Changes in carrier profiles of bonded SOI wafers with thermal annealing measured by the spreading resistance method

Carrier concentration profiles of both p-type and n-type bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers are measured using spreading resistance analysis. A high-resistivity region is observed near the SOI/buried oxide (BOX) interface for the as-received wafers, irrespective of the conduction type. After the high-temperature annealing at about 1000 degreesC, the high-resistivity region disappears, and the interface region is inverted in p-type SOI and accumulated in n-type Sol. To interpret the results, carrier concentration profiles are theoretically calculated considering a fixed charge in the BOX and electronic states at the SOI/BOX interface. From comparison between the experimental and theoretical results, it is concluded that the SOI/BOX interfaces initially have interface state density of the order of 10(11) cm(-2) eV(-1), which is decreased to the order of 10(10) cm(-2) eV(-1) by the annealing. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.