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Thermal Annealing of Light-Induced K Centers in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Nitride

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

E. D. Tober
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
E. Sigari
Affiliation:
IBM, Storage Systems Products Division, 5600 Cottle Rd., San Jose, CA 95193
J. Kanicki
Affiliation:
IBM, Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
M. S. Crowder
Affiliation:
IBM, Storage Systems Products Division, 5600 Cottle Rd., San Jose, CA 95193
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Abstract

The thermally-induced decay of light-induced, paramagnetic neutral silicon dan-gling bonds(K centers ) in hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride thin films is monitored using electron spin resonance. The nitride films are of gate-quality and nitrogen-rich and are deposited at two different temperatures (250 and 400 °C). The kinetics for isothermal annealing of the light-induced K° states is dependent upon sample deposition temperature and is observed to follow a stretched exponential dependence, exp {— (t/τ)β}, upon annealing time (t). The stretched exponential factor, β, shows a non-linear dependence upon annealing temperature including temperature independent regimes. Thermal annealing is thermally activated with an apparent activation energy of ∼ 0.4 eV and is independent of deposition temperature. These results indicate that annealing is a dispersive process which involves hopping and multiple trapping or trap controlled hopping in the thermal annealing of light induced K centers in amorphous SiN1.6:H.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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