Damage-Free and Hydrogen-Free Nitridation of Silicon Substrate by Nitrogen Radical Source

New damage free nitridation process of a silicon substrate is proposed with the use of a nitrogen radical source. The process also realized the hydrogen-free film that ensured high resistance against high temperature oxidation processes. It was also found that thicker than 3 nm films could be synthesized at room temperature using atomic N radicals. The metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) diode composed of radical nitride Si 3 N 4 shows no hysteresis in capacitance voltage characteristics even after the annealing at 950°C. It was demonstrated that the application of Si 3 N 4 films to the most advanced field effect transistors became much easier than the conventional processes with the use of radical nitridation.