Material Microcharacterization of Sol–Gel Derived HfO₂Thin Films on Silicon Wafers

Abstract

Upon sintering a sol–gel derived HfO2 film at 700°C, on the basis of high-resolution transmission electron microscope measurement combined with electron beam nanodiffraction, the HfO2 film was found to be crystallized in a monoclinic fcc (face centered cubic) structure. The measured interplanar spacing of the crystalline HfO2 on the (111) plane was determined to be 0.314 nm, which was close to the spacing of Si (111) planes, implying the possibility of the epitaxial growth of HfO2 films on Si (111).