Role of Oxygen Source on Buried Interfaces in Atomic-Layer-Deposited Ferroelectric Hafnia-Zirconia Thin Films

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Hanan Alexandra Hsain - , North Carolina State University, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Younghwan Lee - , North Carolina State University (Author)
  • Suzanne Lancaster - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Monica Materano - , Chair of Nanoelectronics (Author)
  • Ruben Alcala - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Bohan Xu - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Thomas Mikolajick - , Chair of Nanoelectronics (Author)
  • Uwe Schroeder - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Gregory N. Parsons - , North Carolina State University (Author)
  • Jacob L. Jones - , North Carolina State University (Author)

Abstract

Hafnia-zirconia (HfO2-ZrO2) solid solution thin films have emerged as viable candidates for electronic applications due to their compatibility with Si technology and demonstrated ferroelectricity at the nanoscale. The oxygen source in atomic layer deposition (ALD) plays a crucial role in determining the impurity concentration and phase composition of HfO2-ZrO2 within metal-ferroelectric-metal devices, notably at the Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 /TiN interface. The interface characteristics of HZO/TiN are fabricated via sequential no-atmosphere processing (SNAP) with either H2O or O2-plasma to study the influence of oxygen source on buried interfaces. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry reveals that HZO films grown via O2-plasma promote the development of an interfacial TiOx layer at the bottom HZO/TiN interface. The presence of the TiOx layer leads to the development of 111-fiber texture in HZO as confirmed by two-dimensional X-ray diffraction (2D-XRD). Structural and chemical differences between HZO films grown via H2O or O2-plasma were found to strongly affect electrical characteristics such as permittivity, leakage current density, endurance, and switching kinetics. While HZO films grown via H2O yielded a higher remanent polarization value of 25 μC/cm2, HZO films grown via O2-plasma exhibited a comparable Pr of 21 μC/cm2 polarization and enhanced field cycling endurance limit by almost 2 orders of magnitude. Our study illustrates how oxygen sources (O2-plasma or H2O) in ALD can be a viable way to engineer the interface and properties in HZO thin films.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)42232-42244
Number of pages13
JournalACS applied materials & interfaces
Volume14
Issue number37
Publication statusPublished - 21 Sept 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 36069477
unpaywall 10.1021/acsami.2c11073
WOS 000855419500001
ORCID /0000-0003-3814-0378/work/142256145

Keywords

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards

Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • ferroelectric, hafnia, Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, orthorhombic, oxygen, texture, zirconia, Hf0, 5Zr0, Oxygen, Texture, Zirconia, Ferroelectric, Hafnia, Orthorhombic