JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS

VOLUME 88, NUMBER 1

1 JULY 2000

Calculation of theoretical capacitancevoltage characteristics of 6HSiC metaloxidesemiconductor structures

C. Raynauda)
timent 401, 20 avenue A. Einstein, CEGELY-ECPA (UPRESA 5005), INSA de Lyon, Ba 69621 Villeurbanne cedex, France

Received 26 October 1999; accepted for publication 4 April 2000 The effect of nonuniform interface trap distributions on capacitancevoltage ( C V ) characteristics of 6Hsilicon carbide metaloxidesemiconductor MOS capacitors has been investigated. Theoretical C V curves have been calculated in order to study the inuence of: i the nature donor or acceptor of the traps, ii the interface state density peak in the band gap and the peak magnitude. The incomplete ionization of dopants and the depletion in the polysilicon gate have also been taken into account to t experimental data. A good agreement is observed between the interface state spectrum obtained in our calculation and the one obtained by the Termans method. Thus, exact parameters of the MOS structures can be obtained. A peak of donor states is detected at E v 0.65 eV, and an effective oxide charge is measured to 4.9 1012 cm2, which denotes a poor SiO2 SiC interface quality. 2000 American Institute of Physics. S0021-89790007113-9 the p-type silicon carbide9 and, iii the depletion in the polysilicon gate. An error made in using Boltzmanns statistic instead of Fermis is also discussed.
II. THEORETICAL DETAILS

I. INTRODUCTION

In the last decade, silicon carbide has been pointed out for high power, high temperature or high frequency applications due to its remarkable properties. Particularly, a wide band gap and good thermal stability allow high temperature operations. Moreover SiC is the only wide band gap semiconductor that can be thermally oxidized, so that its oxidation is similar to that of Si, although slower. Many studies have been devoted to the analysis of metaloxide semiconductor MOS capacitancevoltage ( C V ) characteristics. As in both wet and dry oxidation, all studies have shown a large amount of oxide charges and interface traps in comparison to Si-based devices, especially in p-type materials, which are doped with aluminum or boron. In general, values of the interface state density D it given in the literature are obtained from conductance measurements, by Termans method or by comparing high and low frequency curves.18 Numerous studies have reported the presence of a D it peak at 0.50.7 eV below the conduction band,13 whereas on p-type structures other works have shown a peak at about 0.50.8 eV above the valence band.4,5 The effective oxide charge density Q eff is estimated from the shift of the atband voltage. We show in this article that experimental curves showing a large gap with ideal MOS structures are very well tted if we take into account three effects: i the main one is the effect of a large inhomogeneous distribution of amphoteric interface states. In the rst part, we analyze the inuence of D it on the C V curves. The impact of several D it spectra showing a peak in the lower or in the higher half of the band gap is thus analyzed on the C V characteristics. ii We also take into account the effect of incomplete ionization of dopants on the theoretical MOS characteristics due to the large ionization energy of aluminum between 0.2 and 0.3 eV in
a

Theoretical curves are calculated by resolving the Poissons equation: d d q x x p x n x N D x NA x , dx dx 0 1 where is the electrostatic potential, is the dielectric constant, 0 is the permittivity of vacuum, q is the unit electric charge, n and p represent the free electron and hole densities, and N A are the position-dependent ionrespectively, and N D ized acceptor and donor concentrations, respectively. The free carrier concentration is calculated using Boltzmanns statistic or the FermiDiracs statistic. In this work, we have also included the case of multiple doping proles and we can consider the two activation energies of dopants in cubic and hexagonal sites as two different impurities. In the case of acceptor impurities, for example, this effect can be easily taken into account in Eq. 1 by using the following expression:10
NA x

N A,k x 1 g k k exp

q x kT

where N A , k ( x ) and g k are the atomic doping prole and the degeneracy factor of the k th impurity, respectively, k is the Boltzmann constant, T is the temperature and k is the quantity given by

k exp

E a,k

Eg qF 2 , kT

Electronic mail: raynaud@cegely.insa-lyon.fr 424

where E a , k is the energy level of the k th impurity with respect to the valence band in the bulk, E g is the semiconduc 2000 American Institute of Physics

0021-8979/2000/88(1)/424/5/$17.00

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J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 88, No. 1, 1 July 2000

