Nitridation of Silicon Oxide Layers Studied with Ion Beam Analysis on the Nanometer Scale

Ion beam analysis (IBA) on the nanometer scale using the time-of-flight heavy-ion elastic recoil detection analysis technique reveals changes in the elemental composition (depth profiling) of high-temperature nitrided thin silicon oxide (SiO2) layers formed on wafer silicon. An increased uptake of nitrogen with both increased temperature and surprisingly increased thickness of the thin SiO2 layers has been measured. The initial stage of nitridation could be illuminated, indicating the formation of silicon oxynitride subject to nitridation parameters. Previous surface topology investigations with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed concentric annular artificial patterns at the surfaces of specially prepared specimens.