In this paper, we report the effects of fluorine incorporation on the alkali ion sensing properties of a HfO 2 dielectric material. The fluorinated-HfO 2 film prepared by the postdeposition CF 4 plasma treatment was used as a sensing layer of ion sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFET) for K þ and Na þ ion detection. The fluorinated-HfO 2 gate ISFET is sensitive to K þ (25.86 mV/M) and Na þ (33.77 mV/M) ions for both in the concentration range between 3 and 135 mM. In comparison with the same structure without plasma treatment, the sensitivity was improved fivefold, and lower selectivity coefficients of K þ and Na þ ions against H þ ion were obtained. In the stability test, the result of time-dependent drift measurements showed that this low power plasma process could not degrade the sensing performance, and lifetime evaluated based on analysis sensitivity change in time was over 15 months. The chemical states of the HfO 2 film after CF 4 plasma treatment were examined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Analysis of the spectra of F 1s, O 1s, and Hf 4f showed that the fluorine atoms are incorporated into the HfO 2 film. This fluorinated-HfO 2 film fabricated by inorganic CF 4 plasma is compatible with advanced complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology and possible biosensor applications.