Field-induced surface passivation of p-type silicon by using AlON films

In the present work, we report on the evidence for a high negative charge density in aluminum oxinitride (AlON) coating on silicon. A comparative study was carried out on the composition and electrical properties of AlON and aluminum nitride (AlN). AlON films were deposited on p-type Si (1 0 0) substrate by RF magnetron sputtering using a mixture of argon and oxygen gases at substrate temperature of 300 °C. The electrical properties of the AlON, AlN films were studied through capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics of metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) using the films as insulating layers. The flatband voltage shift VFB observed for AlON is around 4.5 V, which is high as compared to the AlN thin film. Heat treatment caused the VFB reduction to 3 V, but still the negative charge density was observed to be very high. In the AlN film, no fixed negative charge was observed at all. The XRD spectrum of AlON shows the major peaks of AlON (2 2 0) and AlN (0 0 2), located at 2θ value of 32.96° and 37.8°, respectively. The atomic percentage of Al, N in AlN film was found to be 42.5% and 57.5%, respectively. Atomic percentages of Al, N and O in EDS of AlON film are 20.21%, 27.31% and 52.48%, respectively.