Defect passivation by O 2 plasma treatment on high-k dielectric HfO 2 films at room temperature

Abstract

Oxygen plasma treatment process was used to passivate the non-stoichiometric HfO 2 films deposited by magnetron sputtering. After optimal oxygen plasma treatment, the gate leakage of HfO 2 films would be reduced and dielectric breakdown voltage would be improved to 30 percentage. XPS spectrum was used to analysis the non-stoichiometric HfO 2 films after oxygen plasma treatment which demonstrate a higher concentration of incorporated oxygen atoms at the surface in comparison to the bulk HfO 2. This simple method can maintain high-k dielectric deposition process at room temperature by sputtering. It would be useful for fabrication thin film transistor on polymer based substrate in the future.