Advanced Dielectrics for Passivation of INSB

Abstract

ABSTRACTA combination of Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma, electrochemical, and chemical growth process were examined to synthesize dielectric surface passivation layers on InSb. The material properties of ECR-grown SiOx Ny on InSb at temperatures from 30°C to 250°C were investigated. Composition analysis was done using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and elastic recoil detection (ERD). The electrical quality of the passivation layer was characterized with capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements on metal-insulator-semiconductor structures over the frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. Sulfided layers, Si3ON2 on InSb, and sulfided layers capped with S3ON2 all exhibited good C-V properties consistent with interface state densities on the order of 1011/cm2-eV, and flatband voltages of magnitude less than 1 V. The difference in adhesion of Si3N4 on InSb and the adhesion of Si3ON2 on InSb was described in terms of the strength of the bonding at the dielectric-InSb interface. This work is the first to demonstrate passivation of an InSb surface with high-quality ECR silicon oxynitrides grown at room temperature.