Suppressed growth of unstable low-fr GeOx interlayer in Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor with high-k gate dielectric by annealing in water vapor

The effects of water vapor added in the N2 annealing of high-k HfTiON gate dielectric on Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor are investigated. Both transmission-electron microscopy and ellipsometry indicate that, as compared to dry-N2 annealing, the wet-N2 annealing can greatly suppress the growth of unstable low-k GeOx at the dielectric/Ge interface, thus resulting in smaller equivalent dielectric thickness, as well as less interface states and dielectric charges. All these are attributed to the hydrolyzable property of GeOx in water. Moreover, the wet-N2 annealed capacitor has ten times lower gate-leakage current due to its better dielectric morphology as confirmed by atomic force microscopy. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio