AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Thin Film Tuesday Sessions
       Session TF-TuP

Paper TF-TuP8
Compositional Characterization of High-k Dielectric Material via XPS and TOF-ERDA

Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 6:00 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Thin Film Poster Session
Presenter: O. Kappertz, Uppsala University, Sweden
Authors: D. Martin, Uppsala University, Sweden
J. Enlund, Uppsala University, Sweden
O. Kappertz, Uppsala University, Sweden
J. Jensen, Uppsala University, Sweden
Correspondent: Click to Email
New materials with a high dielectric constant (high k) are needed for future integrated capacitor structures. Aluminium oxy nitride (AlON) is potentially one such material. 150 nm thick AlON thin films are grown via reactive dc magnetron sputtering in an oxygen and nitrogen ambient. The film composition depends on the ratio between the two gas flows, although this relation is highly nonlinear. This complex processing behaviour requires careful analysis of the stoichiometry of the deposited films. Furthermore, the functionality of the films also depends both on the stoichiometry and the impurity levels, making chemical analysis even more important. The film composition was analyzed with both X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in combination with sputter depth profiling and time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (TOF-ERDA), revealing a variation in film composition through the whole film thickness. These findings in the film composition are closely matched between the analysis methods. The methodology of the analysis methods and both their individual and complementary benefits are discussed. Finally, the above observation of the varying stoichiometry indicates that the films are deposited under non-steady state conditions, that is the deposition process does not reach steady state for such film thicknesses.