Structural and chemical analysis of annealed plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films

Broas, Mikael; Sippola, Perttu; Sajavaara, Timo; Vuorinen, Vesa; Perros, Alexander Pyymaki; Lipsanen, Harri; Paulasto‐Kröckel, Mervi

doi:10.1116/1.4953029

Cited by 29 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…143 Interestingly, these values are comparable with those shown for PECVD SiN in Table I and are consistent with the results of other PEALD AlN investigations where films with mass densities of 2.0-2.8 g/cm 3 and hydrogen contents of 13-27% have been reported. [157][158][159] Bosund in particular has previously shown that PEALD AlN hydrogen content and mass density are both a strong function of growth temperature and nitrodizing plasma time with hydrogen content decreasing with increasing temperature and plasma time, while mass density shows the opposite dependence.…”

Section: Elemental Composition-mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[157][158][159] However, Motamedi has recently reported the growth of Al-rich PEALD AlN films. 160,161 This difference may be due to the use of a N 2 -5% H 2 plasma versus the NH 3 plasma utilized in the Bosund study or due to differences in the two techniques utilized to measure the elemental composition (surface-sensitive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used by Motamedi versus bulk-sensitive RBS for Bosund and other studies [157][158][159] ). In either case, the nitrogen-rich stoichiometry and presence of significant amounts of hydrogen detected for the PEALD AlN film in this study suggests the excess nitrogen may be incorporated primarily as NH x groups.…”

Section: Elemental Composition-mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review—Investigation and Review of the Thermal, Mechanical, Electrical, Optical, and Structural Properties of Atomic Layer Deposited High-kDielectrics: Beryllium Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Hafnium Oxide, and Aluminum Nitride

Gaskins

Hopkins

Merrill

et al. 2017

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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Atomic layer deposited (ALD) high-dielectric-constant (high-k) materials have found extensive applications in a variety of electronic, optical, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic devices. While electrical, optical, and interfacial properties have been the primary consideration for such devices, thermal and mechanical properties are becoming an additional key consideration for many new and emerging applications of ALD high-k materials in electromechanical, energy storage, and organic light emitting diode devices. Unfortunately, a clear correspondence between thermal/mechanical and electrical/optical properties in ALD high-k materials has yet to be established, and a detailed comparison to conventional silicon-based dielectrics to facilitate optimal material selection is also lacking. In this regard, we have conducted a comprehensive investigation and review of the thermal, mechanical, electrical, optical, and structural properties for a series of prevalent and emerging ALD high-k materials including aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), aluminum nitride (AlN), hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ), and beryllium oxide (BeO). For comparison, more established silicon-based dielectrics were also examined, including thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) and plasma-enhanced chemically vapor deposited hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiN:H). We find that in addition to exhibiting high values of dielectric permittivity and electrical resistance that exceed those of SiO 2 and SiN:H, the ALD high-k materials exhibit equally exceptional thermal and mechanical properties with coefficients of thermal expansion ≤ 6 × 10 -6 / • C, thermal conductivites (κ) of 3-15 W/m K, and Young's modulus and hardness values exceeding 200 and 25 GPa, respectively. In many cases, the observed extreme thermal/mechanical properties correlate with the presence of crystallinity in the ALD high-k films. In contrast, some of the electrical and optical properties correlate more strongly with the percentage of ionic vs. covalent bonds present in the high-k film. Overall, the ALD high-k dielectrics investigated concurrently exhibit compelling thermal/mechanical and electrical/optical properties. The drive to reduce gate leakage currents in highly scaled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors has led to the exploration and development of a wide variety of high-dielectricconstant (high-k) materials to replace silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) as the insulating gate dielectric material.1-8 Many of these same high-k materials have found additional applications in future non-CMOS logic and memory storage products such as solid-state electrolytes in resistive switching devices, 9,10 tunnel barriers in spin-transport devices, 11 and as a ferroelectric in magnetoelectric devices. While electrical, physical, and thermodynamic properties have clearly been a key consideration in all of the above applications, thermal properties have become an additional important consideration for higk-k dielectrics as aggressive dimensional scaling of devices has created the need to dissipate ...

