Structural and electrical properties of atomic layer deposited Al-doped ZrO 2 films and of the interface with TaN electrode

Al-doped ZrO 2 (Al-ZrO 2) films deposited by atomic layer deposition onto silicon substrates and the interface with the TaN metal gate are investigated. In particular, structural properties of as-grown and annealed films in the 6-26 nm thickness range, as well as leakage and capacitive behavior of metal-oxide-semiconductor stacks are characterized. As-deposited Al-ZrO 2 films in the mentioned thickness range are amorphous and crystallize in the ZrO 2 cubic phase after thermal treatment at 900 °C. Correspondingly, the dielectric constant (k) value increases from 20 ± 1 to 27 ± 2. The Al-ZrO 2 layers exhibit uniform composition through the film thickness and are thermally stable on Si, whereas chemical reactions take place at the TaN/Al-ZrO 2 interface. A transient capacitance technique is adopted for monitoring charge trapping and flat band instability at short and long time scales. The role of traps nearby the TaN/Al-ZrO 2 interface is discussed and compared with other metal/high-k oxide films. Further, analytical modeling of the flat band voltage shift with a power-law dependence on time allows extracting features of bulk traps close to the silicon/oxide interface, which exhibit energy levels in the 1.4-1.9 eV range above the valence band of the Al-ZrO 2. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.