The electrical and material characterization of hafnium oxynitride gate dielectrics with TaN-gate electrode

Electrical and material characteristics of hafnium oxynitride (HfON) gate dielectrics have been studied in comparison with HfO/sub 2/. HfON was prepared by a deposition of HfN followed by post-deposition-anneal (PDA). By secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), incorporated nitrogen in the HfON was found to pile up at the dielectric/Si interface layer. Based on the SIMS profile, the interfacial layer (IL) composition of the HfON films appeared to be like hafnium-silicon-oxynitride (HfSiON) while the IL of the HfO/sub 2/ films seemed to be hafnium-silicate (HfSiO). HfON showed an increase of 300/spl deg/C in crystallization temperature compared to HfO/sub 2/. Dielectric constants of bulk and interface layer of HfON were 21 and 14, respectively. The dielectric constant of interfacial layer in HfON (/spl sim/14) is larger than that of HfO/sub 2/ (/spl sim/7.8). HfON dielectrics exhibit /spl sim/10/spl times/ lower leakage current (J) than HfO/sub 2/ for the same EOTs before post-metal anneal (PMA), while /spl sim/40/spl times/ lower J after PMA. The improved electrical properties of HfON over HfO/sub 2/ can be explained by the thicker physical thickness of HfON for the same equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) due to its higher dielectric constant as well as a more stable interface layer. Capacitance hysteresis (/spl Delta/V) of HfON capacitor was found to be slightly larger than that of HfO/sub 2/. Without high temperature forming gas anneal, nMOSFET with HfON gate dielectric showed a peak mobility of 71 cm/sup 2//Vsec. By high temperature forming gas anneal at 600/spl deg/C, mobility improved up to 256 cm/sup 2//Vsec.