Articles you may be interested inEnhancing metal-insulator-insulator-metal tunnel diodes via defect enhanced direct tunneling Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 082902 (2014); 10.1063/1.4893735 Conduction processes in metal-insulator-metal diodes with Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 insulators deposited by atomic layer deposition J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 32, 01A122 (2014); 10.1116/1.4843555 Impact of top electrode on electrical stress reliability of metal-insulator-metal capacitor with amorphous ZrTiO 4 film Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 133501 (2010); 10.1063/1.3377914 Influence of the electrode material on Hf O 2 metal-insulator-metal capacitors High-temperature conduction behaviors of HfO 2 / TaN -based metal-insulator-metal capacitorsThe performance of thin film metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes is investigated for a variety of large and small electron affinity insulators using ultrasmooth amorphous metal as the bottom electrode. Nb 2 O 5 , Ta 2 O 5 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , and SiO 2 amorphous insulators are deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD). Reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) is utilized to measure the band-gap energy (E G ) and energy position of intrinsic sub-gap defect states for each insulator. E G of as-deposited ALD insulators are found to be Nb 2 O 5 ¼ 3.8 eV, Ta 2 O 5 ¼ 4.4 eV, ZrO 2 ¼ 5.4 eV, HfO 2 ¼ 5.6 eV, Al 2 O 3 ¼ 6.4 eV, and SiO 2 ¼ 8.8 eV with uncertainty of 60.2 eV. Current vs. voltage asymmetry, non-linearity, turn-on voltage, and dominant conduction mechanisms are compared. Al 2 O 3 and SiO 2 are found to operate based on Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. Al 2 O 3 shows the highest asymmetry. ZrO 2 , Nb 2 O 5 , and Ta 2 O 5 based diodes are found to be dominated by Frenkel-Poole emission at large biases and exhibit lower asymmetry. The electrically estimated trap energy levels for defects that dominate Frenkel-Poole conduction are found to be consistent with the energy levels of surface oxygen vacancy defects observed in REELS measurements. For HfO 2 , conduction is found to be a mix of trap assisted tunneling and Frenkel-Poole emission. Insulator selection criteria in regards to MIM diodes applications are discussed. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
Electrical leakage in low-k dielectric/Cu interconnects is a continuing reliability concern for advanced <22 nm technologies. One leakage mechanism deserving increased attention is electron transport across the Cu/dielectric capping layer interface. The Schottky barrier formed at this interface is an important parameter for understanding charge transport across this interface. In this report, we have utilized x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the Schottky barrier formed at the interface between polished Cu substrates and standard low-k a-SiC(N):H dielectric capping layers deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition. The authors find the Schottky Barrier at this interface to range from 1.45 to 2.15 eV depending on a-SiC(N):H composition and to be largely independent of various in situ plasma pretreatments.
A reverse Monte Carlo method for deriving optical constants of solids from reflection electron energy-loss spectroscopy spectra Reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) has been utilized to measure the band gap (E g ) and energy position of sub-gap defect states for both non-porous and porous low dielectric constant (low-k) materials. We find the surface band gap for non-porous k ¼ 2.8-3.3 a-SiOC:H dielectrics to be ffi 8.2 eV and consistent with that measured for a-SiO 2 (E g ¼ 8.8 eV). Ar þ sputtering of the non-porous low-k materials was found to create sub-gap defect states at % 5.0 and 7.2 eV within the band gap. Based on comparisons to observations of similar defect states in crystalline and amorphous SiO 2 , we attribute these sub-gap defect states to surface oxygen vacancy centers. REELS measurements on a porous low-k a-SiOC:H dielectric with k ¼ 2.3 showed a slightly smaller band gap (E g ¼ 7.8 eV) and a broad distribution of defects states ranging from 2 to 6 eV. These defect states are attributed to a combination of both oxygen vacancy defects created by the UV curing process and carbon residues left in the film by incomplete removal of the sacrificial porogen. Plasma etching and ashing of the porous low-k dielectric were observed to remove the broad defect states attributed to carbon residues, but the oxygen vacancy defects remained.
Due to a low dielectric constant (k = 4-4.5) and high density (1.8-2.0 g/cm 3 ), Plasma Enhanced Chemically Vapor Deposited (PECVD) boron nitride (BN) is an intriguing Cu diffusion barrier material for use in low-k/Cu interconnects. However, relatively little is known about the electrical leakage behavior of BN in Cu interconnects or the Schottky barrier formed at the interface between these two materials. In this regard, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been utilized to determine the Schottky barrier present at the interface between polished Cu substrates and PECVD BN. Our measurements indicate a substantial barrier of 3.25 ± 0.25 eV for this interface.
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