Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System
Abstract Hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films have attracted much attention owing to their usefulness in equivalent oxide thickness scaling in microelectronics, which arises from their high dielectric constant and thermodynamic stability with silicon. However, the surface passivation properties of such f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2017-05-01
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| Series: | Nanoscale Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-017-2098-5 |
| _version_ | 1827838170115342336 |
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| author | Xiao-Ying Zhang Chia-Hsun Hsu Shui-Yang Lien Song-Yan Chen Wei Huang Chih-Hsiang Yang Chung-Yuan Kung Wen-Zhang Zhu Fei-Bing Xiong Xian-Guo Meng |
| author_facet | Xiao-Ying Zhang Chia-Hsun Hsu Shui-Yang Lien Song-Yan Chen Wei Huang Chih-Hsiang Yang Chung-Yuan Kung Wen-Zhang Zhu Fei-Bing Xiong Xian-Guo Meng |
| author_sort | Xiao-Ying Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films have attracted much attention owing to their usefulness in equivalent oxide thickness scaling in microelectronics, which arises from their high dielectric constant and thermodynamic stability with silicon. However, the surface passivation properties of such films, particularly on crystalline silicon (c-Si), have rarely been reported upon. In this study, the HfO2 thin films were deposited on c-Si substrates with and without oxygen plasma pretreatments, using a remote plasma atomic layer deposition system. Post-annealing was performed using a rapid thermal processing system at different temperatures in N2 ambient for 10 min. The effects of oxygen plasma pretreatment and post-annealing on the properties of the HfO2 thin films were investigated. They indicate that the in situ remote plasma pretreatment of Si substrate can result in the formation of better SiO2, resulting in a better chemical passivation. The deposited HfO2 thin films with oxygen plasma pretreatment and post-annealing at 500 °C for 10 min were effective in improving the lifetime of c-Si (original lifetime of 1 μs) to up to 67 μs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:00:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b777a281e97645849db3cd8e05c1d57b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1931-7573 1556-276X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:00:24Z |
| publishDate | 2017-05-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanoscale Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b777a281e97645849db3cd8e05c1d57b2023-09-02T23:47:02ZengSpringerOpenNanoscale Research Letters1931-75731556-276X2017-05-011211710.1186/s11671-017-2098-5Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition SystemXiao-Ying Zhang0Chia-Hsun Hsu1Shui-Yang Lien2Song-Yan Chen3Wei Huang4Chih-Hsiang Yang5Chung-Yuan Kung6Wen-Zhang Zhu7Fei-Bing Xiong8Xian-Guo Meng9School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Fujian Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Devices, Xiamen University of TechnologyDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Da-Yeh UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Da-Yeh UniversityDepartment of Physics, OSED, Xiamen UniversityDepartment of Physics, OSED, Xiamen UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering, National Chung-Hsing UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering, National Chung-Hsing UniversitySchool of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Fujian Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Devices, Xiamen University of TechnologySchool of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Fujian Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Devices, Xiamen University of TechnologySchool of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Fujian Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Devices, Xiamen University of TechnologyAbstract Hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films have attracted much attention owing to their usefulness in equivalent oxide thickness scaling in microelectronics, which arises from their high dielectric constant and thermodynamic stability with silicon. However, the surface passivation properties of such films, particularly on crystalline silicon (c-Si), have rarely been reported upon. In this study, the HfO2 thin films were deposited on c-Si substrates with and without oxygen plasma pretreatments, using a remote plasma atomic layer deposition system. Post-annealing was performed using a rapid thermal processing system at different temperatures in N2 ambient for 10 min. The effects of oxygen plasma pretreatment and post-annealing on the properties of the HfO2 thin films were investigated. They indicate that the in situ remote plasma pretreatment of Si substrate can result in the formation of better SiO2, resulting in a better chemical passivation. The deposited HfO2 thin films with oxygen plasma pretreatment and post-annealing at 500 °C for 10 min were effective in improving the lifetime of c-Si (original lifetime of 1 μs) to up to 67 μs.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-017-2098-5HfO2 thin filmsAtomic layer depositionO2 plasma pretreatmentSurface passivation |
| spellingShingle | Xiao-Ying Zhang Chia-Hsun Hsu Shui-Yang Lien Song-Yan Chen Wei Huang Chih-Hsiang Yang Chung-Yuan Kung Wen-Zhang Zhu Fei-Bing Xiong Xian-Guo Meng Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System Nanoscale Research Letters HfO2 thin films Atomic layer deposition O2 plasma pretreatment Surface passivation |
| title | Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System |
| title_full | Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System |
| title_fullStr | Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System |
| title_short | Surface Passivation of Silicon Using HfO2 Thin Films Deposited by Remote Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition System |
| title_sort | surface passivation of silicon using hfo2 thin films deposited by remote plasma atomic layer deposition system |
| topic | HfO2 thin films Atomic layer deposition O2 plasma pretreatment Surface passivation |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-017-2098-5 |
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