Granted Patent B1

US 6,949,433 · App. 10/359,872 · Granted Sep 27, 2005

Abstract

Claims (37)

1. A process for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate;

forming an oxide layer on the semiconductor substrate, the oxide layer and the semiconductor substrate forming a substrate-oxide interface, and the interface comprising at least one of silicon-hydrogen bonds or dangling silicon bonds; and

exposing the interface to ultraviolet radiation and an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least atom capable of forming a silicon-atom bond under conditions sufficient to convert at least a portion of the at least one of silicon-hydrogen bonds or dangling silicon bonds to silicon-atom bonds,

wherein the at least one gas having at least atom capable of forming a silicon-atom bond comprises one or more of deuterium, oxygen, and a source of reactive oxygen other than nitrous oxide.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the source of reactive oxygen comprises one or more of nitric oxide, ozone, or singlet oxygen.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the atmosphere further comprises one or more of a noble gas or nitrogen.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the atmosphere comprises from about 5% by volume to about 95% by volume of the at least one reactive gas and from about 95% by weight to about 5% by weight of the at least one inert gas.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the conditions comprise a temperature in the range from about 300° C. to about 1000° C.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the ultraviolet radiation is applied at an energy sufficient to break silicon-hydrogen bonds.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the ultraviolet radiation is applied at an energy of at least 3.3 eV.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the step of exposing is repeated at least one additional time.

9. The process of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

forming a dielectric charge storage layer on the oxide layer;

forming a top oxide layer on the charge storage layer; and

forming a gate electrode on the top oxide layer.

10. The process of claim 1 wherein the step of exposing the interface to ultraviolet radiation is a pre-metallization step, and the step of exposing is carried out at a temperature ranging from about 500° C. to about 1100° C.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein the step of exposing the interface to ultraviolet radiation is a post-metallization step, and the step of exposing is carried out at a temperature ranging from about 200° C. to about 700° C.

12. A process for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate;

forming an oxide layer on the semiconductor substrate, the oxide layer and the semiconductor substrate forming a substrate-oxide interface, and the interface comprising at least one of silicon-hydrogen bonds or dangling silicon bonds; and

exposing the interface to ultraviolet radiation and an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least atom capable of forming a silicon-atom bond and at least one inert gas under conditions sufficient to convert at least a portion of the at least one of silicon-hydrogen bonds or dangling silicon bonds to silicon-atom bonds,

wherein the at least one gas having at least atom capable of forming a silicon-atom bond comprises one or more of deuterium, oxygen, and a source of reactive oxygen other than nitrous oxide.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein the source of reactive oxygen comprises one or more of nitric oxide, ozone, or singlet oxygen.

14. The process of claim 12 , wherein the atmosphere comprises from about 5% by volume to about 95% by volume of the at least one reactive gas and from about 95% by weight to about 5% by weight of the at least one inert gas.

15. The process of claim 12 , wherein the ultraviolet radiation is applied at an energy sufficient to break silicon-hydrogen bonds.

16. The process of claim 12 further comprising the steps of:

forming a dielectric charge storage layer on the oxide layer;

forming a top oxide layer on the charge storage layer; and

forming a gate electrode on the top oxide layer.

17. The process of claim 12 wherein the step of exposing the interface to ultraviolet radiation is a pre-metallization step, and the step of exposing is carried out at a temperature ranging from about 500° C. to about 1100° C.

18. A process for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate;

forming an oxide layer on the semiconductor substrate, the oxide layer and the semiconductor substrate forming a substrate-oxide interface, and the interface comprising at least one of silicon-hydrogen bonds or dangling silicon bonds;

exposing the interface to ultraviolet radiation at an energy sufficient to break silicon-hydrogen bonds, an atmosphere comprising at least one gas having at least atom capable of forming a silicon-atom bond and at least one inert gas, and a temperature ranging from about 500° C. to about 1100° C., under conditions sufficient to convert at least a portion of the at least one of silicon-hydrogen bonds or dangling silicon bonds to at least one of Si—D, Si—Si or Si—O bonds; and

forming a dielectric charge storage layer on the oxide layer,

wherein the at least one gas having at least atom capable of forming a silicon-atom bond comprises one or more of deuterium, oxygen, nitric oxide, ozone, or singlet oxygen, and the inert gas comprises one or more of a noble gas or nitrogen, and the atmosphere comprises from about 5% by volume to about 95% by volume of the at least one reactive gas and from about 95% by weight to about 5% by weight of the at least one inert gas.

Assignments (7)