Characterization of a Thermal Oxidation Process on SiC Preamorphized by Ar Ion Implantation

Abstract

SiC is the only compound semiconductor that can be thermally oxidized to form SiO2, the most studied and used dielectric material in semiconductor technology. Although similarities exist between oxides thermally grown on SiC and on Si, the former exhibits worse electrical performance. Therefore, investigations on oxidation mechanisms and oxide composition are mandatory to understand the phenomena taking place during the thermal growth of SiO2 on SiC so to control the electrical characteristics of SiO2/SiC structure. Recent results have pointed out that the main difference between Si and SiC thermal oxidation is the limiting processes involved in the growth. In this work, the oxidation of silicon carbide after preamorphization of the substrate by Ar implantation was considered. Low oxidation temperature was chosen to be sure to investigate the oxide thermal growth on the amorphized SiC also for long oxidation time. In fact on ion-beam amorphized SiC the oxidation competes with the crystal regrowth and, for example, at temperature as high as 1100°C the oxidation process takes place on a reorganized polycrystalline structure.