Water vapor interaction with silicon oxide films thermally grown on 6H-SiC and Si

Abstract

Thermally induced incorporation of isotopically labeled water vapor D2 18O species in 7 nm thick SiO2 films thermally grown on 6H-SiC 0001 and on Si 001 were investigated. Higher incorporation of hydrogen and higher isotopic exchange were observed in SiO2 /SiC as compared to SiO2 / Si, at temperatures above 600 °C, which can lead to electrical instabilities, especially in high-temperature devices. At any annealing temperature, oxygen is incorporated in the oxide films, reaching the SiO2 /SiC interface, in contrast with SiO2 / Si. The present observations show that strict control of water vapor contents in SiO2 /SiC is mandatory in order to achieve further improvements in the SiC-based device technology.