Passivation of SiO2/4H-SiC interface defects via electron cyclotron resonance hydrogen-nitrogen mixed plasma pretreatment for SiC surface combined with post-oxidation annealing
Release Time:2019-03-13 Hits:
Indexed by: Journal Article
Date of Publication: 2016-02-28
Journal: APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
Included Journals: Scopus、EI、SCIE
Volume: 364
Page Number: 769-774
ISSN: 0169-4332
Key Words: SiC semiconductor; SiO2/SiC interface; Density of interface traps; Surface pretreatment; Surface states
Abstract: We proposed an electron cyclotron resonance microwave hydrogen-nitrogen mixed plasma (HNP) pretreatment for 4H-SiC surface combined with post-oxidation annealing (POA) to improve the SiO2/SiC interface properties. Results revealed that HNP surface pretreatment effectively reduced the density of interface traps (D-it), which was closely correlated with interface flattening because of surface flattening, surface state (contaminants, adsorbates, and dangling bonds) reduction, and suppressed generation of interface defects during oxidation. Combined with POA, D-it was further decreased because of passivation of the formed defects after oxidation. The correlation among passivation, SiC surface properties, SiO2/SiC interface properties, and defect levels was established. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.