Evaluation of silicon- and carbon-face SiO2/SiC MOS interface quality based on scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy

Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 061602 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4990865 Norimichi Chinone¹, Alpana Nayak¹, Ryoji Kosugi², Yasunori Tanaka², Shinsuke Harada², Hajime Okumura², and Yasuo Cho^1,a)

ABSTRACT

A strong positive correlation was found between the trap density (D_it) at the SiO₂/SiC interface and signal variation in a scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy (SNDM) image. Si-face and C-face SiC wafers with a 45-nm-thick oxide layer were examined by the conventional high-low method and SNDM, which is a type of scanning probe microscopy. The D_it value measured by the high-low method and the standard deviation of normalized SNDM images exhibited a strong positive correlation, which means that the standard deviation of the normalized SNDM image can be used as a universal measure of the SiO₂/SiC interface quality. Using this measure, a quick evaluation of D_it using SNDM is possible.This work was supported in part by a Grand-in-Aid for Scientific Research S (Grant No. 16H06360).

REFERENCES

1.G. Liu, B. R. Tuttle, and S. Dhar, Appl. Phys. Rev. 2, 021307 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4922748, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
2.D. K. Scholder, Semiconductor Material and Device Characterization, 3rd ed. ( John Willey & Sons, Inc., New Jersey, 2006), Sect. 6.3. Google Scholar
3.Y. Cho, A. Kirihara, and T. Saeki, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 67, 2297 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1146936, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
4.N. Chinone, T. Nakamura, and Y. Cho, J. Appl. Phys. 116, 084509 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4893959, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
5.N. Chinone and Y. Cho, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 63, 3165 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2016.2571780, Google ScholarCrossref
6.Y. Cho, J. Mater. Res. 26(16), 2007 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2011.219, Google ScholarCrossref
7.H.-F. Li, S. Dimitrijev, H. B. Harrison, and D. Sweatman, Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 2028 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.118773, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
8.G. Y. Chung, C. C. Tin, J. R. Williams, K. McDonald, M. Di Ventra, S. T. Pantelides, L. C. Feldman, and R. A. Weller, Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1713 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.126167, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
9.K. Fukuda, M. Kato, J. Senzaki, K. Kojima, and T. Suzuki, Mater. Sci. Forum 457, 1417 (2004). https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.457-460.1417, Google ScholarCrossref
10.T. Akiyam, A. Ito, K. Nakamura, T. Ito, H. Kageshima, M. Uematsu, and K. Shiraishi, Surf. Sci. 641, 174 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2015.06.028, Google ScholarCrossref
11.V. V. Afanasev, A. Stesmans, and C. I. Harris, Mater. Sci. Forum 264, 857 (1998). https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.264-268.857, Google ScholarCrossref
12.A. Koh, A. Kestle, C. Wright, S. P. Wilks, P. A. Mawby, and W. R. Bowen, Appl. Surf. Sci. 174, 210 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(01)00150-7, Google ScholarCrossref
13.V. V. Afanas’ev, M. Bassler, G. Pensl, and M. Schulz, Phys. Status Solidi A 162, 321 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-396X(199707)162:1<321::AID-PSSA321>3.0.CO;2-F, Google ScholarCrossref
14.N. Chinone, R. Kosugi, Y. Tanaka, S. Harada, H. Okumura, and Y. Cho, Microelectron. Reliab. 64, 566 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2016.07.088, Google ScholarCrossref

Evaluation of silicon- and carbon-face SiO2/SiC MOS interface quality based on scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy