Degradation of Insulators in Silicon Selective Epitaxial Growth (SEG) Ambient

The degradation of various insulators in Silicon Selective Epitaxial Growth (SEG) ambient was studied. The insulators studied were thermal oxide, reoxidized nitride/oxide stack, poly-oxide, and nitrided oxide. Breakdown electric fields of MIS capacitors were measured and yields were calculated before and after the insulators were exposed to Silicon SEG ambient. It was found that the nitrided oxide was more resistant to degradation in the SEG ambient than thermal and poly oxide; results reported here for the first time. The increased resistance of nitrided oxide in SEG ambient coupled with their superior performance as thin gate insulators makes them an excellent candidate for use in novel 3-D structures using selective silicon growth.