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HRTEM Image Simulations of Structural Defects in Gate Oxides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

S. Taylor ,
J. Mardinly ,
M.A. O'Keefe  and
R. Gronsky
S. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720 National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA94720
J. Mardinly
Affiliation:
Intel Corporation, Materials Technology Department, Santa Clara, CA95052
M.A. O'Keefe
Affiliation:
National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA94720
R. Gronsky
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720 National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA94720
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High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is used extensively in the semiconductor industry for device characterization, and has become one of the highly favored techniques for characterizing the latest generation of ultra-thin gate oxides in MOSFET devices. However, relatively little is understood (either quantitatively or experimentally) about the limitations of HRTEM in detecting structural defects in gate oxides that could affect device performance. To investigate model defects experimentally, it would be necessary to construct “perfect” gate oxides, introduce defects with size and morphology known perfectly a priori, successfully make thin specimens that capture the defects, and then perform imaging experiments in the HRTEM. Since that task is virtually impossible, we have performed HRTEM image simulations to assess the visibility of various structural defects in gate oxides. The gate oxide was modeled as an amorphous silicon oxide 16.3Å-thick, sandwiched between a gate and substrate. The substrate was (100) silicon viewed along the [110] direction.

Type
Semiconductors
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 6 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2000, Microscopy Society of America 58th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 34th Annual Meeting, Microscopical Society of Canada/Societe de Microscopie de Canada 27th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 13-17, 2000 , August 2000 , pp. 1078 - 1079
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

References:

1.Cowley, J.M. and Moodie, A.F., Acta Cryst. 10 (1957) 609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. This work was funded by the Intel Corporation. Access to computing facilities at the National Center for Electron Microscopy is gratefully acknowledged.Google Scholar