Dramatic leakage current suppression in HfO2 gate dielectrics via atomic layer hydrogen manipulation
Journal
Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing
Journal Volume
199
Start Page
109859
ISSN
1369-8001
Date Issued
2025-11-15
Author(s)
Abstract
A novel “atomic layer hydrogen manipulation (ALHM)” method is proposed to enhance the film quality and electrical performance of HfO2 high-k gate dielectrics, including film density, leakage current density (Jg), frequency dispersion, and reliability. Specifically, ALHM involves an in-situ, layer-by-layer H2 plasma treatment at distinct stages of the atomic layer deposition process, namely after the oxidant pulse (HAO) and after the precursor pulse (HAP). Both HAO and HAP treatments yield substantial improvements in the electrical properties of metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors, characterized by relatively low frequency dispersion and a reduction in Jg by six orders of magnitude. Such significant Jg suppression can be attributed to two mechanisms: (1) the HAO treatment facilitates energy transfer from the plasma to the HfO2 layer, thereby enhancing surface reactions and adatom migration; (2) the HAP treatment effectively removes organic ligands from precursors, reducing steric hindrance and increasing chemical reactivity. The results demonstrate that the ALHM treatment applied after both oxidant and precursor pulses improves the electrical properties, with the HAP process exhibiting the most pronounced effect. This technique holds great promise for improving the electrical characteristics and reliability of nanoscale devices, making it particularly well-suited for application in advanced semiconductor technology nodes.
Subjects
Atomic layer deposition (ALD)
Atomic layer hydrogen manipulation
Hafnium oxide
High-K gate dielectrics
Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitors
SDGs
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article