PECVD-AlOx/SiNx passivation stacks on wet chemically oxidized silicon: Constant voltage stress investigations of charge dynamics and interface defect states

Abstract

The negative charge formation, the charge-trapping mechanisms and the interface defect passivation of aluminum oxide/silicon nitride (AlOx/SiNx) stacks deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on p-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) are investigated. Constant voltage stress (CVS) investigations combined with capacitance–voltage (C–V) hysteresis analysis indicate the influence of different thermal treatments on the negative charge formation and allow discerning between fixed and trapped charges in the AlOx/SiNx system. The thermal budget during SiNx deposition activates negatively charged traps. An annealing step leads to the formation of a stable, fixed negative charge and reduces the defect state density (Dit) at the c-Si/AlOx interface. A wet-chemical silicon oxidation (SiOx) of the c-Si surface reduces Dit even further, but introduces additional traps at the wet-chemical SiOx/AlOx interface. These traps lead to instabilities of the negative charge density and have a detrimental effect on the passivation quality. However, a firing step leads to the formation of a higher negative charge density due to charged traps. Combined with the enhanced chemical passivation, this results in a higher passivation quality than upon annealing. The trap-related negative charge upon firing is unstable due to electron detrapping. However, a positive CVS can recharge traps in the wet-chemical SiOx/AlOx/SiNx system negatively through electron injection from the c-Si.