Application of anodization followed by rapid thermal treatment to thin gate oxide growth

Thin gate oxides prepared by pure water anodization followed by high-temperature rapid thermal treatment are investigated. The anodic oxidation (ANO) is carried out at room temperature with a pure water electrolyte. Following anodization, two rapid thermal processes were used to improve the oxide quality. One is high-temperature rapid thermal densification in N₂ (ANO/N₂) and the other is high-temperature rapid thermal nitridation in N₂O (ANO/N₂O). Both of them show the potential to improve the interfacial property and breakdown endurance of thin gate oxides in comparison with conventional rapid thermal oxides. The advantages of uniform interfacial property due to anodization and short time high-temperature process in this method provide a possible way to prepare high-quality thin gate oxides.