Band bending at the Si(100)-Si3N4 interface studied by photoreflectance spectroscopy

Interfaces of silicon with dielectrics appear widely in microelectronic devices and therefore have attracted considerable study. Photoreflectance spectroscopy has been used to measure the band bending at the p-Si(100)-Si3N4 interface subjected to annealing and ion implantation. Upon annealing, unimplanted interfaces exhibit a constant band bending of about 0.77 eV, even though the spectral amplitude changes due to variations in the way minority carriers are annihilated at the interface. Implantation reduces the band banding, although subsequent annealing in stages up to 900 DGC progressively restores the bending to its original value through pathways exhibiting a wide range of activation barriers. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.