using other conventional methods such as medium energy ion scattering or secondary ion mass spectroscopy, which evidences the advantages of MEM.…”