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Surface Roughness Investigation of Thin SiO2 Films Deposited from N2O and SiH4

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

V.H.C. Watt ,
M. Moinpour ,
R. Sadjad ,
W. Lu ,
G. Neubauer  and
R. Bower
V.H.C. Watt
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
M. Moinpour
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
R. Sadjad
Affiliation:
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA 95052
W. Lu
Affiliation:
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA 95052
G. Neubauer
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
R. Bower
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
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Abstract

The surface roughness of deposited SiO2 has become increasingly important as integrated circuit (IC's) device dimensions approach the low sub-micron regime. The impact of roughness is consistent with that of gross paniculate contamination such that both contribute to device failure and low yield. SiO2 deposited from nitrous oxide (N2O) and silane (SiH4) addresses other stringent process requirement such as conformity and step coverage but, certain process conditions result in rough surface textures. For this study SiO2 was deposited at a pressure of 400 mTorr and at a temperature of 800°C in a vertical diffusion furnace (VDF) from SiH4 and N2O. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to investigate the film's surfaces for roughness. We have found that the surface roughness is a strong function of deposition pressure, total gas flow, and N2O/SiH4 flow ratio. In this paper, film roughness is presented as measured by the AFM and laser-based particle detector. The possible impact of roughness on device failure and hence low yield is also investigated.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 355: Symposium B1 – Evolution of Thin-Film and Surface Structure and Morphology , 1994 , 377
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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