Ultrathin oxide film formation using radical oxygen in a UHV system

Abstract

ABSTRACTRadical oxidation at thickness of under 2.0 nm in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) system with an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma has been studied. The interface roughness and oxide density were evaluated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and grazing incidence xray reflectrometry, respectively. We found the oxide thickness could be easily controlled at Tsub = 750°C when using radical oxygen at 5.0×10−3Torr. The interface roughness at a thickness of 1.8 nm, measured by the root mean square (RMS), was 0.11 nm. The density of the radical oxide fell as the oxide thickness decreased, especially at less than 2.0 nm. However, the density of the radical oxide annealed in molecular oxygen at 5×10−3Torr and Tsub = 750°C increased, without the oxide thickness increasing. We think that the first insertion of an oxygen atom into the first Si layer has a much higher energy barrier than that into a SiOx layer. The radical oxygen can pass through this higher energy barrier, and thus oxygen molecules fill the oxide layers. This mechanism means that we can control the oxide thickness and density separately at thickness of less than 2.0 nm through the radical oxidation time and the annealing time in molecular oxygen. We expect low-pressure radical oxidation to be the most suitable process for future ultrathin gate oxidation.