Structure and dielectric properties of Zr–Al–O thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

✍ Scribed by J. Zhu; Z.G. Liu

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 147 KB
• Volume: 66
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-9317
• DOI: 10.1016/s0167-9317(02)01010-9

✦ Synopsis

Zr-Al-O dielectric films have been deposited on Pt-coated silicon substrates and directly on n-type Si substrates, respectively, by pulsed laser deposition technique using a (ZrO ) (Al O ) ceramic target. The 2 0.5 2 3 0.5

Zr-Al-O films deposited in 20 Pa oxygen ambient at 300 8C substrate temperature were post-annealed under various conditions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) measurements revealed that Zr-Al-O films remain amorphous after being rapid thermal annealed (RTA) at different temperatures up to 900 8C. The 7-nm thick amorphous Zr-Al-O thin films on n-Si substrates annealed by RTA at 700 8C for 3 min 2 showed an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 1.9 nm, and a leakage current density of 6.8 mA / cm . By measuring the capacitance of a Pt / Zr-Al-O / Pt MIM structure, the dielectric constant of Zr-Al-O has been determined to be 16.8. Zr-Al-O thin films with high thermal stability prepared by PLD look promising for alternative high-k gate dielectric applications.