C. Raynaud

425

tor band gap and F is the bulk potential given by the Fermi level at equilibrium q F E i ( ) E F , where E i is the intrinsic level. Similar expressions have been also implemented for donor impurities. It is important to note that F depends on the () ionized concentrations of dopants in the bulk, i.e., N A and N D ( ). In determining F we need to numerically solve the electroneutrality equation in the bulk. Note that in this study, we use a uniform dopant prole so that N A , k do not depend on x. Considering that interface states consist of adding a capacitor C it in series with the oxide and in parallel with the semiconductor, Q it is the charge trapped in the interface states, and depends on the surface potential s dened as s (0) F as given by Eq. 4, assuming an amphoteric nature of interface states acceptors in the high midgap, donors in the low one: Q it s q

In accumulation, sG is negligibly small and we assume sG 0. The gate is therefore equivalent to a capacitance in series with the oxide.
III. NUMERICAL METHOD

The nonlinear Poissons equation has been discretized using a standard three-point nite difference scheme with a nonuniform mesh mesh size ranging from 1 at the vicinity of the SiC/SiO2 interface to 50 when the mesh is far away from the interface. Thus in matrix notation, Eq. 1 can be expressed as AF, 11

*, D it E dE Q it0 Q it

where q is the electronic charge, F the bulk potential, E the energy in the band gap, Q it0 the charge trapped in interface * the term dependent on s . traps at atband voltage, and Q it Therefore, the s V g relationship, where V g is the gate voltage, is given by V g ms s

where A and B are tridiagonal matrices. This tridiagonal system is solved iteratively by using a standard Newton Raphson scheme. The convergence criterion is that the potential variations should be smaller than 10 11 at the last run of iteration. Values of the semiconductor charge Q s are then obtained by considering Gausss theorem applied to the electric eld at the interface, i.e., Q s ( d / dx ) x 0 . The rst derivative of the Q sc( S ) curve gives the semiconductor capacitance, i.e., C sc dQ s / d S . Finally, the total capacitance of the structure C is calculated by considering the serial association of C sc and C it with the oxide capacitance C ox .
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

* Q ox Q it0 Q s Q it , C ox C ox

where ms is the difference between the work function of the metal and the semiconductor, C ox the oxide capacitance, Q ox the xed charge in the oxide, and Q s is the semiconductor charge. We dene the atband voltage V FB as V FB ms Q ox Q it0 . C ox 6

Note that in the case of an homogeneous distribution, Q it0 qD it F and Q * it qD it s . So the usual atband voltage is dened as

* ms V FB

Q ox . C ox

The difference between the two denitions is thus

* V FB V FB

qD it F . C ox

We have also included the effect of depletion in the polysilicon gate, which occurs when the gate is not doped enough. In the depletion regime the voltage drop across the gate sG is then given by sG
2 QG

2 s qN G

where N G is the doping level of the polySi gate, s is the dielectric strength, and the minus sign is used for an n-type polySi gate. The charge on the gate Q G is dened by Q G Q s Q it , 10

Figure 1 shows theoretical C V curves calculated with the corresponding D it spectra. It is clear that the C V characteristics are very strongly dependent on the D it spectrum, in the range that commonly occurs in silicon carbide devices. A peak of acceptors at about 0.6 eV below the conduction band, corresponding to a surface potential s of 2.25 eV, induces large variations of the C V response, in the inversion regime. A peak of donors in the lower part of the band gap can create a peak in the C V characteristics, when rising values higher than 1011 eV1 cm2. So, the C V curve is very sensitive to the D it distribution for poor interface quality. It is the basis of Termans method. Figure 2 is an illustration of the inuence of the density of the donor interface states at a given energy. Curves 13 correspond to D it spectra showing a single peak of donors. The subsequent C V curves present a peak in the depletion regime that looks like the kink effect observed in the case of incomplete ionization. In this case, values of capacitance in accumulation are not modied for a gate voltage of 10 V. It is worth noting that due to the increase of the mean interface state density, for a given s , V g decreases. The part Q it0 of the charge which is trapped in the interface states at the atband voltage increases, as does the atband voltage. Then, a part of the atband voltage shift observed in C V measurements is due to the interface trap; this part must be taken into account when estimating the xed charge in the oxide, which is in general overestimated. When interface states are added in the lower part of the D it spectrum curves 4 and 5, the capacitance in accumulation is strongly reduced up to large negative voltage, in the same way as xed charges, thus involving possible overestimation of the oxide thickness. In the same manner, Fig. 3

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426

J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 88, No. 1, 1 July 2000

C. Raynaud

FIG. 3. Inuence of donor interface state density with different mean energies for a constant density on the theoretical C V characteristics: a calculated for the same structure as in Fig. 1, for interface state densities distribution given in the inset, the origin for energy being the valence band.

