Multideposition Multiroom-Temperature Annealing via Ultraviolet Ozone for HfZrO High- κ and Integration With a TiN Metal Gate in a Gate-Last Process

In this brief, high-κ HfZrO (via atomic layer deposition) fabricated by a novel multideposition multiroom-temperature annealing (MDMA) technique in ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) ambient is systematically investigated by both electrical and physical characterization and is integrated with a TiN metal gate in a gate-last process. Compared with the conventional rapid-thermal-annealed sample, it is found that the device annealed via MDMA in UVO demonstrates the following: 1) more than one order of leakage current reduction at 25°C and 125°C without an equivalent oxide thickness penalty; 2) less susceptibility to stress-induced degradation; and 3) improved time-dependent dielectric-breakdown lifetime. Grain boundary suppression and healing of oxygen vacancies are believed to be responsible for the improvement, as evidenced by scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis.