Oxidation
Oxidation
Growth mechanisms
Dry and wet oxidation
Deal Grove model
THERMAL OXIDATION
• Is a chemical process,
where Oxide is “grown” by
supplying an oxygen
source that reacts with the
silicon wafer at high
temperatures (usually
between 800°C to 1050°C)
to form SiO2 at the wafer
surface
Structure of SiO2
• A silicon surface has a high affinity for oxygen.
• Silicon will oxidize in air at room temperature.
• Once an oxide forms, silicon atoms must travel
through the oxide layer to react with the
oxygen present at the surface of the wafer, or
else oxygen molecules must travel through the
oxide to reach the silicon surface where a
reaction can occur.
• The diffusivity of Si in SiO2 is several orders of
magnitude smaller than the diffusivity of O2.
• As a result, the chemical reaction occurs at the
Si-SiO2 interface.
• The interface produced by thermal oxidation
has not seen the atmosphere. As a result , it is
relatively free of impurities.
• The amount of Si
consumed due to
the chemical
reaction is about
44% of the thickness
of the final oxide.
• At room temperature, neither the silicon nor the
oxygen molecules are sufficiently mobile to
diffuse through the native oxide.
• After a while, the reaction stops and the oxide
will not get much thicker than 25Å.
• For a sustained reaction to occur, the silicon wafer
must be heated in the presence of an oxidizing
ambient of O2 or H2O , producing oxide films
whose thicknesses range from 500Å – 100,000Å
The Chemical reactions describing thermal
oxidation of silicon in oxygen or water vapor
are given by
– Dry Oxidation
Si (solid) + O2 (gas) SiO2 (solid)
– Wet Oxidation
Si (solid) + 2H2O (gas) SiO2 (solid) + 2H2 (gas)
• During dry oxidation, the silicon wafer reacts with the
ambient oxygen, forming a layer of silicon dioxide on its
surface.