Influence of HCL on Rapid Thermal Oxides

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of HCl on the quality of gate oxides grown by rapid thermal oxidation has been investigated. HCl was added to oxidation ambient for some rapid thermal oxides while for others the silicon surface was annealed in a partial HCl ambient prior to rapid thermal oxidation. Improvements in gate oxide integrity were monitored on MOS capacitors and MOSFET devices by I-V and C-V testing. The levels of chlorine incorporated in the oxide from the addition of HCl to the process was measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Atomic force microscopy was performed to measure surface roughening during HCl pre-oxidation treatments.