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We report the temperature-dependent photoluminescence characterization of InNxAs1-x/In0.53Ga0.47As/InP multiple quantum wells with various N contents emitting in the midinfrared wavelength range. The emission wavelength in this material system can be tuned by the N content, but the bowing effect is much weaker than in GaNAs. The correlation between the optical properties and the interface quality is demonstrated by examining the barrier-related emission. The role played by N is elucidated by comparing quantum well samples having either zero, low (0.25%) or high (5%) N content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of post-nitridation anneals on radiation hardness of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with rapid thermal nitrided (RTN) gate oxides have been studied. Post-nitridation anneals consisted of either rapid thermal reoxidation (RTO) in pure O2 or rapid thermal anneals (RTA) in pure N2 ambient. The radiation was performed by exposing devices to x rays at doses of 0.5–5.0 Mrad (Si). Comparing RTO and RTA anneals at the same temperature and time for given nitrided oxides, it was found that RTO enhanced the radiation hardness while RTA in N2 had detrimental effects, in terms of interface-state generation (ΔDit) and flatband voltage shift (ΔVfb). The strainless interfacial oxide regrowth during RTO of RTN oxides is responsible for the enhanced interface ‘‘hardness’’ of RTN/RTO oxides. A physical mechanism is described to account for the observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiation hardness of metal-oxide semiconductor capacitors with nitrided oxides prepared by rapid thermal nitridation (RTN) has been studied. The radiation was performed by exposing devices to 50 keV x ray to a dose of 0.5 Mrad (Si). Compared to conventional thermal oxides, the rapid thermal nitrided oxide devices exhibit much less increase in the interface state density (Dit). In addition, it is found that higher RTN temperatures and/or longer durations produce smaller ΔDit. The significant reduction of the interface state generation has been attributed to the strain relief effect due to the incorporation of nitrogen at the Si/SixNyOz interface. The bond strain related models have been discussed to explain the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of rapid thermal nitridation of oxides (RTN) and rapid thermal reoxidation of rapid thermal nitride oxides (RTO/RTN) on the SiO2/Si interface endurance property have been studied. It is found that in order to enhance the SixNyOz/Si interface ‘‘hardness’’ [i.e., less interface states (Dit) are generated during high electric field stress], an interfacial oxidation process during RTN or RTO/RTN must occur. This oxidation reaction not only removes the nitridation-induced damages but also grows an interfacial strainless oxide. The existence of small amounts of nitrogen at the interface is responsible for the strainless oxide growth, and hence the improvement of SixNyOz/Si interface strength. A physical model based on these observations is described, which considers the generation of silicon and oxygen dangling bonds at the SixNyOz/Si interface during rapid thermal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) on the chemical vapor deposited nitride/oxide layer for thin gate dielectrics were studied. Successful growth of a top oxide of ∼25 Å was confirmed using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and no punchthrough of the chemical vapor deposited nitride was observed for a nitride thickness of 60 Å. Changes in electrical properties after RTO were studied using current-voltage and charge-to-breakdown measurements. Results indicate that the top oxide reduces the leakage current under positive gate bias and increases the leakage current at high fields for negative gate bias. In addition, the charge to breakdown of the layer is increased after RTO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical properties of thin nitrided oxide (∼100 Å) formed by rapid thermal nitridation (RTN) in pure NH3 have been studied. It is found that the current-voltage characteristic of RTN oxides follows a Fowler–Nordheim tunneling behavior with modifications caused by electron trapping processes at the oxide surface and interface. The trapping density is dependent on the RTN conditions. At the interface, both fixed charge (Nf) and interface state (Dit) densities exhibit turnaround phenomena when the RTN process proceeds. The maximum values of Nf and Dit at the turnaround points are lower for the higher temperature RTN, suggesting a viscous flow related strain relieving mechanism associated with RTN of thin oxides. Films with superior endurance behavior (QBD=20.4 C/cm2 compared with QBD=5.1 C/cm2 of thermal oxide under 10 mA/cm2 constant current stress) have been obtained by RTN at 1000 °C, 10 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important issues in the self-aligned silicide technology has been lateral silicide formation over the sidewall oxide spacers. In this work, the lateral silicide growth has been considerably suppressed by the use of ion beam mixing and rapid thermal annealing. Metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors fabricated using this technology show good electrical characteristics with negligible conduction between gate and source/drain electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of the TiNxOy/TiSi2 bilayer on Si by rapid thermal nitridation of titanium silicide in NH3 has been studied. The chemical stability in dilute HF and the effectiveness of TiNxOy on TiSi2 as a diffusion barrier for Al are discussed. The results show that this bilayer has good chemical stability in dilute HF at least for 60 s and Al/TiNxOy/TiSi2/Si is thermally stable up to 500 °C for 30 min sintering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]