Date Available
8-3-2012
Year of Publication
2012
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)
College
Engineering
Department/School/Program
Electrical Engineering
Advisor
Dr. Zhi Chen
Abstract
In decades, the tremendous development of integrated circuits industry could be mostly attributed to SiO2, since its satisfactory properties as a gate dielectric candidate. The effectivity of SiO2 has been challenged since dielectric layer was scaled down below 3nm, when the gate leakage current of SiO2 became unacceptable. Institution to silicon-based CMOS techniques were proposed, but they have their own limitations. Nowadays, materials with high dielectric constants are mainstream gate dielectric materials in industry, but a SiO2 interfacial layer is still necessary to avoid gap between gate dielectric layer and Si substrate, and to minimize interface trap charges. In this thesis work, by applying lateral heating process on Si wafer with thermally grown ultrathin SiO2, the gate leakage current density could be reduced by 3-5 order of magnitude. MOS capacitors were fabricated, and electrical properties were tested with semiconductor parameter analyzer and LCR meter. The underlying mechanism of this appealing phenomenon was explored. Since unacceptable gate leakage current is one of the main reasons which prevent the scaling trend in semiconductor industry, this technology brings a possibility to post-pone the end of scaling trend, and pave a way for extensive application in industry. A new method for fabrication of MOS capacitors metal gate has been developed, and lift-off process has been replaced by wet etching process. This method provides better contact between dielectric layer and metal gate, meanwhile much easier operation.
Recommended Citation
Han, Lei, "IMPROVEMENT OF SILICON OXIDE QUALITY USING HEAT TREATMENT" (2012). Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering. 5.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ece_etds/5
