Radiation-Insensitive Silicon Oxynitride Films for Use in Silicon Devices---Part II

We report here on the interface state densities at the Si/Silicon Oxynitride (SiON) interface before and after ionizing irradiation, on extended B T tests on Si/SiON capacitors, and on the fabrication and properties of SiON passivated bipolar transistors and P-channel IGFETs. Preliminary data are also presented for gold and copper diffused capacitor structures. The fast state density Nfs after a 1/2 hr. anneal in H2 at 900°C is approximately 8x1010 eV-1 cm-2 near midgap, and increases into the high 1011 eV-1 cm-2 range near the band edges. After an absorbed dose of 1.3 Mrads, the densities near midgap had increased by a factor of 1.3, but showed little change near the band edges. B-T tests under negative bias at l.6×106 V/cm and at temperatures up to 330°C showed a Vfb drift of 2-3 V to more positive values during the first hour, which did not change thereafter; very little drift occurred under positive bias and the same test condition. Test duration was 63 hours for either polarity of bias. This BT-stability, observed on Si/SiON/Al structures, is often lost after gold wire thermocompression bonding. Si/SiON/ tungsten-gold contacts showed no deterioration after thermocompression bonding. SiON passivated type 16F NPN bipolar transistors had initial gain characteristics similar to SiO2 passivated controls, whereas their tolerance to ionizing radiation was much greater. Degradation of hFE to 50% of the initial gain occurred for the SiO2 passivated devices after an absorbed dose of about 1 Mrad and for the SiON passivated devices after 35 Mrads.