Publications

Correlation of charge transport to intrinsic strain in silicon oxynitride and Si-rich silicon nitride thin films

Habermehl, Scott D.; Apodaca, Roger A.

Poole-Frenkel emission in Si-rich nitride and silicon oxynitride thin films is studied in conjunction with compositional aspects of their elastic properties. For Si-rich nitrides varying in composition from SiN{sub 1.33} to SiN{sub 0.54}, the Poole-Frenkel trap depth ({Phi}{sub B}) decreases from 1.08 to 0.52 eV as the intrinsic film strain ({Epsilon}{sub i}) decreases from 0.0036 to -0.0016. For oxynitrides varying in composition from SiN{sub 1.33} to SiO{sub 1.49}N{sub 0.35}, {Phi}{sub B} increases from 1.08 to 1.53 eV as {Epsilon}{sub i} decreases from 0.0036 to 0.0006. In both material systems, a direct correlation is observed between {Phi}{sub B} and {Epsilon}{sub i}. Compositionally induced strain relief as a mechanism for regulating {Phi}{sub B} is discussed.