RT Journal Article T1 Hafnium oxide thin films deposited by high pressure reactive sputtering in atmosphere formed with different Ar/O-2 ratios A1 Mártil de la Plaza, Ignacio A1 Olea Ariza, Javier A1 Prado Millán, Álvaro del A1 San Andrés Serrano, Enrique AB The physical and electrical properties of hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films deposited by high pressure reactive sputtering (HPRS) have been studied as a function of the Ar/O-2 ratio in the sputtering gas mixture. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the HfO2 films are polycrystalline, except the films deposited in pure Ar, which are amorphous. According to heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis, the films deposited without using O-2 are stoichiometric, which means that the composition of the HfO2 target is conserved in the deposition films. The use of O-2 for reactive sputtering results in slightly oxygen-rich films. Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) devices were fabricated to determine the deposited HfO2 dielectric constant and the trap density at the HfO2/Si interface (D-it) using the high-low frequency capacitance method. Poor capacitance-voltage (CV) characteristics and high values of D-it are observed in the polycrystalline HfO2 films. However, a great improvement of the electrical properties was observed in the amorphous HfO2 films, showing dielectric constant values close to 17 and a minimum D-it of 2 x 10(11) eV(-1) cm(-2). PB Elsevier Science Ltd SN 1369-8001 YR 2006 FD 2006-12 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/51110 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/51110 LA eng NO [1] Lucovsky, G., Fulton, C.C., Zhang, Y., Zou, Y., Luning, J., Edge, L.F., et al., IEEE Trans. Electron Dev., 2005,5, 65.[2] Hubbard, K.J., Schlom, D.G., J. Mater, Res., 1996, 11, 2757.[3] San Andrés, E., Toledano-Luque, M., del Prado, Á., Navacerrada, M.A., Mártil, I., González-Díaz, G., et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 2005, 23, 1523.[4] Nicollian, E.H., Brews, J.R., MOS (Metal oxide semiconductor) physics and technology, Wiley: New York; 1982.[5] Fitch, J.T., Kim, S.S., Lucovsky, G., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 1990, 8, 1871.[6] Kawamoto, A., Jameson, J., Griffin, P., Cho, K., Dutton, R., IEEE Electron Dev. Lett., 2001, 22, 14.[7] Raghu, P., Rana, N., Yim, C., Shero, E., Shadam, F., J. Electroch. Soc., 2003, 150, F186.[8] Wilk, G.D., Wallace, R.M., Anthony, J.M., J. Appl. Phys., 2001, 89, 5243.[9] Poindexter, E.H., Caplan, P.J., Deal, B.E., Razouk, R.R., J. Appl. Phys., 1981, 52, 879. NO Symposium on Characterization of High-K Dielectric Materials (2006. Niza, Francia). © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The authors thank “CAI de Técnicas Físicas”, “CAI de Espectroscopía y Espectrometría”, “CAI de Microscopía y Citometría” and “CAI de Difracción de Rayos X” for technical support. This work was possible thanks to the FPU grant (AP2003-4434) and the research project TEC2004/1237 of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. NO FPU of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science DS Docta Complutense RD 1 may 2024