Papers by Author: Timo Müller

Abstract: The results of this work have shown that for microelectronic applications, gettering at dislocations is less important and oxygen precipitates are the main getter sink for Cu. Sufficient gettering of Cu in samples contaminated with low Cu concentration requires a higher density and larger oxygen precipitates compared to samples contaminated with high Cu concentration. It is demonstrated that the getter efficiency depends on the contamination level of the samples and getter test with low contamination level must be applied for microelectronic applications. Furthermore, a getter test for 3D chip stack technologies was developed. It was shown that although the wafers are thinned to a thickness of 50 μm their getter efficiency seems to be higher than for wafers of the original thickness. This is assumed to be due to the higher Cu concentration in the thinner wafers which can be gettered easier. It is also demonstrated that BMDs can getter Cu impurities even if the temperature does not exceed 300 °C. The getter efficiency tends to be higher if the samples are stored under day light and not in the dark.

Abstract: Two getter tests were carried out in order to study the getter efficiency of oxygen precipitates in silicon samples contaminated with low and high Cu concentration. The samples were pre-treated by RTA followed by annealing in the temperature range between 700 °C and 1000 °C for various times in order to establish different concentrations and different sizes of oxygen precipitates in the samples. From the analysis of the results of the normalized inner surface and the gettering efficiency, it was deduced that in highly contaminated samples Cu precipitates more easily at dislocations than at the surface of oxygen precipitates. Contrarily, in the samples contaminated with low Cu concentration the presence of dislocations does not improve the getter efficiency. Cu precipitates were found at the edge of a plate-like precipitate in a sample with low Cu concentration.

Abstract: An internally gettering bulk defect zone and a defect denuded zone of at least 5 µm below the wafer surface were generated by out-diffusion of interstitial oxygen during annealing at temperatures in the range 1075-1100 °C in argon atmosphere. The CZ silicon material used was optimized with respect to voids and contained a central OSF region and an outer Pv region. Due to co-doping of at least 3×10¹³ cm^-3 nitrogen, a laterally homogeneous bulk microdefect density was obtained which is independent of the temperature of the out-diffusion anneal. The internal getter created in this way efficiently getters nickel impurities as demonstrated in a getter test with 6.6×10¹¹ cm^-3 of intentional Ni contamination. In the central OSF region of the as-grown nitrogen co-doped wafers, the nuclei capable of generating OSFs also degrade the gate oxide integrity. Out-diffusion annealing at 1075-1100°C dissolves most of the defects capable of generating OSFs and it strongly improves the integrity of 5 nm gate oxides.

Abstract: The coherent agglomeration of interstitial oxygen into single-plane and double-plane plates can explain the two peaks in the M-shaped nucleation curves in Czochralski silicon. The density of nucleation sites for the double-plane plates corresponds to the VO2 concentration. Ab initio calculations have shown that the agglomeration of oxygen atoms in single-plane and doubleplane plates is energetically favorable. These plates are under compressive strain. VO2 agglomeration plays only a minor role for modeling the M-shaped nucleation curves because of prior homogenization treatments. It is of much higher impact if as-grown wafers are subjected to nucleation anneals because of the higher vacancy concentration which was frozen in during crystal cooling. This results in higher nucleation rates at higher temperatures. Because the oxygen diffusivity below 700 °C is important for the nucleation rate and many controversial results about the diffusivity in this temperature range were published, we have analyzed the data from literature. We have demonstrated that the effective diffusivity of oxygen at temperatures below 700 °C which corresponds to the quasi equilibrium dimer concentration is very similar to the extrapolation from oxygen diffusivity at high temperature. The high effective diffusivities from out-diffusion and precipitation experiments, and the somewhat lower effective diffusivities from dislocation locking experiments are the result of an ongoing formation of fast diffusing dimers because the equilibrium is disturbed as the result of the strongly increasing difference in the diffusion length between interstitial oxygen and the fast diffusing dimer with decreasing temperature.

Abstract: Nitrogen doping of CZ silicon results in an early formation of large precipitate nuclei during crystal cooling, which are stable at 900°C. These are prone to develop stacking faults and high densities of defects inside defect denuded zones of CZ silicon wafers. Simultaneous doping of FZ silicon with nitrogen and oxygen results in two main stages of precipitate nucleation during crystal cooling, an enhanced nucleation around 800°C, which is nitrogen induced, and a second enhancement around 600°C, which depends on the concentration of residual oxygen on interstitial sites. A combined technique of ramping with 1K/min from 500-1000°C with a final anneal at 1000°C for 2h and lateral BMD measurement by SIRM provides a possibility to delineate v/G on nitrogen-doped silicon wafers. Surface segregation of nitrogen and oxygen during out-diffusion can explain the enhanced BMD formation in about 105m depth and the suppressed BMD formation in about 405m depth below the surface. The precipitate growth is enhanced in regions where nitrogen is filled up again after a preceding out-diffusion.

Abstract: Thermal treatments to enhance precipitation like RTA, ramp anneal and argon anneal were performed on low oxygen 300 mm wafers without vacancy or interstitial agglomerates (“so called” defect-free material). Best results were achieved using high temperature argon anneal leading to a homogenous BMD and denuded zone formation. Furthermore the getter efficiency was positively tested by intentional Ni-contamination. Concepts to overcome the slip danger like improved support geometries and nitrogen codoping were also evaluated and are seen to be beneficial.