4350 Chem. Mater. 2002, 14, 4350-4358 Atomic Layer Deposition of Hafnium and Zirconium Oxides Using Metal Amide Precursors Dennis M. Hausmann, Esther Kim, Jill Becker, and Roy G. Gordon* Harvard University Chemical Laboratories, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Received May 13, 2002. Revised Manuscript Received August 13, 2002 Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of smooth and highly conformal films of hafnium and zirconium oxides was studied using six metal alkylamide precursors for hafnium and zirconium. Water was used as an oxygen source during these experiments. As deposited, these films exhibited a smooth surface with a measured roughness equivalent to that of the substrate on which they were deposited. These films also exhibited a very high degree of conformality: 100% step coverage on holes with aspect ratios greater than 35. The films were completely uniform in thickness and composition over the length of the deposition reactor. The films were free of detectable impurities and had the expected (2:1) oxygen-to- metal ratio. Films were deposited at substrate temperatures from 50 to 500 °C from precursors that were vaporized at temperatures from 40 to 140 °C. The precursors were found to be highly reactive with hydroxylated surfaces. Their vapor pressures were measured over a wide temperature range. Deposition reactor design and ALD cycle design using these precursors are discussed. I. Introduction um oxides should be stable in contact with a silicon surface,4 although one report suggests that zirconium Hafnium and zirconium oxides (HfO and ZrO , 2 2 oxide on silicon might produce zirconium silicide (ZrSi ) respectively) have been extensively studied for use as 2 after 30 s of heating at 1000 °C.5 High refractory oxides silicon dioxide (SiO ) replacements in the gate oxide 2 such as those of zirconium and hafnium also find uses insulating layer in complementary metal oxide semi- in optical applications;6,7 as catalysts;8,9 and, because conductor (CMOS) devices.1 The same properties of of their hardness and thermal stability, as protective zirconium and hafnium oxide that make them leading coatings.10,11 Future DRAM designs might use capaci- candidates for a gate oxide replacement also give them tors made from long narrow holes with high aspect a high potential for application as insulating dielectrics ratios in place of conventional flat surface capacitors.2 in the capacitive elements in many memory devices such Atomic layer chemical vapor deposition (ALD) is an as DRAM.2 Both hafnium and zirconium oxides have ideal method for depositing smooth, conformal films, high dielectric constants (at least 4 times that of silicon and it offers the additional benefit of precise thickness dioxide); thus, a thick film of hafnium or zirconium oxide and composition control.12 can be used to achieve the high performance resulting from a thin silicon dioxide layer without the high Thin hafnium and zirconium oxide films have been leakage current associated with a thin layer of material. prepared by a variety of physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods, including laser pulse ablation13 and sputter- Thermal instability might render thin silicon dioxide 14,15 layers unusable even for applications in which a high ing. Although PVD methods typically allow for a leakage current is acceptable.3 high degree of control over composition, they do not deposit conformal films over high-aspect-ratio structures In addition to having higher dielectric constants, and typically do not offer precise control of thickness. hafnium and zirconium oxides are also thermodynami- cally stable with respect to the silicon surface with which they would be in contact in a semiconductor (4) Hubbard, K. J.; Schlom, D. G. J. Mater. Res. 1996, 11, 2757. (5) Copel, M.; Gribelyuk, M.; Gusev, E. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2000, 76, application. Thermal stability is an important consid- 436. eration for a gate oxide replacement material as current (6) Waldorf, A. J.; Dobrowolski, J. A.; Sullican, B. T.; Plante, L. M. CMOS and DRAM processing involves high tempera- Appl. Opt. 1993, 32, 5583. (7) Urlacher, C.; Mugnier, J. J. Raman Spectrosc. 1996, 27, 785. tures (ca. 1000 °C) for several seconds. Thermodynamic (8) Nawrocki, J.; Rigney, M. 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Meeting, 18.6.1; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, 2001. (15) Qi, W.-J.; Nieh, R.; Lee, B. H.; Kang, L.; Jeon, Y.; Lee, J. Appl. (3) DiMaria, D. J.; Stathis, J. H. