Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2000367 |
| Journal | Physica Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Early online date | 22 Sept 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2020 |
Abstract
Stacks of hydrogen-lean aluminum oxide, deposited via plasma-assisted atomic-layer-deposition, and hydrogen-rich plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposited silicon nitride (SiN x) are applied to boron-doped float-zone silicon wafers. A rapid thermal annealing (RTA) step is performed in an infrared conveyor-belt furnace at different set-peak temperatures. The hydrogen content diffused into the crystalline silicon during the RTA step is quantified by measurements of the silicon resistivity increase due to hydrogen passivation of boron dopant atoms. These experiments indicate that there exists a temperature-dependent maximum in the introduced hydrogen content. The exact position of this maximum depends on the composition of the SiN x layer. The highest total hydrogen content, exceeding 10 15 cm −3, is introduced into the silicon bulk from silicon-rich SiN x layers with a refractive index of 2.3 (at λ = 633 nm) at an RTA peak temperature of 800 °C, omitting the Al 2O 3 interlayer. Adding an Al 2O 3 interlayer with a thickness of 20 nm reduces the hydrogen content by a factor of four, demonstrating that Al 2O 3 acts as a highly effective hydrogen diffusion barrier. Measuring the hydrogen content in the silicon bulk as a function of Al 2O 3 thickness at different RTA peak temperatures provides the hydrogen diffusion length in Al 2O 3 as a function of measured temperature.
Keywords
- aluminum oxide, defects, diffusion, hydrogen, silicon
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- General Materials Science
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
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In: Physica Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters, Vol. 14, No. 12, 2000367, 01.12.2020.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Atomic‐Layer‐Deposited Al2O3 as Effective Barrier against the Diffusion of Hydrogen from SiNx:H Layers into Crystalline Silicon during Rapid Thermal Annealing
AU - Helmich, Lailah
AU - Walter, Dominic C.
AU - Bredemeier, Dennis
AU - Schmidt, Jan
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank C. Marquardt for sample processing. This work was funded by the German State of Lower Saxony and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy within the research project LIMES (Contract no. 0324204D). The content is the responsibility of the authors. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - Stacks of hydrogen-lean aluminum oxide, deposited via plasma-assisted atomic-layer-deposition, and hydrogen-rich plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposited silicon nitride (SiN x) are applied to boron-doped float-zone silicon wafers. A rapid thermal annealing (RTA) step is performed in an infrared conveyor-belt furnace at different set-peak temperatures. The hydrogen content diffused into the crystalline silicon during the RTA step is quantified by measurements of the silicon resistivity increase due to hydrogen passivation of boron dopant atoms. These experiments indicate that there exists a temperature-dependent maximum in the introduced hydrogen content. The exact position of this maximum depends on the composition of the SiN x layer. The highest total hydrogen content, exceeding 10 15 cm −3, is introduced into the silicon bulk from silicon-rich SiN x layers with a refractive index of 2.3 (at λ = 633 nm) at an RTA peak temperature of 800 °C, omitting the Al 2O 3 interlayer. Adding an Al 2O 3 interlayer with a thickness of 20 nm reduces the hydrogen content by a factor of four, demonstrating that Al 2O 3 acts as a highly effective hydrogen diffusion barrier. Measuring the hydrogen content in the silicon bulk as a function of Al 2O 3 thickness at different RTA peak temperatures provides the hydrogen diffusion length in Al 2O 3 as a function of measured temperature.
AB - Stacks of hydrogen-lean aluminum oxide, deposited via plasma-assisted atomic-layer-deposition, and hydrogen-rich plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposited silicon nitride (SiN x) are applied to boron-doped float-zone silicon wafers. A rapid thermal annealing (RTA) step is performed in an infrared conveyor-belt furnace at different set-peak temperatures. The hydrogen content diffused into the crystalline silicon during the RTA step is quantified by measurements of the silicon resistivity increase due to hydrogen passivation of boron dopant atoms. These experiments indicate that there exists a temperature-dependent maximum in the introduced hydrogen content. The exact position of this maximum depends on the composition of the SiN x layer. The highest total hydrogen content, exceeding 10 15 cm −3, is introduced into the silicon bulk from silicon-rich SiN x layers with a refractive index of 2.3 (at λ = 633 nm) at an RTA peak temperature of 800 °C, omitting the Al 2O 3 interlayer. Adding an Al 2O 3 interlayer with a thickness of 20 nm reduces the hydrogen content by a factor of four, demonstrating that Al 2O 3 acts as a highly effective hydrogen diffusion barrier. Measuring the hydrogen content in the silicon bulk as a function of Al 2O 3 thickness at different RTA peak temperatures provides the hydrogen diffusion length in Al 2O 3 as a function of measured temperature.
KW - aluminum oxide
KW - defects
KW - diffusion
KW - hydrogen
KW - silicon
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091846175&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/pssr.202000367
DO - 10.1002/pssr.202000367
M3 - Article
VL - 14
JO - Physica Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters
JF - Physica Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters
SN - 1862-6254
IS - 12
M1 - 2000367
ER -