Dependences of nitrogen incorporation behaviors on the crystallinity and phase distribution of atomic layer deposited Hf-silicate films with various Si concentrations

This study examined the nitrogen incorporation behavior of atomic layer deposited HfO2 and Hf-silicate films with various Si concentrations during thermal annealing under a NH3 atmosphere. The level of crystallization and the phase distribution of the films (crystalline HfO2 and amorphous Hf-silicate and SiO2) had a significant effect on extent of nitrogen incorporation. There was virtually no nitrogen incorporation in the crystallized HfO2. Under the condition that the Hf-silicate films were not phase-separated and crystallized during thermal nitridation, the excess HfO2 and SiO2 phases that did not contribute to the amorphous HfSiO4 phase were easily nitrided. On the other hand, the amorphous HfSiO4 phase was barely nitrided. Therefore, it was concluded that the level of nitrogen concentration in the Hf-silicate films decreased with increasing Si concentration in the films. The changes in the capacitance equivalent thickness, gate leakage current density, and flatband voltage shift of the various films ...

[1]  J.C. Lee,et al.  Optimized NH/sub 3/ annealing Process for high-quality HfSiON gate oxide , 2004, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[2]  K. Chung,et al.  Suppression of phase separation in Hf-silicate films using NH3 annealing treatment , 2006 .

[3]  J. Robertson.  Band offsets of wide-band-gap oxides and implications for future electronic devices , 2000 .

[4]  S. Kamiyama,et al.  Impact of Interface Layer Nitrogen Concentration on HfO2 ∕ Hf -Silicate/Poly-Si–Based MOSFET Performance , 2005 .

[5]  K. Chung,et al.  Electronic structure and thermal stability of nitrided Hf silicate films using a direct N plasma , 2006 .

[6]  T. Fuyuki,et al.  Effect of nitrogen on electrical and physical properties of polyatomic layer chemical vapor deposition HfSixOy gate dielectrics , 2004 .

[7]  Eduard A. Cartier,et al.  Materials characterization of ZrO2–SiO2 and HfO2–SiO2 binary oxides deposited by chemical solution deposition , 2001 .

[8]  Luigi Colombo,et al.  Application of HfSiON as a gate dielectric material , 2002 .

[9]  R. Wallace,et al.  Hafnium and zirconium silicates for advanced gate dielectrics , 2000 .

[10]  M. Balasubramanian,et al.  Wet etching characteristics and surface morphology evaluation of MOCVD grown HfO2 film , 2004 .

[11]  M. J. Kim,et al.  Effect of N incorporation on boron penetration from p+ polycrystalline-Si through HfSixOy films , 2003 .

[12]  Jack C. Lee,et al.  Effect of NH3 surface nitridation temperature on mobility of ultrathin atomic layer deposited HfO2 , 2005 .

[13]  N. Lee,et al.  Nitridation for HfO2 high-k films on Si by an NH3 annealing treatment , 2006 .

[14]  D. Muller,et al.  Atomic scale measurements of the interfacial electronic structure and chemistry of zirconium silicate gate dielectrics , 2001 .

[15]  Paul H. Fuoss,et al.  Grazing-incidence small angle x-ray scattering studies of phase separation in hafnium silicate films , 2003 .

[16]  K. Chung,et al.  Change in phase separation and electronic structure of nitrided Hf-silicate films as a function of composition and post-nitridation anneal , 2006 .

[17]  M. J. Kim,et al.  Boron penetration studies from p+ polycrystalline Si through HfSixOy , 2002 .

[18]  Jeong Hwan Kim,et al.  Improvement of thermal stability and composition changes of atomic layer deposited HfO2 on Si by in situ O3 pretreatment , 2007 .

[19]  Chenming Hu,et al.  Direct tunneling leakage current and scalability of alternative gate dielectrics , 2002 .

[20]  R. Wallace,et al.  Wet chemical etching studies of Zr and Hf-silicate gate dielectrics , 2002 .

[21]  Carlos G. Levi,et al.  Application of Metastable Phase Diagrams to Silicate Thin Films for Alternative Gate Dielectrics , 2003 .