FIG. 1. Inuence of acceptor and donor interface states on the theoretical C V characteristics: a calculated for a p-type 6HSiC MOS capacitor of 52.2 nm, a doping level of 4.6 1016 cm3, for interface state densities distribution given in b, the origin for energy being the valence band.

illustrates the inuence of the mean energy of the peak of donor interface states on the C V characteristics. The more the peak is located near the midgap, the more the kink effect is shifted to higher voltage. Figure 4 illustrates the inuence of the activation energy of acceptors in 6HSiC on the C V curves. The character-

istics have been calculated with impurities in concentration of 1017 cm3 and for activation energies varying from 0 to 0.36 eV. This last value has been chosen because it corresponds to the identied value of the boron shallow level in 6HSiC.1113 The kink effect appears around the atband conditions and is maximum at a given voltage. It results in a kind of descending peak which can be interpreted as follow. For a gate voltage V g a little inferior to V FB , the capacitor comes from accumulation to the depletion regime, so the electric eld at the interface is small. The ionized part of dopants is therefore equal to the value given by the thermo , that is about 0.75% for E ac dynamic equilibrium N A 0.36 eV. As V g increases and is a little superior to V FB , the surface potential becomes positive and the electric eld negative. Then, holes emitted by acceptors are swept, so that in a very short time, all acceptors are ionized. As a result, for V g V FB , the C V response corresponds to the C V char cm3, whereas acteristic of a MOS capacitor doped at N A for upper values of V g , it corresponds to a MOS capacitor doped at N A 1017 cm3. In the following, we will use aluminum as dopants, with an energy level located at of 0.24 eV above the valence band.1113 We have shown that consider-

FIG. 2. Inuence of donor interface states with a mean energy of E v 0.65 eV states and different densities on the theoretical C V characteristics calculated for the same structure as in Fig. 1, for interface state densities distribution given in the inset, the origin for energy being the valence band.

FIG. 4. Theoretical C V characteristics calculated at 300 K with incomplete ionization and for activation energy ranges of 0.0, 0.1 and from 0.14 to 0.36 eV by step of 0.02 eV with a substrate doping level of 1017 cm3 full lines.

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J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 88, No. 1, 1 July 2000

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427

FIG. 5. Theoretical C V characteristics calculated for a p-type 6HSiC MOS capacitor of 10 nm, a substrate doping level of 1015 cm3 and a gate doping level N G 2 1019, 5 1019 and 1021 cm3.

ing two energy levels for aluminum does not lead to a signicant difference in C V characteristics,10 so that we can use a single energy level. Figure 5 shows the inuence of the N or P gate doping level on the C V characteristic on a p-type 6HSiC MOS capacitor. The less the gate is doped the more the MOS capacitance decreases. A poorly doped p-type gate on a p-type semiconductor makes the accumulation capacitance decrease, whereas a n-type gate inuences the inversion regime. However, it is clear that neglecting the polySi depletion leads to an error in determining the oxide thickness. The thinner the oxide, the more signicant is this effect. Figure 6 compares the C V characteristics computed with Boltzmans and Fermis statistics in the case of p-type silicon. The difference is relatively small under low gate voltages and increases with the substrate doping. In the case of 6HSiC MOS capacitors, which are relatively low doped, the difference can be neglected without signicant error. In Fig. 7a are shown experimental data obtained on p-type 6HSiC MOS capacitors. These measurements and their experimental conditions have been published in the past.4 Figure 7b displays the interface state density as a

FIG. 7. Experimental and theoretical data obtained on a p-type 6HSiC MOS capacitor a. The experimental curve is perfectly tted by using an oxide thickness of 52.2 nm, a doping level of 4.5 1016 cm3, a atband voltage V FB 5.2 V, and the interface state density spectrum represented in b, the origin for energy being the valence band. b also shows the experimental spectra obtained by Termans method and the high-and-low frequency.

