Defects and impurities in thermal oxides on silicon

Oxides grown at 1100°C in dry oxygen for 60 min to a thickness of 1350 Å on silicon with and without subsequent forming gas anneals were ⁶⁰Co γ irradiated at 4 K with doses up to 10⁶ rad (Si). In situ electron paramagnetic resonance measurements at 10 K revealed ≊3×10¹⁷ atomic hydrogen/cm³ and ∼10 ¹⁷ oxygen-hole centers/cm³ in the oxide. The paramagnetic dangling bond on the silicon side of the Si/SiO₂ interface (P _b center) was also observed. The (relative) concentration of these centers was measured as a function of isochronal annealing between 10 and 300 K.