Oxygen diffusion coefficients in ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide thin films

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Oxygen diffusion coefficients in the metastable ferroelectric phase of polycrystalline hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) thin films have been quantified using 18O tracers and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. 11.5 nm thick HZO films containing 16O were deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition followed by post-metallization annealing to crystallize into the ferroelectric phase. A 1.2 nm thick HZO layer containing 18O was then deposited using thermal atomic layer deposition with H218O as a reactant. Thermal anneals were conducted at 300, 350, and 400 °C and the ferroelectric phase confirmed after the anneals by x-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and electrical property measurements. 18O depth profiles were measured and fit with a thin film diffusion equation to determine the oxygen diffusion coefficients. Oxygen diffusion coefficients ranged from approximately 2 × 10−18 cm2/s at 300 °C to 5 × 10−17 cm2/s at 400 °C with an activation energy of 1.02 ± 0.24 eV.