Effect of fluorine in chemical-vapor-deposited tungsten silicide film on electrical breakdown of SiO2 film

Abstract
The effect of fluorine in chemical‐vapor‐deposited tungsten silicide film on electrical breakdown of SiO2 film was investigated. Fluorine diffuses into the SiO2 film through the upper layer of poly Si above 800 °C. At 1000 °C, fluorine diffuses into the SiO2 film to a concentration on the order of 1020 cm3. Electrical breakdown field of the SiO2 film degrades remarkably at 1000 °C. However, it was clear that the diffusion of fluorine was blocked by a thin chemical‐vapor‐deposited Si3N4 layer on the SiO2 film. In this case, the degradation of SiO2 film was not observed. From the above results, it is concluded that the diffusion of fluorine included in the chemical‐vapor‐deposited tungsten silicide film is one of the causes in degradation of electrical breakdown of the SiO2 film when the chemical‐vapor‐deposited tungsten silicide film was used as a gate electrode in metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuits.