HfO2 gate dielectrics for future generation of CMOS device application

The material and electrical properties of HfO2 high-k gate dielectric are reported. In the first part, the band alignment of HfO2 and (HfO2X,(Al2O3)1-x, to (100)Si substrate and their thermal stability are studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and TEM. The energy gap of (HfO2)x (Al2O3)1-x, the valence band offset, and the conduction band offset between (HfO2)-(Al2O3)1-x, and the Si substrate as functions of x are obtained based on the XPS results. Our XPS results also demonstrate that both the thermal stability and the resistance to oxygen diffusion of HfO2 are improved by adding Al to form Hf aluminates. In the second part, a thermally stable and high quality HfN/HfO2 gate stack is reported. Negligible changes in equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), gate leakage, and work function (close to Si mid-gap) of HfN/HfO2 gate stack are demonstrated even after 1000??C post-metal annealing (PMA), which is attributed to the superior oxygen diffusion barrier of HfN as well as the thermal stability of the HfN/HfO2 interface. Therefore, even without surface nitridation prior to HfO2 deposition, the EOT of HfN/HfO2 gate stack has been successfully scaled down to less than 1 nm after 1000??C PMA with excellent leakage and long-term reliability. The last part demonstrates a novel replacement gate process employing a HfN dummy gate and sub-1 nm EOT HfO2 gate dielectric. The excellent thermal stability of the HfN/HfO2 gate stack enables its use in high temperature CMOS processes. The replacement of HfN with other metal gate materials with work functions adequate for n- and p-MOS is facilitated by a high etch selectivity of HfN with respect to HfO2,without any degradation to the EOT, gate leakage, or TDDB characteristics of HfO2.EI0101193-12042