The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 24, 1992
Filed:
Dec. 27, 1988
David R Clark, Garland, TX (US);
Charlotte M Tipton, Allen, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
Hot-electron-induced degradation of a semiconductor device (10) is reduced by converting the silicon surface (18) to a fluorinated-silicon compound interface region (23). The fluorinated-silicon compound interface region (23) is formed by etching the device (10) in a fumer (30) using anhydrous hydrofluoric acid. After a sacrificial oxide is grown over the silicon surface (18), the device (10) is placed in a container (32). A mixture of nitrogen, moistened nitrogen and nitrogen/anhydrous hydrofluoric acid is injected into the container (32) to conduct the etch. The anhydrous hydrofluoric acid converts the silicon to a fluorinated-silicon compound, such as H.sub.2 SiF.sub.6, and water. The fluorinated-silicon compound interface region (23) has stronger molecular bonds than the typical hydrogen-silicon formed at the oxide/silicon interface and is, therefore, less likely to be broken apart by hot-electrons.