Influence of post-oxidation cooling rate on residual stress and pn-junction leakage current in LOCOS isolated structures

The influence of the cooling rate after field oxidation on n/sup +/-p junction diodes and residual process-induced stress is characterized. Depending on the cooling rate after field oxidation, the room temperature stress can be significantly higher than the stress induced during oxidation. In regions that are already highly strained, this additional stress may lead to an increase in reverse diode leakage current. Stress relaxation simulations are used to explain the cooling rate dependence of the observed leakage current.