FIG. 6. Theoretical C V characteristics calculated for a p-type silicon MOS capacitor of 5 nm, with N A 5 1017 and 5 1018 cm3, using Boltzmanns statistic full lines, and Fermis statistic dashed lines.

function of the surface potential extracted by Termans method by comparing curves measured at high and low frequencies HiLo method. The best t of the C V curve full line in Fig. 7a is obtained with the interface state density spectrum shown in a solid line in Fig. 7b, with an oxide thickness of 52.2 nm, a doping level of 4.5 1016 cm3, and a atband voltage V FB 5.2 V. We have also taken into account the depletion in the N polysilicon gate, doped at 2 1019 cm3. The calculated D it spectrum corresponds well to the density distribution experimentally obtained by Termans method or HiLo frequency technique, showing a peak of donor states in the lower half of the band gap, at about E v 0.65 eV 0.1 eV higher than the usual value extracted by Termans method. This peak is in good agreement with values in the literature.4,5 To obtain the full line, incomplete ionization of dopants aluminum with an activation energy of 0.24 eV have been simulated. Table I summarizes all parameters used in our computation. The good agreement between the simulated spectrum and spectra obtained by experimental methods is noticeable. It is nevertheless clear that the incomplete ionization of dopants does not play a major role in the C V curve shape and gives rise to a small decrease of V FB to 5.1 V. In fact, this phenomenon is screened by the great number of interface states. In structures with a better oxide quality,

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J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 88, No. 1, 1 July 2000 TABLE I. List of parameters used in our simulator: xed parameters are physical properties of the semiconductor or of the oxide, or parameters imposed by the measurement conditions, tting parameters are characteristics of the MOS devices. Fixed parameters E A , k 0.24 eV ms 2.2 eV Band gap: 2.95 eV Density-of-state effective mass for: Electrons: m de 0.42 m 0 Holes: m dh m 0 ox 3.82 s 9.7 g 2 donors g 4 acceptors Area Temperature
a

C. Raynaud

Fitting parameters T ox NA V FB D it f ( E ) NG

Best tting values 52.2 nm 4.5 1016 cm3 5.1 V total oxide charge/q 4.9 1012 cm2 See Fig. 7b 2 1019 cm3

the inuence of incomplete ionization should be detectable similarly to Si structures.14 Considering a difference between the work functions of the metal and of the semiconductor ms 2.2 eV, Eq. 6 indicates that Q ox Q it0 1.9 10 9 C, which gives about 4.9 1012 cm2. This quantity represents the total oxide charge, and also includes the trapped charge into the interface states under atband conditions. Thermally stimulated ionic current measurements performed on the same structures had revealed a mobile ion density of about 1012 cm2. 4 Therefore by subtracting this value from the total oxide charge, it remains a xed charge ( Q ox Q it0) of 3.9 1012 cm2.
V. CONCLUSION

Therefore, for such high interface state density, we can conclude that neglecting the effect of incomplete ionization does not lead to signicant errors. We think that these computations will be a helpful tool to extract the correct parameters of the MOS structures in the future, when interface state density will be low enough to not screen the effects of incomplete ionization at room temperature. Moreover, the effect of depletion in the polysilicon gate, which will certainly increase with the reduction of the oxide thickness, and the effect of nonuniform doping prole will lead to errors in extracting correct parameters, especially when interface state density or effective charge in the oxide will be low enough to make atband voltage variations of 0.1 V signicant.
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1

We reported in this article theoretical calculations of C V characteristics of p-type 6HSiC structures. We show how an amphoteric interface state distribution in the band gap inuences the C V curves. We also take into account the effect of incomplete ionization on acceptors, and the effect of depletion on the polysilicon gate. We nally use our simulator to t experimental data in order to extract the main parameter of the structure, including the interface state distribution. The results are in good agreement with results obtained by Termans method or by the HiLo frequency technique, but more precise. Indeed, from the atband voltage value, an effective oxide charge has been measured to be 4.9 1012 cm2, the D it prole has been extracted, showing a peak of donor states at E v 0.65 eV. The difference of 0.1 eV between results from Termans method and our method is explained because we take into account the incomplete ionization of dopants and the depletion in the polysilicon.

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