Front-end integration effects on gate oxide quality

In this paper, the impact of several front-end processing steps (up to gate oxidation) on gate oxide integrity (GOI) is evaluated. In PBL isolation processing, the use of as-deposited amorphous silicon (a-Si), subsequently annealed during nitride deposition, results in better structural and electrical properties compared to as-deposited polysilicon or as-deposited a-Si with an extra anneal step prior to nitride deposition. Thicker or dual sacrificial schemes exhibit improved gate oxide low voltage breakdown and charge-to-breakdown. Dilute RCA chemistries during pre-gate cleaning produce equal or better surfaces for gate oxidation than the conventional non-dilute RCA with less chemical usage. As gate oxides are scaled below 100 Angstrom, lowering gate oxidation temperature is proven to result in far better gate oxide quality than maintaining process temperatures at or above 900 degrees C and diluting oxygen in either argon or nitrogen.