Physical characterization of hafnium aluminates dielectrics deposited by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

Hafnium aluminates films with 50 mol% of Hf were deposited onto Si(100) using atomic layer deposition. The films were annealed by RTP at 1000 oC for 60 s in pure N2 or N2+5%O2 and by LASER at 1200oC for 1ms in pure N2. Then, they were characterized by X-ray spectroscopies, ellipsometry, Rutherford backscattering and scanning electron microscopy. For thin films annealed by RTP in N2, phase separation takes place, promoting the formation of HfO2 and Al2.4 O3.6 crystalline phases. In contrast, the films annealed by LASER remain predominantly amorphous with crystalline facets of Al2.4O3.6. Also, non-homogeneous distribution of the chemical elements within the dielectrics gave rise to the formation of several regions which can be viewed as sub-layers, each of them with arbitrary electron density and thickness. As a result, Kratky curves pointed out to the coexistence of different features described by different gyration radius yielding GISAXS scattering profiles with polydispersive characteristics. Finally, the samples annealed by RTP were interpreted as agglomerates of spheroids with different sizes (1.1-2.2 nm) and with different crystalline phases whereas the samples annealed by LASER were interpreted as larger spheroids of crystalline Al2.4O3.6 (1.7-2.7nm) embedded in a matrix predominantly amorphous.