AVS 50th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Wednesday Sessions
       Session AS-WeM

Paper AS-WeM5
Materials Characterization and Processing Effects on Hafnium-based Gate Dielectrics

Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 9:40 am, Room 324/325

Session: High-K Materials Interface Analysis
Presenter: W.R. Nieveen, Charles Evans & Associates/Evans Analytical Group
Authors: W.R. Nieveen, Charles Evans & Associates/Evans Analytical Group
P.S. Lysaght, International SEMATECH
G. Goodman, Charles Evans & Associates/Evans Analytical Group
I. Mowat, Charles Evans & Associates/Evans Analytical Group
B. Schueler, Charles Evans & Associates/Evans Analytical Group
J.A. Bennett, International SEMATECH
B. Foran, International SEMATECH
M. Gardner, International SEMATECH
R.W. Murto, International SEMATECH
H.R. Huff, International SEMATECH
Correspondent: Click to Email
Introduction of high-k gate dielectrics into semiconductor processing is proving to be a formidable challenge due to the electrical performance requirements and insufficient understanding of the variations in physical characteristics as a function of thermal processing. Relevant device parameters including gate leakage current density, EOT, V@sub t@ instabilities, V@sub fb@ shift, and electron and hole mobility are affected by process conditions that alter the materials properties. Such physical parameters include phase orientation, oxygen coordination, onset temperature of crystallization, etc. Optimization of process parameters, which affect the material properties and lead to improved device performance with good integration properties, is todays challenge in high-k materials. In this work, we focus on advanced material characterization of various hafnium-silicon-oxygen composition systems and correlate the physical data with specific aspects of transistor performance. A comprehensive and complimentary set of Hf silicate samples, exposed to an incremental range of thermal process treatments, are characterized by XPS, HRTEM, HAADF, EELS, conductive AFM, and SIMS. Fundamental issues associated with phase separation in Hf-Si-O (and HfSiON) systems are discussed within the context of relevant capacitor and transistor device performance. We will discuss the correlation of physical material parameters measured by various analytical techniques with process conditions, and electrical parameters and measurements.