Effects of post oxidation annealing on electrical and interface properties of high pressure water vapor oxidized SiO<inf>2</inf>/SiC metal-oxide- semiconductor capacitors

Oxide has been grown on 4H-SiC samples using a high pressure oxidation system at temperature as low as 400 and 450 C using water vapor. Effect of post oxidation annealing (POA) in various ambient on electrical and structural properties of this oxide has been systematically investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with sputter depth profile has been carried out to study the incorporation of nitrogen in the oxide. Significant nitrogen incorporation has been observed at the SiO2/SiC interface with POA in O2 + N2 ambient resulting in effective passivation of the SiO2/SiC interface. This is reflected in the low interface state density and leakage current as well as high breakdown field strength for the samples with POA in O2 + N2 compared to those for the sample with POA in N2. A very small hysteresis window (< 10 mV) also indicates low charge trapping and a good SiO2/SiC interface for the samples with POA in O2 + N2. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.