摘要
HfZrO x (HZO) crystallized in orthorhombic phase formed by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) deposition and subsequent 400 °C annealing with TiN capping layer was employed as the dielectric for on-chip metal-insulator-metal (MIM) decoupling capacitors. With appropriate NH 3 plasma treatment on HZO/TiN interface and bulk HZO to respectively, suppress interfacial scavenging effect and passivate defects pertinent to oxygen vacancies, enhanced k value of 28.9, high capacitance of 23.3 fF/μm 2 and low leakage of 0.16 fA/μm 2 at 1 V, 25 °C are achieved. With the plasma treatment, the improved interfacial and bulk quality that are confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy also lead to more desirable reliability of 10-year lifetime at 125 °C. The MIM capacitor technology exhibits performance that is notably advantageous over other high k dielectrics. More importantly, HfO 2 , ZrO 2 and NH 3 plasma treatment are all fab-friendly processes, with proper process integration, it is possible to further push the limit of their capabilities to realize decoupling capacitors eligible for sub-7 nm technology.