What is Bird's beak?

In LOCOS, the beak-shaped encroachment of oxide under the edge of the nitride mask. Because it wastes active area, it led to the switch to STI at finer geometries.

Field: Oxidation and diffusion

Questions that mention Bird's beak (1)

  1. In LOCOS (local oxidation), what is the phenomenon called in which oxide encroaches like a bird's beak under the edge of the nitride mask?

Related terms

LOCOS STI (shallow trench isolation) Deal-Grove model Drive-in Dry oxidation Forming gas anneal Interface states Mobile ions Oxidation-enhanced diffusion (OED) Oxynitride (SiON)

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