Correlation of nanochemistry and electrical properties in HfO2 films grown by metalorganic molecular-beam epitaxy

Abstract

We present the annealing effects on nanochemistry and electrical properties in HfO2 dielectrics grown by metalorganic molecular-beam epitaxy. After the postannealing treatment of HfO2 films in the temperature range of 600–800°C, the thicknesses and chemical states of the films were examined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. By comparing the line shapes of core-level spectra for the samples with different annealing temperatures, the concentrations of SiO and Hf-silicate with high dielectric constant are found to be highest for HfO2 film annealed at 700°C. This result supports that the accumulation capacitance of the sample annealed at 700°C is not deteriorated in spite of a steep increase in interfacial layer thickness compared with that of the sample annealed at 600°C.