Origin and effect of impurity incorporation in plasma-enhanced ZrO2 deposition
Abstract
The origin of impurity incorporation in the ZrO2 films deposition by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition with Ar-carried zirconium t-butoxide (ZTB) and O2 was delineated by optical emission spectroscopy, quadrupole mass spectrometry, transmission Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Hydrocarbons were the predominant contaminants in films obtained with only ZTB in the plasma, while their fractions decreased rapidly with the increasing O2 to ZTB-carrying Ar flow rate ratio (O2/Ar), and eventually became negligible in the oxygen-rich condition at O2/Ar⩾2. However, the increasing amount of oxygen led to the formation of hydrogen carbonate and formate from CO chemisorption at O2/Ar=0.5 to mostly bidentate carbonate from CO2 chemisorption at O2/Ar=2. The films from all conditions contained a significant amount of hydrogen-bonded hydroxyl groups. At higher O2/Ar ratios, the decrease in hydrocarbon concentration and the increase in carbonate fractions resulted in the increase in the dielectric constant and the negative oxide trapped charges.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Applied Physics
- Pub Date:
- June 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.1572193
- Bibcode:
- 2003JAP....93.9345C
- Keywords:
-
- 77.84.Bw;
- 77.55.+f;
- 68.55.Nq;
- 78.66.Nk;
- 81.15.Gh;
- 82.80.Ms;
- 78.30.Hv;
- 79.60.Dp;
- 77.22.Ch;
- Elements oxides nitrides borides carbides chalcogenides etc.;
- Dielectric thin films;
- Composition and phase identification;
- Insulators;
- Chemical vapor deposition;
- Mass spectrometry;
- Other nonmetallic inorganics;
- Adsorbed layers and thin films;
- Permittivity