(Invited) Second Harmonic Generation: A Powerful Non-Destructive Characterization Technique for Dielectric-on-Semiconductor Interfaces

Abstract

The quality of interfaces between dielectrics and semiconductors has a tremendous impact on the performances of semiconductor devices. High-k dielectrics are omnipresent in the gate stack of advanced MOSFETs. They are also used as passivation layers for silicon in fields such as solar cells [1] or image sensors [2]. When referring to passivation, two mechanisms can be identified: chemical passivation (quantified by the interface state density, Dit) and electric-field passivation (quantified by fixed oxide charge density, Qox). An ideal characterization method for passivated silicon should give access to both chemical and field-effect relevant quantities (ideally being able to distinguish them) in a non-destructive way. Among the commonly used techniques, we can cite electrical methods based on current or capacitance monitoring of simple test devices [3], Corona characterization of semiconductors [4], carrier lifetime extraction [5] conducted through photoconductance or photoluminescence decay measurements, etc. The choice among these several options is based on criteria such as sensitivity, non-destructiveness, possibility of direct on-wafer probing without any additional device fabrication steps, ability to discriminate Dit and Qox, capability to provide a high spatial resolution. A recent technique which could meet all these criteria is the second harmonic generation (SHG) [6], provided that an appropriate calibration method is developed for Dit and Qox extraction.The SHG is a non-linear optics phenomenon: when a high intensity laser beam of wavelength λ reaches a sample, a second harmonic wave at λ/2 is generated by the sample. For centrosymmetric materials (such as silicon, SiO2, Al2O3, etc.) the SHG signal contains two parts: one related to the symmetry breaking inherently present at interfaces between two different materials, and another one produced by any “static” electric field in the sample [7]. Such field is present at the vicinity of dielectric-to-semiconductor interfaces due to charge trapping by various mechanisms. In other words, the magnitude of the generated SHG signal contains information on both Dit and Qox This technique has already been used for dielectric characterization with various modalities (SHG versus power, time, wavelength ...) [8], [9], [10].The SHG proved very promising (sensitive, non-destructive, applied directly on-wafer, etc.); however its extensive use still needs a more general calibration methodology. Such a methodology requires not only SHG measurements, but also real Qox/Dit values extracted by classical electrical methods on the same samples and modeling to understand/anticipate the expected effect of these parameters on the SHG signal. In this paper, we’ll discuss all these issues based on a review of our recent advances on how to exploit SHG for dielectrics on semiconductor characterization.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by Region Rhône Alpes (ARC6 program), the French National Research Agency within the framework of the OXYGENE project (ANR-17-CE05-0034) and French National Plan Nano2022, within the IPCEI Nanoelectronics for Europe program.[1] A. G. Aberle, "Surface passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells: a review," Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, vol. 8, pp. 473-487, 2000.[2] J. L. Regolini, D. Benoit, and P. Morin, "Passivation issues in active pixel CMOS image sensors," Microelectronics Reliability, vol. 47, pp. 739-742, 2007.[3] D. 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