Rapid thermal annealing of interface states in aluminum gate metal-oxide-silicon capacitors

Rapid thermal processing has been used to study the annealing of interface states in aluminum gate metal-oxide-silicon capacitors. Midgap Dit values of 1012 cm−2 eV−1, as measured by the combined high-frequency/quasistatic capacitance-voltage method, drop to less than 2×1010 cm−2 eV−1 after 2 min at 300 °C and after only 5 s at 380 °C. This compares with a standard anneal time of 30 min at 450 °C commonly used in conventional furnace annealing. The temporal dependence of Dit suggests that interface state annealing is not limited by transport of neutral hydrogen through the oxide. Room-temperature annealing is insignificant over a trial interval of several months.