Chapter 2 - Thermal Oxidation of Silicon and Si-SiO2 Interface Morphology, Structure and Localized States

Abstract

This chapter discusses the thermal oxidation of silicon, Si–SiO2 interphase morphology, structure and localized states. The Si-SiO2 interface has been studied for more than 40 years. The chapter illustrates that the replacement of SiO2 by another gate insulator in MOS transistors is a major feature in the development of MOS device technology. The MOS structure is the building block for a wide range of silicon-based electronic devices including various types of memories and electrically erasable programmable read-only memories. In MOS technology, oxides grown on silicon have been used for masking, insulation and passivation, and as a dielectric. Moreover, with smaller transistor size, other parameters such as supply voltage, source and drain junction depth, and gate oxide thickness necessarily undergo comparable reductions of dimensions, with huge challenges expected for future technologies as the industry moves beyond 0.1 μm.