Effect of N bonding structure in AlON deposited by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition on electrical properties of 4H-SiC MOS capacitor

Abstract

We have investigated the effects of the N bonding structure in an AlON layer deposited by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the electrical properties of a 4H-SiC MOS structure. The properties of defects in the AlON and SiO2 layers were investigated from the capacitance–voltage and current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics of AlON/SiO2/4H-SiC MOS structures. The density of negatively charged defects in the AlON layer decreases with increasing N content. We found that the leakage current decreases with increasing N content at a low-voltage region from J–V characteristics. The bonding structure in the AlON layer was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The densities of Al–N and Al–O–N bonds in the AlON layer increase with the N content. In contrast, the density of Al–NO2 bonds decreases with increasing N content. We suggest that the decrease in the defect density in the AlON layer is related to the increasing number of Al–N and Al–O–N bonds. Thus, we concluded that it is important to form Al–N and Al–ON bonds in the AlON layer while suppressing the formation of Al–NO2 bonds.