This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 2003-36088, filed Jun. 4, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to transistors having recessed gates and methods of forming the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many methods of forming oxide layers have been introduced in recent years. Typical examples of such methods may include thermal oxidation and radical oxidation. Thermal oxidation, which involves heating a substrate while exposing it to an oxygen ambient, has been conventionally employed as a typical method. In radical oxidation, the substrate is exposed to an ambient predominantly made up of oxygen radicals (O*).
When thermal oxidation is applied, the growth rate and thickness of the oxide layer may be greatly influenced by crystal orientation in the substrate. In particular, the growth rate of the oxide layer may be faster in directions having a high area density <110> than in directions having a low area density <100>. In addition, defects may occur in the interface between the oxide layer and the substrate in directions having high a area density. For example, weak bonds and dangling bonds may be formed in the interface between the oxide layer and the substrate in directions that have a high area density. The weak bonds and the dangling bonds may be caused by incompletely oxidized silicon, such as Si2O and Si2O2.
Referring to
As previously mentioned, there may be several problems associated with an oxide layer formed on the sidewalls of a trench 12 having <110> crystal directions. Furthermore, when a strong electric field is applied to the edge of the trench 12, breakdown voltage may be decreased and leakage current may more easily occur at the edge of the trench 12. In addition, in a transistor having a recessed gate (which includes a gate pattern formed in the trench 12 and the thermal oxide layer 14 as a gate oxide layer), devices may operate inadequately if the thermal oxide layer 14 is of low quality.
According to embodiments of the present invention, a method of forming an oxide layer on a semiconductor substrate may include thermally oxidizing a surface of the substrate to form an oxide layer on the substrate, and then exposing the oxide layer to an ambient predominantly made up of oxygen radicals to thereby thicken the oxide layer.
In some embodiments, the step of exposing the oxide layer to an ambient can include exposing the oxide layer to an ambient comprising an oxidation gas, and sufficiently dissociating the oxidation gas so that the ambient includes predominantly oxygen radicals. The step of dissociating the oxidation gas may further include exposing the oxidation gas to microwave irradiation and/or laser excitation. In addition, the step of thermally oxidizing the substrate can include heating the substrate in a furnace or using a rapid thermal oxidation (RTO).
According to further embodiments of the present invention, a method of fabricating a recessed gate transistor may include forming a trench on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, thermally oxidizing the surface of the substrate to form an oxide layer in the trench, and then exposing the oxide layer to an ambient predominantly made up of oxygen radicals to thereby thicken the oxide layer. In some embodiments, the oxygen radicals may thicken the oxide layer at edges of the trench.
In further embodiments, the step of exposing the oxide layer to an ambient can include exposing the oxide layer to an ambient comprising an oxidation gas, and sufficiently dissociating the oxidation gas so that the ambient includes predominantly oxygen radicals. The step of dissociating the oxidation gas may further include exposing the oxidation gas to microwave irradiation and/or laser excitation. In addition, the step of thermally oxidizing the substrate can include heating the substrate in a furnace or using a rapid thermal oxidation (RTO).
FIGS. 4 through
FIGS. 9 through
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as “under” another element, it can be directly under the other element or intervening elements may also be present. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Furthermore, relative terms such as beneath may be used herein to describe one layer or regions relationship to another layer or region as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. For example, if the device in the Figures is turned over, layers or regions described as “beneath” other layers or regions would now be oriented “above” these other layers or regions. The term “beneath” is intended to encompass both above and beneath in this situation. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
It will be understood that although the terms first and second are used herein to describe various regions, layers and/or sections, these regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second region, layer or section, and similarly, a second region, layer or section may be termed a first region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms used in disclosing embodiments of the invention, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, and are not necessarily limited to the specific definitions known at the time of the present invention being described. Accordingly, these terms can include equivalent terms that are created after such time. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIGS. 4 through
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
By bonding the oxygen radicals with the incompletely oxidized silicon at the interface of the thermal oxide layer 64 and the substrate 60, interface defects may be removed.
As shown in graph, the oxide layer is formed relatively thick at first in radical oxidation, due to the high reaction rate of the radical oxygen. But, with the passage of about thirty seconds, the growing rate is dramatically decreased. On the other hand, if thermal oxidation is applied, the thickness of the oxide layer steadily increases with the passage of time.
Accordingly, during the curing of the sidewalls of the substrate 60, the thickness of the oxide layer 64 increases relatively little on the inner sidewalls of the trench 62. However, the oxide layer thickness is further increased at the edges (C) of the trench 62. As a result, as shown in
The trench 62, which now has rounded edges and sidewalls with reduced defects, may be very valuable in fabricating recessed gate transistors. The gate pattern of a recessed gate transistor may be formed in the trench 62.
FIGS. 9 through
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Although not shown, a channel region may be formed by implanting impurities into the substrate 80 neighboring the trench 88. Preferably, the channel region is formed relatively thin. Accordingly, to prevent impurities from diffusing during thermal oxidation, impurities may be implanted after forming the thermal oxide layer 90.
Referring to
Consequently, the oxide layer 90 is formed thicker on the sidewalls of the trench 88 than at the bottom of the trench 88. Also, defects caused by oxide layer growth and impurity implantation are cured in the radical oxidation process.
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in the graph, the breakdown charge is still higher for thermal oxidation followed by radical oxidation than for thermal oxidation only. Also, interface defects between the thermal oxide layer and the substrate are cured through the radical oxidation process. This indicates that quality of the oxide layer is improved.
As previously mentioned, according to embodiments of the present invention, after forming an oxide layer using thermal oxidation, interface defects between the oxide layer and the substrate can be cured by employing radical oxidation. As a result, leakage current through the oxide layer can be suppressed, and breakdown voltage can be increased.
In addition, when the gate oxide layer of a recessed gate transistor is formed using thermal oxidation followed by radical oxidation, the oxide layer is formed thicker on the sidewalls of the trench but thinner at the bottom of the trench. Therefore, parasitic capacitance is reduced between the gate pattern and the source/drain regions. In addition, the turn-on speed of the transistor can be increased. Furthermore, by performing radical oxidation, interface defects between the substrate and the gate oxide layer are cured, and the concentration of the electric field is reduced at the edges of the trench. As a result, performance of the transistor can be improved.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed embodiments according to the invention and, although, specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. As for the scope of the invention, it is to be set forth in the following claims. Therefore, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2003-36088 | Jun 2003 | KR | national |