Characterization of nitrided gate oxides under manufacturing conditions

Silicon oxynitride gate dielectrics grown by plasma nitridation of RT radical oxide with subsequent post nitridation oxidation where characterized by different metrology methods like optical ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, corona characterization of semiconductors (Cocos), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy and end-of-line transistor parameters. Several design of experiments where performed where the influence of process variation on the monitoring results where investigated. It could be shown, that the capacitance equivalent thickness in-line measured by Cocos provides a sensitive control parameter for most process variations.