Abstract
We have developed a new technique with conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) to define the position of dielectric breakdown spots in HfSiON dielectrics. It was demonstrated that, after the removal of TiN gate electrodes, dielectric breakdown spots in HfSiON were detected as protrusions, which were observed as leakage spots by CAFM. It was also shown that there is good correlation between the number of dielectric breakdown spots estimated by time-dependent leakage current analysis and the number of protrusions obtained by CAFM analysis. Furthermore, from the etching characteristics of dielectric breakdown spots obtained using diluted HF, it was revealed that the transformation of HfSiON dielectrics occured at protrusions. We concluded that the local crystallization of HfSiON occured at the dielectric breakdown spots.
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