Influence of oxygen content on the physical and electrical properties of thin yttrium oxide dielectrics deposited by reactive RF sputtering on Si substrates

Tung Ming Pan*, Jian Der Lee

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper describes the physical properties and electrical characteristics of thin Y 2O 3 gate oxides grown on silicon substrates through reactive radiofrequency (RF) sputtering. The structural and morphological features of these films were studied using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We found that the Y 2O 3 gate film prepared under an argon-to-oxygen flow ratio of 25:5 and annealed at 700°C exhibited a reduced equivalent oxide thickness, gate leakage current, interfacial density of states, and hysteresis voltage; it also showed an increased breakdown voltage. We attribute this behavior to (1) the optimum oxygen content in the metal oxide film preventing amorphous silica or silicate from forming at the Y 2O 3/Si interface and (2) the low surface roughness. These materials also exhibit negligible degrees of charge trapping at high electric field stress.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1395-1403
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Electronic Materials
Volume36
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 2007

Keywords

  • Amorphous silica
  • And surface roughness
  • Gate leakage current
  • Hysteresis voltage
  • Interfacial density of states
  • Silicate
  • Y O gate oxide

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