ALD Zirconium Oxide (ZrO2) Thin Films Mechanical/Structural Properties for High-Tech Applications

Abstract

The nanomechanical and structural properties of atomic layer deposition (ALD) zirconium oxide (ZrO2) films of varying thickness deposited on p-type Si (100) substrates with 200, 300, and 500, ALD deposition cycles were investigated. The 300 ALD deposition cycles ZrO2 films were further annealed at 600°C. The nanomechanical properties of the films were tested using nanoindentation and the surface morphology was investigated using AFM. The structural and surface properties were explored using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). We discuss the influence of the deposition technique on the structure and properties of the ZrO2 films resulting from ALD synthesis. The nanoindentation results indicate that the films become consistently softer as the number of ALD deposition cycles increase and the film grows thicker. Further annealing of the films at 600°C slightly enhanced the hardness and fracture toughness of the films. The annealed ALD films depicted shorter radial cracks compared to the films under the same applied stress, which were not annealed in forming gas.