Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
In this paper, the mechanisms of the suppression of Zr-silicide formation in poly-Si/ZrON/interfacial-layer/Si structure at 1000°C annealing are discussed in detail. It was demonstrated that gaseous SiO desorption, which played a dominant role in the silicide formation in the case of the ZrO2/SiO2/Si, was completely inhibited in the ZrON/interfacial-layer/Si structure. In addition, we have found that an ultrathin interfacial SiON layer between poly-Si and ZrON stabilized the interface. Consequently, we concluded that the effective nitrogen incorporation into top/bottom interfacial SiON layers with our process was responsible for the superior thermal stability of the stack.