Influence of the oxidation temperature and atmosphere on the reliability of thick gate oxides on the 4H-SiC C(000-1) face

The reliability of thermal oxides grown on n-type 4H-SiC C(000-1) face wafer has been investigated. In order to examine the influence of different oxidation atmospheres and temperatures on the reliability, metal-oxide-semi conductor capacitors were manufactured and the different oxides were characterized by C-V measurements and constant-current-stress. The N2O-oxides show the smallest flat band voltage shift compared to the ideal C-V curve and so the lowest number of effective oxide charges. They reveal also the lowest density of interface states in comparison to the other oxides grown on the C(000-1) face, but it is still higher than the best oxides on the Si(000-1) face. Higher oxidation temperatures result in smaller flat band voltage shifts and lower interface state densities. Time to breakdown measurements show that the charge-to-breakdown value of 63% cumulative failure for the N2O-oxide on the C(000-1) face is more than one order of magnitude higher than the highest values measured on the Si(000-1) face. Therefore it can be concluded that a smaller density of interface states results in a higher reliability of the oxide.