InP attracts significant attention as a high mobility channel material for Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs)-with many excellent electrical measurements reported on InP based devices. It is well known that one of the electrical limitations of surface channel III-V MOSFETs comes from the interface defects generated from surface/interface oxidation between high-k dielectrics and III-V materials, which can cause Fermi level pinning [1]. InP is also considered as a potential buffer layer material for quantum well FETs, which is in direct contact with a gate dielectric [2]. To examine the interfacial chemistry for high-k/InP, we present a half cycle Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) study on native oxide and wet chemically treated InP (100) samples with Hf (TDMA-Hf precursor) and water by in-situ monochromatic X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The “clean up” effect is examined and compared to the results for ALD Al2O3 on InP. The significant reduction of interfacial oxides by pre-ALD wet chemical treatments and the detailed growth rate of HfO2 on various samples are also discussed.

This work is supported by the FCRP MSD Focus Center and NSF (ECCS-0925844).

[1]. W. Wang, C.L. Hinkle, E.M. Vogel, K. Cho, R.M. Wallace, Microelectron. Eng. (2011) doi: 10.1016/j.mee.2011.03.053.

[2]. M. Radosavljevic et al, IEDM, Tech. Dig., pp.13.1 (2009).