Deposition temperature effect on electrical properties and interface of high-kZrO2capacitor

The electrical characteristics, i.e. leakage current and capacitance, of ZrO 2 based metal–insulator–metal structures, grown at 225, 250 and 275 °C by atomic layer deposition, were studied. The lowest leakage current was obtained at 250 °C deposition temperature, while the highest dielectric constant ( k ∼ 43) was measured for the samples grown at 275 °C, most probably due to the formation of tetragonal/cubic phases in the ZrO 2 layer. We have shown that the main leakage current of these ZrO 2 capacitors is governed by the Poole–Frenkel conduction mechanism. It was observed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling that at 275 °C deposition temperature the oxygen content at and beyond the ZrO 2 /TiN interface is higher than at lower deposition temperatures, most probably due to oxygen inter-diffusion towards the electrode layer, forming a mixed TiN–TiO x N y interface layer. At and above 275 °C the ZrO 2 layer changes its structure and becomes crystalline as proven by XRD analysis.