Effect of nitrogen incorporation on electrical properties of high-k nanomixed HfxAlyOz film capacitors grown on Ru metal electrodes by atomic layer deposition

The Hf x Al y O z nanomixed capacitors grown by atomic layer deposition were treated by N 2 -plasma to improve electrical properties. Especially, leakage current characteristics was studied as a function of rf power and treatment temperature. The dielectric constant of the films was not varied irrespective of an increase of rf power and treatment temperature. The leakage current densities of the films treated by N 2 -plasma were effectively influenced by the treatment temperature rather than rf power. The N 2 -plasma treatment at 300 degrees C and 70 W exhibits the most effective influence on improvement of the leakage current characteristics. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and leakage current density at 2.0 V in 6 nm-thick Hf 0.27 Al 0.24 O 0.49 nanomixed films treated by N 2 -plasma at 300 degrees C and 70 W were approximately 16, 0.5%, and 2 x 10 - 6 A/cm 2 , respectively.