Rapid extraction of the dielectric constant of atomically thin ZrO2 prepared through atomic layer deposition and atomic layer etching

This study presents a novel method for rapidly measuring the capacitances and extracting the dielectric constants of ultrathin high-dielectric-constant (high-k) ZrO2 dielectric layers. The proposed approach involves fabricating an in-plane electrode structure and establishing an equivalent circuit to minimize interference. The simplicity and efficiency of the method eliminate the need for complex fabrication steps, making this method highly suitable for mass measurements. This method was successfully applied to measure the capacitances without frequency dispersion of ZrO2 samples prepared via atomic layer deposition (ALD) and the samples treated with atomic layer etching (ALE), with thicknesses between 3 and 5 nm. The results obtained using this approach revealed a higher k value (31) of the ALE-treated samples than that of the ALD-prepared ones (15.3). This highlights the effectiveness of reducing the thicknesses of the ALD-deposited ZrO2 films (with high thickness) using ALE to achieve and maintain the dielectric constants of high-k films. In conclusion, our method enables rapid capacitance measurements and demonstrates the strategic advantage of using ALD followed by ALE to optimize the dielectric properties of ultrathin ZrO2 layers.