Characteristics of thermally nitrided silicon dioxide film and plasma enhancement
After reviewing characteristics of thermally nitrided silicon dioxide films, plasma enhanced nitridation is described. The plasma technique makes possible reduction of the nitridation temperature by activating reaction species. Silicon dioxide films of about 10 nm thickness were nitrided in ammonia gas plasma, for example, at 1000‡C and at a pressure of 40 Pa. From the results of the AES depth profiles and the Nss distribution, good dielectric and interfacial properties have been obtained via plasma nitridation. The plasma nitroxide films are useful for gate insulators of small MOSFETs in future VLSI.