Oxidant prepulsing of Ge (100) prior to atomic layer deposition of Al2O3: In situ surface characterization

We investigate the effects of H2O oxidant pulsing of Ge (100) substrates prior to Al2O3 atomic layer deposition (ALD) to synthesize metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. The prepulsing reduces the hysteresis in capacitance-voltage measurements from 490 to 30 mV at the flatband voltage and appears to reduce the density of fast interface states while causing a small increase in the midgap interface state density. Real-time x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy during prepulsing revealed the dynamic evolution of Ge–O bonding states and the formation of a surface layer with ∼70% hydroxyl termination which appears to produce a less defective interfacial region after subsequent Al2O3 ALD.