X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to investigate the silicon nitride composition in stacked Si oxide/Si nitride/Si oxide nano‐layers. The standard approach for stoichiometry estimation, valid for homogeneous compositions, was corrected for the case of very small thickness and thin overlayer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The scaling down of Flash memories can be pursued using theconventional stacked gate architecture only with major changesof the active dielectrics, mainly the inter-poly dielectric(IPD).The required 4-6 nm EOT thickness for the IPD cannot beachieved by the conventional ONO (Oxide-Nitride-Oxide)technology which starts failing in the 10-12 nm range in termsof charge retention properties. Therefore high-k materials arecurrently investigated for IPD formation in future Flashmemories. It is worth noticing that the requirements for IPD arevery different from those of the gate dielectrics used inlogics. Alumina and alumina based materials (like hafniumaluminates) are among the possible candidates. Promising andtunable electrical and structural properties are achieved forthese materials by varying the high-k stack chemicalcompositions and post- deposition thermal treatments. Differentmaterial combinations have been selected as potential solutionsfor the replacement of the conventional ONO(Oxide-Nitride-Oxide) stack

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Tungsten importance in semiconductor manufacturing is renewed more and more due to its usage not only as metallization for plugs, but also in metal gates architectures. As the scaling down of the devices is becoming aggressive, the metal interfaces become more critical. Hence, a deeper understanding of the evolution of the W surface after wet cleaning processes is becoming increasingly more important.

In this paper, a study of a La-based high-k oxide to be employed as blocking oxide in future non-volatile scaled memory devices is presented. Hf1-xLaxOy deposited by atomic layer deposition is considered. In order to allow the integration of this material, its chemical interaction with an Al2O3 cap layer has been studied. Moreover, the electrical characteristics have been evaluated after integration in capacitor structures. The rare earth-based ternary oxide presents promising characteristics to be a good candidate as active dielectric for non volatile memory devices.