Structural and electrical characterization of ALCVD ZrO2 thin films on silicon

We report on the structural and electrical properties of ZrO2 thin layers grown on Si by atomic layer chemical vapour deposition. Atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry have been used to characterize as-grown and annealed samples. High frequency capacitance-voltage measurements have been performed to determine the capacitance of the gate dielectric stack. The ZrO2 film is found to be polycrystalline. Electrical and structural data suggest a coherent picture of film modification upon annealing.