The characteristics of polysilicon oxide grown in pure N/sub 2/O

This work reports on the characteristics of polysilicon oxide grown in pure N/sub 2/O (N/sub 2/O-grown polyoxide). The obtained polyoxide has a desirable polarity asymmetry of J-E characteristic, i.e., a lower leakage current and a higher breakdown electric field, which are ideal for the nonvolatile memory application, when the top electrode is positively biased. The asymmetry is due to the smoother surface of the N/sub 2/O-grown polyoxide. Comparing to conventional polyoxides, the N/sub 2/O-grown polyoxide has a lower electron trapping rate and a larger Q/sub bd/, which are attributed to the incorporated nitrogen at the polyoxide/poly-1 interface. The centroids of trapped charges of the N/sub 2/O-grown polyoxide are more away from the polyoxide/poly-1 interface and this affects the polarity dependence of trapping.