Atomic scale measurements of the interfacial electronic structure and chemistry of zirconium silicate gate dielectrics

We have examined the interfaces in Zr-silicate gate dielectrics grown on Si substrates using electron energy loss spectroscopy. The Zr-silicate interface is found to be stable with the Si substrate and the polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) electrode under annealing to 1050 °C. At this interface, a 0.35 nm wide Zr-free interface region is observed in the as-deposited film, and does not change on annealing. The Zr-free region is too thin to take on the bulk SiO2 electronic structure, and thus is unlikely to compromise the dielectric properties of the device. For films with an Al electrode, a 2 nm reaction layer forms at the Zr-silicate interface.