SHI induced effects on the electrical and optical properties of HfO2 thin films deposited by RF sputtering

The continuous downscaling of Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) devices has reached a limit with SiO2 as a gate dielectric material. Introducing high-k dielectric materials as a replacement for the conservative SiO2 is the only alternative to reduce the leakage current. HfO2 is a reliable and an impending material for the wide usage as a gate dielectric in semiconductor industry. HfO2 thin films were synthesized by RF sputtering technique. Here, we present a study of Swift Heavy Ion (SHI) irradiation with100 MeV Ag ions for studying the optical properties as well as 80 MeV Ni ions for studying the electrical properties of HfO2/Si thin films. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), profilometer and I-V (leakage current) measurements have been employed to study the SHI induced effects on both the structural, electrical and optical properties.