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1999, 74, 1752. Phys. Lett. 2000, 79, 3269. 10.1021/cm020357x CCC: $22.00 © 2002 American Chemical Society Published on Web 09/21/2002 ALD of HfO2 and ZrO2 Using Metal Amide Precursors Chem. Mater., Vol. 14, No. 10, 2002 4351 Chemical vapor depositions (CVDs) from â-diketonate precursors,16-18 alkoxide precursors,19 and chloride precursors20 have all been studied. These CVD processes all require a relatively high (typically greater than 300 °C) deposition temperature, which results in rough films because of their high crystallinities. ALD has been used to prepare films using both chloride5,21-24 and iodide25,26 precursors. Although the ALD processes can be run as low as 180 °C, this typically results in the incorporation of impurities (chlorine or iodine) into the film. As for the aforementioned CVD processes, the high tempera- tures needed to prevent this contamination result in the formation of highly crystalline films with obvious sur- Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the deposition system face roughness.21,27 Etching of the growing oxide surface showing the location of the nitrogen mass flow controllers (N2), by the precursors themselves also causes additional the water vapor reservoir (H2O), the metal precursor reservoir 23 (Metal Precursor), the three-way gas-chromatography valve, surface roughening and nonconformality. This etching the two two-way diaphragm valves, the metal precursor dose might also explain the difficulty in depositing a confor- volume (V), the pressure measurement location (P), and the mal coating on high-aspect-ratio structures using these rotary vane pump (Pump) with respect to the precursor halide precursors. ALD of hafnium oxide from the [T(precursors)] and deposition [T(deposition)] heating zones. anhydrous metal nitrate precursor of hafnium28 has also been recently reported. impurity-free, conformal, and smooth. The conformality To achieve high-conformality and low-temperature of these films was tested using patterned substrates deposition, very reactive precursors with completely self- with very high aspect ratio holes and 100% step cover- limiting surface reactions are needed. Compared to age was achieved for all six precursors tested. As with metal halides, metal amides should be significantly the aforementioned halide precursors, the films depos- more reactive toward a hydroxylated surface (such as ited at higher temperatures were found to be rough. The the native oxide on silicon) because the metal-halide amide precursors were found to be very reactive with bond is significantly stronger than the metal-nitrogen hydroxylated surfaces and with water. This high reac- bond (both are weaker than the metal-oxygen bond).29 tivity was exploited to estimate the vapor pressure and Metal amides of zirconium and hafnium have been sticking coefficient of each precursor using a quartz known for over four decades,30 are thermally stable,31 crystal microbalance (QCM). and have sufficient volatility to be used in vapor deposition processes.30,32 II. Experimental Section The goal of this study was to investigate ALD deposi- A. Reactor Description. Atomic layer depositions were tion using several of the alkylamides of hafnium and carried out in a flow reactor (Figure 1). The reactor was a zirconium and to study the properties of oxide films stainless steel tube (76 cm in length and 3.7 cm in diameter) made from them. We were able to deposit metal oxide heated in a tube furnace. Precursors and nitrogen gas were films at temperatures as low as 50 °C that were introduced into the reactor through a bored-out flange at one end of the tube. Nitrogen gas was purified using Millipore inert gas purifier model VPMV200SI, rated to reduce water and (16) Balog, M.; Schieber, M.; Patai, S.; Michman, M. J. Cryst. oxygen to less than 1 ppb each. Unreacted precursors and Growth 1972, 17, 298. reaction products were removed through the opposite end (17) Balog, M.; Schieber, M.; Michman, M.; Patai, S. Thin Solid (exhaust) of the reactor with a rotary vane vacuum pump. Films 1977, 41, 247. Substrates were also introduced into and removed from the (18) Balog, M.; Schieber, M.; Michman, M.; Patai, S. J. Electrochem. reactor via a removable flange at the exhaust end of the Soc. 1979, 26, 1203. (19) Jean, T. S.; White, J. M.; Kwong, D. L. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2001, reactor. The deposition zone of the reactor was 46 cm long and 78, 368. was defined by the heated zone of the tube furnace (the surface (20) Taylor, R.