High quality ultra thin CVD HfO2 gate stack with poly-Si gate electrode

We have developed and demonstrated an in-situ rapid thermal CVD (RTCVD) process for the fabrication of high quality ultra thin CVD HfO2 gate stack that is compatible with conventional self-aligned poly-Si gate technology. These poly-Si gated HfO2 gate stack show excellent interface properties, EOT=10.4 Angstrom, and leakage current Jg=0.23mA/cm(2) @Vg=-1V which is several orders of magnitude lower than RTO SiO2 with poly-Si gate. In addition, the HfO2 gate stack is thermally stable in direct contact with n(+)-poly Si gate under typical dopant activation conditions. These films also show excellent reliability under high-field electrical stress. We have also fabricated and demonstrated NMOSFETs, and studied boron penetration in HfO2 gate stack with p(+)-poly Si gate.