Conductive hafnium nitride films were deposited from a plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition ͑PA-ALD͒ process using a metallorganic hafnium precursor, tetrakis͑ethylmethylamino͒hafnium ͑TEMAH͒, using H 2 plasma as a reducing agent, at a substrate temperature of 250°C. The effects of radio frequency plasma pulse time and power on film resistivity, composition, and microstructure were investigated. The deposited films consisted of cubic HfN phase as shown by X-ray diffraction analysis, and the resistivity ranged from ϳ2300 to 8200 ⍀ cm depending on the plasma conditions. The most conductive films were observed to result from conditions of higher plasma power, which is attributed to microstructural modifications as well as a decrease in N:Hf ratio, which approached unity at the highest plasma powers employed. Carbon incorporation in the form of HfC x phase was shown to be beneficial in terms of improving both post-rapid-thermal-anneal stability and electrical conductivity. A midgap work function ͑4.63 eV͒ was obtained for a HfN x electrode structure integrated into a metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor featuring a SiO 2 dielectric.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.