• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.275-280
• /
• 2005

The growth of hafnium oxide thin films by atomic layer deposition was investigated in the temperature range of $175-350^{\circ}C$ using $Hf[N(CH_3)_2]_4\;and\;O_2$ as precursors. A self-limiting growth of $0.6\AA/cycle$ was achieved at the substrate temperature of $240-280^{\circ}C$. The films were amorphous and very smooth (0.76-0.80 nm) as examined by X-ray diffractometer and atomic force microscopy, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the films grown at $300^{\circ}C$ was almost stoichiometric. Electrical measurements performed on $MoW/HfO_2$(20 nm)/Si MOS structures exhibited high dielectric constant$(\~17)$ and a remarkably low leakage current density of at an applied field of $1.5-6.2\times10^{-7}A/cm^2$ MV/cm, probably due to the stoichiometry of the films.