文摘
We report on changes in the structural, interfacial, and electrical characteristics of sub-1 nm equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) HfO<sub>2sub> grown on InAs by atomic layer deposition. When the HfO<sub>2sub> film was deposited on an InAs substrate at a temperature of 300 °C, the HfO<sub>2sub> was in an amorphous phase with an sharp interface, an EOT of 0.9 nm, and low preexisting interfacial defect states. During post deposition annealing (PDA) at 600 °C, the HfO<sub>2sub> was transformed from an amorphous to a single crystalline orthorhombic phase, which minimizes the interfacial lattice mismatch below 0.8%. Accordingly, the HfO<sub>2sub> dielectric after the PDA had a dielectric constant of ∼24 because of the permittivity of the well-ordered orthorhombic HfO<sub>2sub> structure. Moreover, border traps were reduced by half than the as-grown sample due to a reduction in bulk defects in HfO<sub>2sub> dielectric during the PDA. However, in terms of other electrical properties, the characteristics of the PDA-treated sample were degraded compared to the as-grown sample, with EOT values of 1.0 nm and larger interfacial defect states (D<sub>itsub>) above 1 × 10<sup>14sup> cm<sup>–2sup> eV<sup>–1sup>. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data indicated that the diffusion of In atoms from the InAs substrate into the HfO<sub>2sub> dielectric during the PDA at 600 °C resulted in the development of substantial midgap states.