• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.430-437
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• 2016

Aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$) thin films were grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using a new Al metalorganic precursor, dimethyl aluminum sec-butoxide ($C_{12}H_{30}Al_2O_2$), and water vapor ($H_2O$) as the reactant at deposition temperatures ranging from 150 to $300^{\circ}C$. The ALD process showed typical self-limited film growth with precursor and reactant pulsing time at $250^{\circ}C$; the growth rate was 0.095 nm/cycle, with no incubation cycle. This is relatively lower and more controllable than the growth rate in the typical $ALD-Al_2O_3$ process, which uses trimethyl aluminum (TMA) and shows a growth rate of 0.11 nm/cycle. The as-deposited $ALD-Al_2O_3$ film was amorphous; X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that its amorphous state was maintained even after annealing at $1000^{\circ}C$. The refractive index of the $ALD-Al_2O_3$ films ranged from 1.45 to 1.67; these values were dependent on the deposition temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the $ALD-Al_2O_3$ films deposited at $250^{\circ}C$ were stoichiometric, with no carbon impurity. The step coverage of the $ALD-Al_2O_3$ film was perfect, at approximately 100%, at the dual trench structure, with an aspect ratio of approximately 6.3 (top opening size of 40 nm). With capacitance-voltage measurements of the $Al/ALD-Al_2O_3/p-Si$ structure, the dielectric constant of the $ALD-Al_2O_3$ films deposited at $250^{\circ}C$ was determined to be ~8.1, with a leakage current density on the order of $10^{-8}A/cm^2$ at 1 V.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-5
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• 2014

Transparent and conducting aluminum-doped ZnO electrodes were fabricated by atomic layer deposition methods. The electrode showed the lowest resistivity of $5.73{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$ at a 2.5% cyclic layer deposition ratio of Trimethyl-aluminum and Diethyl-zinc chemicals. The electrodes showed minimum resistivity when deposited at a temperature of $225^{\circ}C$. The electrode also showed optical transmittance of about 92% at 300 nm. An organic solar cell made with a 300-nm-thick aluminum-doped ZnO electrode exhibited 2.0% power conversion efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.77.1-77.1
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• 2013

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is known for its self-limiting reaction, which offers atomic-level controllability of the growth of thin films for a wide range of applications. The self-limiting mechanism leads to very useful properties, such as excellent uniformity over a large area and superior conformality on complex structures. These unique features of ALD provide promising opportunities for future electronics. Although the ALD of Al2O3 film (using trimethyl-aluminum and water as a metal precursor and oxygen source, respectively) can be regarded as a representative example of an ideal ALD based on the completely self-limiting reaction, there are many cases deviating from the ideal ALD reaction in recently developed ALD processes. The nonconventional aspects of the ALD reactions may strongly influence the various properties of the functional materials grown by ALD, and the lack of comprehension of these aspects has made ALD difficult to control. In this respect, several dominant factors that complicate ALD reactions, including the types of metal precursors, non-metal precursors (oxygen sources or reducing agents), and substrates, will be discussed in this presentation. Several functional materials for future electronics, such as higher-k dielectrics (TiO2, SrTiO3) for DRAM application, and resistive switching materials (NiO) for RRAM application, will be addressed in this talk. Unwanted supply of oxygen atoms from the substrate or other component oxide to the incoming precursors during the precursor pulse step, and outward diffusion of substrate atoms to the growing film surface even during the steady-state growth influenced the growth, crystal structure, and properties of the various films.