Electron trap level of hydrogen incorporated nitrogen vacancies in silicon nitride

Hydrogen incorporation into nitrogen vacancies in silicon nitride and its effects on electron trap level are analyzed using simulation based on density functional theory with temperature- and pressure-dependent hydrogen chemical potential. If the silicon dangling bonds around a nitrogen vacancy are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2015-03, Vol.117 (10)
Main Authors: Sonoda, Ken'ichiro, Tsukuda, Eiji, Tanizawa, Motoaki, Yamaguchi, Yasuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
BOUND STATE
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DENSITY FUNCTIONAL METHOD
DESORPTION
ELECTRONS
HYDROGEN
NITROGEN
POTENTIALS
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
RETENTION
SILICON
SILICON NITRIDES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
TRAPPING
TRAPS
VACANCIES
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Summary:Hydrogen incorporation into nitrogen vacancies in silicon nitride and its effects on electron trap level are analyzed using simulation based on density functional theory with temperature- and pressure-dependent hydrogen chemical potential. If the silicon dangling bonds around a nitrogen vacancy are well separated each other, hydrogen incorporation is energetically stable up to 900 °C, which is in agreement with the experimentally observed desorption temperature. On the other hand, if the dangling bonds strongly interact, the incorporation is energetically unfavorable even at room temperature because of steric hindrance. An electron trap level caused by a nitrogen vacancy becomes shallow by the hydrogen incorporation. An electron is trapped in a deep level created by a silicon dangling bond before hydrogen incorporation, whereas it is trapped in a shallow level created by an anti-bonding state of a silicon-silicon bond after hydrogen incorporation. The simulation results qualitatively explain the experiment, in which reduced hydrogen content in silicon nitride shows superior charge retention characteristics.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.4914163