AVS 51st International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Tuesday Sessions
       Session NS-TuP

Paper NS-TuP19
Microstructure Modeling of MOCVD Zirconium Oxide Deposition

Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 4:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall B

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: M.O. Bloomfield, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Authors: M.O. Bloomfield, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Z. Song, Vanderbilt University
B.R. Rogers, Vanderbilt University
T.S. Cale, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Correspondent: Click to Email
We use PLENTE, a software designed to study the formation and evolution of microstructure in thin films, to evaluate different models of growth for high vacuum MOCVD of zirconium oxide films on a selection of substrates. ZrO2 is a potentially important high-k dielectric material that can be deposited using zirconium tertbutoxide (ZTB). Cross sectional TEM and AFM of films in the early stages of growth show different wetting and island formation behavior as a function of deposition conditions, substrate selection, and history. Using PLENTE, TEM data and XRD data, we develop models of how islands grow during deposition and compare the evolving structures with experiment, primarily through trajectories of instantaneous void fraction measured experimentally via in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. Models that include highly wetting islands and strong lateral growth show distinctly different voiding behavior from those with preferential growth non-parallel to the substrate, and in some cases, can be directly mapped to observed growth trajectories. Finally, we use the models developed to predict grain structural development for deposition onto rough and featured substrates, as demonstrations of possible use for integration of ZrO2 films into more complicated microelectronic structures.