Comparison of electric properties of ultra-thin thermal and plasma nitrided silicon oxides with different post-deposition treatments using C-AFM

The electrical quality of ultra-thin (∼1nm) Plasma and Thermal nitrided silicon oxide layers was investigated with Conductive AFM and a macroscopic I-V measurement setup. PN layers were found to be superior to TN layers. A longer nitridation time resulted in a better quality of the layer. Annealing in N2 was not beneficial and re-oxidation resulted in a lower leakage due to a significant increase in the physical thickness. A trap-assisted kind of tunneling was observed in these layers. The exact role of nitrogen herein is not yet well understood.