High- K Gate Dielectrics Treated with in Situ Atomic Layer Bombardment
Journal
ACS Applied Electronic Materials
Journal Volume
1
Journal Issue
7
Pages
1091-1098
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Abstract
Because the dielectric constant (K), the leakage current density (Jg), and the interfacial state density (Dit) are critical to high-K gate dielectrics, the layer-by-layer, in situ atomic layer bombardment (ALB) is proposed and explored to enhance these electrical properties in this study. The in situ helium/argon plasma bombardment was performed layer-by-layer in each cycle of atomic layer deposition (ALD) for preparing high-K gate dielectrics. As compared with the untreated high-K layer, the ALB treatment contributes to a significant reduction in Jg by ?3 orders of magnitude, together with an ?11% increase of K value and a decrease of Dit, of high-K gate dielectrics. The suppressed Jg and the enhanced K value are ascribed to an increase of film density and a decrease of oxygen vacancies in the ZrO2 layer by the ALB treatment. The atomic annealing effect due to the ALB technique contributes to the decrease of Dit. The result demonstrates that the ALD together with the ALB technique is highly effective to further enhance the dielectric properties of nanoscale thin films, which is important and applicable in a variety of fields including nanoelectronic, energy-saving, and biomedical devices. Copyright ? 2019 American Chemical Society.
Subjects
Atomic layer deposition; Atoms; Dielectric devices; Dielectric materials; Dielectric properties of solids; Energy conservation; Gate dielectrics; Zirconia; Annealing effects; Biomedical devices; Dielectric constants (k); High- k gate dielectrics; Interfacial state density; Nanoscale thin films; Orders of magnitude; Plasma bombardment; High-k dielectric
SDGs
Other Subjects
Atomic layer deposition; Atoms; Dielectric devices; Dielectric materials; Dielectric properties of solids; Energy conservation; Gate dielectrics; Zirconia; Annealing effects; Biomedical devices; Dielectric constants (k); High- k gate dielectrics; Interfacial state density; Nanoscale thin films; Orders of magnitude; Plasma bombardment; High-k dielectric
Type
journal article