Hafnium silicate dielectrics fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering

Structural and composition properties of hafnium silicate layers fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering were studied by means of spectroscopic ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy with respect to the deposition parameters and post-deposition annealing treatment. The variation of the deposition conditions allows the temperature of amorphous-crystalline phase transformation of pure hafnium oxide layers to be controlled. It is shown that the silicon incorporation in oxide matrix prevents the formation of interfacial silicon oxide layer and plays a major role in the stability of the structure of hafnium based layers remaining an amorphous state upon annealing at 900–950 °C.

Research Highlights► Pure and Si‐doped HfO2 materials as advanced dielectrics. ► RF magnetron sputtering as low‐thermal deposition technique. ► Amorphous HfSiO is stable up to 950 °C. ► Annealing at 1000‐1100 °C favours phase separation of HfSiO on SiO2 and HfO2 phases. ► Formation of tetragonal HfO2 phase at 1100 °C.