Thermal annealing ambiance effect on phosphorus passivation and reactivation mechanisms in silicon-based Schottky diodes hydrogenated by MW-ECR plasma

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to investigate the effect of thermal annealing in forming gas atmosphere on the mechanism of deactivation and reactivation of phosphorus in silicon-based Schottky diodes. Firstly, the microwave plasma power, initial phosphorus concentration in the samples and hydrogen flux were fixed as 650 W, 1015 cm–3, and 30 sccm, respectively, to investigate the behavior of different working parameters of diodes, specifically the duration and temperature of hydrogenation. Secondly, few samples hydrogenated at 400 °C for 1 h were annealed under the forming gas (10% H2 + 90% N2) within the temperature range from 100 to 700 °C for 1 h. The profiles of active phosphorus concentration were monitored by evaluating the change in concentration of phosphorus after hydrogenation or thermal annealing in a forming gas environment through capacitance-voltage measurements. The obtained results depict the temperature and duration of hydrogenation, which ultimately reveals the complex behavior of phosphorous and hydrogen in silicon. However, the phosphorus passivation rate is homogeneous over all the depths measured at 400 °C. The thermal annealing in a forming gas indicates the increase in passivation rate of phosphorus as a function of annealing temperature, till the passivation rate attains saturation in the sample annealed at 400 °C. At higher temperatures, a decrease in the concentration of phosphorous-hydrogen complexes is observed due to the dissociation of these complexes and reactivation of phosphorus under thermal effect.