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Section: Elemental Composition-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Elemental Composition-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Investigation and Review of the Thermal, Mechanical, Electrical, Optical, and Structural Properties of Atomic Layer Deposited High-kDielectrics: Beryllium Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Hafnium Oxide, and Aluminum Nitride

Gaskins

Hopkins

Merrill

et al. 2017

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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“…33 On the contrary, the PEALD samples had density values close to values reported for amorphous or polycrystalline PEALD AlN films (2.5-2.8 g/cm 3 ). 7,24,25 The nanoscale roughness results showed PEALD films to be slightly smoother compared to sputtered films. The slightly higher average roughness of the sputtered films could be attributed to the crystalline or polycrystalline structure of the film (see Sec.…”

Section: A Thickness Density and Roughnessmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Therefore, AlN has been grown with several deposition methods, such as sputter deposition, 3 metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, 4 molecular beam epitaxy, 5 plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, 6 and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). 7,8 Despite this, there is a lack of systematic comparison between the two main thin film deposition types: physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods of AlN. Specifically, the comparative mechanical performances of the films made with these methods have not attracted much academic attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8,21 In order to overcome the issue of the low reactivity in thermal ALD, PEALD is commonly applied in which the nitrogen precursor is plasma activated. 22 PEALD of AlN has been studied reasonably during the last decade with studies mainly concentrated on the PEALD process parameters' influence on the growth behavior 8,23,24 and the chemical, 7,25 structural, 8,26 optical, 26 and electrical 27 quality of the AlN films. However, important mechanical properties, such as adhesion, friction and wear, hardness, and elastic modulus, have not yet been studied despite their high importance for material reliability in mechanical applications and challenging environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of mechanical properties and composition of magnetron sputter and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films

Sippola

Perros

Ylivaara

et al. 2018

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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A comparative study of mechanical properties and elemental and structural composition was made for aluminum nitride thin films deposited with reactive magnetron sputtering and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). The sputtered films were deposited on Si (100), Mo (110), and Al (111) oriented substrates to study the effect of substrate texture on film properties. For the PEALD trimethylaluminum-ammonia films, the effects of process parameters, such as temperature, bias voltage, and plasma gas (ammonia versus N 2 /H 2 ), on the AlN properties were studied. All the AlN films had a nominal thickness of 100 nm. Time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis showed the sputtered films to have lower impurity concentration with an Al/N ratio of 0.95, while the Al/N ratio for the PEALD films was 0.81-0.90. The mass densities were ∼3.10 and ∼2.70 g/cm 3 for sputtered and PEALD AlN, respectively. The sputtered films were found to have higher degrees of preferential crystallinity, whereas the PEALD films were more polycrystalline as determined by x-ray diffraction. Nanoindentation experiments showed the elastic modulus and hardness to be 250 and 22 GPa, respectively, for sputtered AlN on the (110) substrate, whereas with PEALD AlN, values of 180 and 19 GPa, respectively, were obtained. The sputtered films were under tensile residual stress (61-421 MPa), whereas the PEALD films had a residual stress ranging from tensile to compressive (846 to −47 MPa), and high plasma bias resulted in compressive films. The adhesion of both films was good on Si, although sputtered films showed more inconsistent critical load behavior. Also, the substrate underneath the sputtered AlN did not withstand high wear forces as with the PEALD AlN. The coefficient of friction was determined to be ∼0.2 for both AlN types, and their wear characteristics were almost identical. Published by the AVS.

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Role of KOH and NaNO2 on the structural and corrosion properties of anodic spark electrolysis coatings produced on aluminium

Shakiba

Khoei

2021

Ceramics International

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Structural and chemical analysis of annealed plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films

Cited by 29 publications

References 49 publications

Review—Investigation and Review of the Thermal, Mechanical, Electrical, Optical, and Structural Properties of Atomic Layer Deposited High-kDielectrics: Beryllium Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Hafnium Oxide, and Aluminum Nitride

Review—Investigation and Review of the Thermal, Mechanical, Electrical, Optical, and Structural Properties of Atomic Layer Deposited High-kDielectrics: Beryllium Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Hafnium Oxide, and Aluminum Nitride

Comparison of mechanical properties and composition of magnetron sputter and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films

Role of KOH and NaNO2 on the structural and corrosion properties of anodic spark electrolysis coatings produced on aluminium

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