Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T09:43:27.939Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Measurement of the silicon dioxide concentration in hafnium silicate gate dielectrics with a total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2012

Chris M. Sparks*
Affiliation:
ATDF, Inc., Austin, Texas 78741
Patrick Lysaght
Affiliation:
SEMATECH, Austin, Texas 78741
Todd Rhoad
Affiliation:
ATDF, Inc., Austin, Texas 78741
*
a)Electronic mail: [email protected]

Abstract

As complementary metal oxide semiconductor devices continue to scale along the rapid pace of Moore’s law, gate dielectric materials with significantly higher dielectric constant (k=10–25) are being evaluated as replacements for conventional silicon dioxide, SiO2 (k=3.9), and silicon oxynitride. This allows for the introduction of a physically thicker film with lower leakage current and with capacitance equivalent to a thinner (1.0 nm and below) SiO2 layer (Schlom and Haeni, 2002; Wilk et al., 2001; Kingon et al., 2001). Although binary metal oxide films such as HfO2 and ZrO2 exhibit higher permittivity than their corresponding silicates and aluminates, alloyed with various molecular percents of SiO2 or Al2O3, respectively, they are compromised by lower onset of crystallization temperature which contributes a higher degree of interfacial microroughness and increased gate leakage current due to dislocations and oxygen vacancies generated along grain boundaries. Accordingly, development of hafnium silicate has been the subject of intense investigation as an advanced gate dielectric thin film designed to meet the device manufacturing requirements of thermal stability in direct contact with substrate silicon and metal gate electrode materials. In this paper, we present results corresponding to the utilization of total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) as a quick, accurate, nondestructive technique for hafnium silicate composition determination based on detection of the Hf:Si ratio of (HfO2)x(SiO2)1−x, where x varies over the range 0.2–1.0.

Type
XRF Characterization
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bennett, J. (2004). 17th Annual SIMS Workshop, Westminster, CO, 17–24, May.Google Scholar
Gondran, C. F. H., Bennett, J., and Beebe, M. R. (2002). AVS 49th International Symposium, Paper No. AS-WeA2, Denver, CO, 3–8, November.Google Scholar
Kingon, A. I., Maria, J.-P., and Streiffer, S. K. (2001). Nature (London) NATUAS 10.1038/35023243 406, 1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klockenkämper, R. (1997). Total-Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis, edited by Winefordner, J. D. (Wiley, New York), p. 38.Google Scholar
Klockenkämper, R. (1997). Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis, edited by Winefordner, J. D. (Wiley, New York), p. 30.Google Scholar
Schlom, D. G. and Haeni, J. H. (2002). MRS Bull. MRSBEA 27, 198.Google Scholar
Wilk, G. D., Wallace, R. M., and Anthony, J. M. (2001). J. Appl. Phys. JAPIAU 10.1063/1.1361065 89, 5243.Google Scholar