DPN (Decoupled Plasma Nitridation) is a novel method to create an advanced oxynitride gate dielectric with high nitrogen incorporation at the oxynitride/poly interface and low nitrogen at the Si/oxynitride interface. Pulsing the RF generator significantly reduces the electron energy of the species in the plasma, ensuring that the nitrogen is incorporated at the top surface of oxynitride maintaining high channel mobility. Incorporation of nitrogen increases the gate dielectric constant, thus reducing equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), while also reducing gate leakage by >10x over SiO2.
Features
Enhanced pulsed RF generator for optimal plasma conditions: high ion concentration with low electron energy (<0.5eV)
Inner and outer coil design allows tuning of the plasma for improved nitrogen dose uniformity
