Improved TDDB Reliability and Interface States in 5-nm Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Ferroelectric Technologies Using NH₃ Plasma and Microwave Annealing

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: Chen, Yi-Hsuan, Su, Chun-Jung, Yang, Ting-Hsin, Hu, Chenming, Wu, Tian-Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-04-2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Ammonia; Ammonia treatment; Annealing; Dielectric breakdown; Ferroelectric materials; Ferroelectricity; hafnium zirconium oxide; Interdiffusion; interface state density; Leakage currents; Logic gates; Metal oxides; Plasma; Plasmas; Reliability; Stability analysis; Substrates; Time dependence; time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB); Zirconium oxides
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2020.2973652

This article reports that the enhanced forward gate bias time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) reliability and interface quality are achieved in 5-nm ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) technologies by using the NH₃ plasma interfacial layer (IL) treatment and microwave annealing (MWA). An orthorhombic crystalline phase is observed in the annealed HZO film with NH₃ plasma IL treatment and MWA, and NH₃ plasma IL treatment can suppress Hf/Zr interdiffusion. Metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs) subjected to NH₃ plasma IL treatment and 2100-W MWA also have a higher extrapolated operating voltage for a ten-year lifetime at 0.01% failure and lower interface state density (Dit) compared to the devices subjected to only rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 600 °C. Therefore, NH₃ plasma treatment and MWA are effective for improving the TDDB reliability and interface quality of the ultrathin ferroelectric HZO.