Nanoscopic versus macroscopic C-V characterization of high-κ metal-oxide chemical vapor deposition ZrO2 thin films

In this paper we compare macroscopic C-V-measurements with (local) scanning capacitance (SCM) measurements to extract electrical parameters. In future microelectronic CMOS devices, high-kappa dielectrics, primarily as gate oxides, will play an important role. The characterization of their electrical behaviour is one key issue to evaluate their suitability. We deposited zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) thin films by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on (100)-silicon substrates to fabricate metal oxide semiconductor gate stacks. These devices were evaluated by conventional C(V) characterization using a probing station. Additionally, we applied a new C(V)-characterization method, allowing to determine electrical characteristics of nm-thick dielectric films on a nanoscopic scale. This method enabled us to directly compare the nanoscopic and macroscopic measurements. As a result, local and global measurements turned out to be consistent. A comparison of our ZrO(2)high-kappa layers with thermal SiO2 films indicate a superior behaviour of MOCVD grown ZrSO2 film. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.