Process for reducing hydrogen contamination in dielectric materials in memory devices
First Claim
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1. A process for removing hydrogen contamination from a semiconductor device comprising:
- forming at least one dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer comprises dielectric-hydrogen bonds;
irradiating the dielectric layer with ultraviolet radiation sufficient to break at least a portion of the dielectric-hydrogen bonds; and
annealing the dielectric layer in an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least one atom capable of forming dielectric-atom bonds, whereby at least a portion of dielectric-hydrogen bonds are replaced with dielectric-atom bonds, wherein the dielectric layer is one or more of a nitride layer, a high-K dielectric material layer and a composite dielectric material layer.
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Abstract
The present invention, in one embodiment, relates to a process for fabricating a semiconductor device that is less susceptible to performance degradation caused by hydrogen contamination. The method includes the steps for removing unwanted hydrogen bonds by exposing the hydrogen bonds to ultraviolet radiation sufficient to break the bond and annealing in an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least one atom capable of forming bonds that replace the hydrogen bonds.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A process for removing hydrogen contamination from a semiconductor device comprising:
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forming at least one dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer comprises dielectric-hydrogen bonds;
irradiating the dielectric layer with ultraviolet radiation sufficient to break at least a portion of the dielectric-hydrogen bonds; and
annealing the dielectric layer in an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least one atom capable of forming dielectric-atom bonds, whereby at least a portion of dielectric-hydrogen bonds are replaced with dielectric-atom bonds, wherein the dielectric layer is one or more of a nitride layer, a high-K dielectric material layer and a composite dielectric material layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
forming a top dielectric layer over the charge storage layer, the top dielectric layer and the charge storage layer forming a top interface comprising dielectric-hydrogen bonds;
irradiating the top interface with ultraviolet radiation sufficient to break at least a portion of the dielectric-hydrogen bonds; and
annealing the top interface in an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least one atom capable of forming dielectric-atom bonds, whereby at least a portion of dielectric-hydrogen bonds are replaced with dielectric-atom bonds.
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14. The process of claim 13, wherein the interface and the top interface are irradiated in the same step, and wherein the interface and the top interface are annealed in the same step.
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15. A process for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:
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providing a semiconductor substrate;
forming an ONO material over the semiconductor substrate;
forming a gate electrode layer over the ONO material;
forming a dielectric spacer adjacent to the ONO and a dielectric etch stop layer over the gate electrode layer and protective spacer such that at least one of the dielectric spacer and dielectric etch stop layer comprises dielectric-hydrogen bonds;
irradiating at least one of the dielectric spacer and the dielectric etch stop layer with ultraviolet radiation sufficient to break at least a portion of the dielectric-hydrogen bonds; and
annealing at least one of the spacer and the etch stop layer in an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least one atom capable of forming dielectric-atom bonds, whereby at least a portion of dielectric-hydrogen bonds are replaced with dielectric-atom bonds, wherein at least one of the dielectric spacer and the dielectric etch stop layer is one or more of a nitride layer, a high-K dielectric material layer and a composite dielectric material layer. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A process for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:
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providing a semiconductor substrate;
forming an oxide layer over the semiconductor substrate;
forming a nitride layer over the oxide layer, the oxide layer and the nitride layer forming an interface comprising silicon-hydrogen and nitrogen-hydrogen bonds;
irradiating the interface with ultraviolet radiation sufficient to break at least a portion of at least one of the silicon-hydrogen and nitrogen-hydrogen bonds; and
annealing the interface in an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least one atom capable of forming at least one of silicon-atom bonds and nitrogen-atom bonds, whereby at least a portion of at least one of the silicon-hydrogen bonds and nitrogen-hydrogen bonds are replaced with at least one of the silicon-atom bonds and nitrogen-atom bonds. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification