Improvement of gate oxide breakdown through STI structure Modification in DRAM

IF 1.4 4区 物理与天体物理 Q3 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC
Dong-Sik Park , Ji-Hoon Chang , Su-Ho Shin , Chang-Sik Kim , Yongsoo Ahn , Byoungdeog Choi
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Abstract

This paper focuses on investigating the origin of the vulnerability and proposing improvement strategies for gate oxide (Gox) breakdown in the core area of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products. The shallow trench isolation (STI) area in 15-nm DRAM intricately comprises a triple-layer structure: sidewall oxide, nitride liner, and trench oxide. The existing structure had a high protrusion of the nitride liner, disrupting the gas flow during Gox deposition and resulting in a relatively thin thickness at the active corners. Additionally, when the gate voltage is applied, the angular shape of the active Si area led to a concentration of the electric field in the corner area. These two structural characteristics were recognized as the causes that render the active corner area vulnerable to Gox breakdown failure. By developing new wet-etching processes for the active and STI structures, we can significantly improve Gox breakdown. We applied a phosphoric acid process to improve the high protrusion structure of the nitride liner and used a new solution process to make the active corner more rounded. We validated the enhancement through the application to actual products and verified it by electrical results. Ultimately, this approach serves as a crucial clue for the continued scaling of DRAM core transistors.
通过改进DRAM中的STI结构改善栅极氧化物击穿
本文重点研究了动态随机存取存储器(DRAM)产品核心区域栅极氧化物(Gox)击溃的漏洞来源,并提出了改进策略。15nm DRAM中的浅沟槽隔离(STI)区域复杂地由三层结构组成:侧壁氧化物、氮化物衬里和沟槽氧化物。现有结构的氮化物衬套高度突出,破坏了Gox沉积过程中的气体流动,导致活动角的厚度相对较薄。此外,当施加栅极电压时,有源Si区域的角形导致电场集中在角区。这两种结构特征被认为是导致活跃角区容易发生Gox击穿失效的原因。通过对活性结构和STI结构开发新的湿法蚀刻工艺,我们可以显著改善Gox击穿。我们采用磷酸工艺改善了氮化衬里的高凸出结构,并采用新的溶液工艺使活性角更加圆润。我们通过实际产品的应用验证了增强效果,并通过电气结果进行了验证。最终,这种方法为DRAM核心晶体管的持续缩放提供了关键线索。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Solid-state Electronics
Solid-state Electronics 物理-工程:电子与电气
CiteScore
3.00
自引率
5.90%
发文量
212
审稿时长
3 months
期刊介绍: It is the aim of this journal to bring together in one publication outstanding papers reporting new and original work in the following areas: (1) applications of solid-state physics and technology to electronics and optoelectronics, including theory and device design; (2) optical, electrical, morphological characterization techniques and parameter extraction of devices; (3) fabrication of semiconductor devices, and also device-related materials growth, measurement and evaluation; (4) the physics and modeling of submicron and nanoscale microelectronic and optoelectronic devices, including processing, measurement, and performance evaluation; (5) applications of numerical methods to the modeling and simulation of solid-state devices and processes; and (6) nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices, photovoltaics, sensors, and MEMS based on semiconductor and alternative electronic materials; (7) synthesis and electrooptical properties of materials for novel devices.
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