No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
ZrO2 films were investigated as high-k gate insulators for possible gate dielectric applications. These thin films were deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). We had investigated kinetics of ZrO2-CVD reaction system and thermal stability of ZrO2 film deposited from zirconium-tetra-tertiary-butoxide (ZTB) and tetrakis-diethylamio-zirconium (TDEAZ) as Zr source. In the case of ZTB, ZTB decomposed into two active intermediate precursors by gas phase reaction. These intermediate precursors also contributed to the film growth. The step coverage, the contents of carbon and oxygen, and film structures depended on the growth precursor contributed to the film growth. Film structures also depended on the deposition temperature. As the films subjected to the rapid thermal oxidation annealing, the film structure changed amorphous into cubic and then into monoclinic. However, in the case of the films deposited at 300°C, the film structure kept amorphous state after 900°C annealing. On the other hand, in the case of TDEAZ, TDEAZ directly deposited on the growing surface and the decomposition of TDEAZ by gas phase reaction did not exist. The films deposited by TDEAZ contained more carbon than by ZTB. The film structure kept amorphous state independent of the deposition temperature. As the films subjected to the rapid thermal oxidation annealing, the film structure changed amorphous into monoclinic and then into amorphous again. This structural change resulted from the decrease of the impurity contents of the residual nitrogen and the residual carbon and the increase of the content of silicon diffused from the substrate in the ZrO2 films.