Voltage and frequency dependence of simulated rf plasma annealing in metal-SiO2-Si structures

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Abstract
In a simulation experiment the rf plasma annealing rate of the positive oxide charge in metal‐SiO2‐Si structures has been found to be a function of the amplitude and frequency of the ac voltage. In the range studied (0.4–8 V, 10 Hz–10 MHz), the rate increases with both the amplitude and the frequency until saturation is reached near the upper figures. For frequencies above 100 kHz, an enhanced annealing rate (compared with the pure thermal annealing) is observed even at an rf voltage as low as 0.4 V. Similarly, for voltages above 4 V, an enhanced annealing rate is observed at a frequency as low as 100 Hz. A simple theory based on the first‐order trapping‐recombination kinetics in the context of the recombination enhanced defect reactions model has been developed to explain the experimental results.