Plasma nitridation of atomic layer deposition-Al2O3 by NH3 in PECVD

We have investigated the effect of plasma nitridation of atomic layer deposited-Al2O3 films of monocrystalline Si wafers and the thermal properties of nitridated Al2O3 films. Nitridation was performed on Al2O3 to form aluminum oxynitride (AlON) using NH3 plasma treatment in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and it was conducted at temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ with various plasma power condition. After nitridation, we performed firing and forming gas annealing (FGA). For each step, we have observed the minority carrier lifetime and the implied Voc by using quasi-Steady-State photoconductance (QSSPC). We confirmed a tendency to increase the minority carrier lifetime and the implied Voc after the nitridation. On the other hand, the minority carrier lifetime and the implied Voc was decreased after Firing and forming gas annealing (FGA). To get more information, we studied properties of the plasma treated Al2O3 films by using Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS).