Dielectric Properties of Zirconium Oxide Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition from Iodide Precursor

films were grown from and on p-Si(100) substrates using the atomic layer deposition technique. The influence of deposition conditions on the dielectric properties of films was investigated. The breakdown field exceeded 2 MV/cm in the films grown at 325-500°C. The relative permittivity measured at 10 kHz was 20-24 in the films deposited at 275-325°C. The dissipation factor of these films was as low as 0.02-0.03. The relative permittivity decreased to 7 and the dissipation factor increased to 0.6 when the growth temperature was raised to 450-500°C. Variation of the measurement frequency from 1 to 100 kHz had only a slight influence on the permittivity values. Hysteresis of the capacitance-voltage curves indicated that a considerable amount of deep levels at the oxide-semiconductor interface and/or in the oxide were recharged under dc bias. The density of rechargeable states increased with the deposition temperature, and the recharging mechanism also depended on the substrate temperature used for the growth.