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Annealing temperature-dependent microstructure and optical and electrical properties of solution-derived Gd-doped ZrO2 high-k gate dielectrics

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for dielectric, electronic, magnetic and ferroelectric applications
  • Published:
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Abstract

In current work, the microstructure and optical and electrical properties of sol–gel-derived Gd-doped ZrO2 gate dielectric thin films as functions of annealing temperatures were systemically investigated. Analyzes by x-ray diffraction have indicated that the 240 °C-baked sample as well as those samples annealed at lower temperatures keep amorphous state. In the sample annealed at 500 °C, however, the amorphous phase disappears and tetragonal ZrO2 is formed. Measurements from ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV/Vis) have demonstrated that transmittance of all samples in the visible region is approximately 80% and the increase in band gap energy has been found with increasing the annealing temperature. Electrical properties of all samples based on Al/Si/ZrGdOx/Al MOS capacitor have been investigated by using semiconductor device analyzer. Through the analysis and calculation of the electrical characteristic curves, solution-processed Al/ZrGdOx/Si/Al capacitor shows improved performances at a annealing temperature of 400 °C, such as high dielectric constant (k) of 16.56, lowest oxidation charge density (Q ox) of −0.74 × 1012 cm−2, and boundary trap oxidation charge density (N bt) of 3.17 × 1012 cm−2. In addition, the leakage current mechanism for 400 °C-annealed sample has been discussed in detail.

Graphical Abstract

solution-processed Gd-doped ZrO2 gate dielectric films were realized. Al/ZrGdOx/Si/Al capacitor shows optimized and improved performances at a annealing temperature of 400 °C.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (51572002,11474284), Technology Foundation for Selected Overseas Chinese Scholar, Ministry of Personnel of China (J05015131), Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (1608085MA06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of physics and Materials Science, Radiation Detection Materials & Devices Lab, Anhui University, 230601, Hefei, People’s Republic of China

    L. Zhu, G. He, Z. Q. Sun, S. S. Jiang, S. Liang & W. D. Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanostructure, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 230031, Hefei, People’s Republic of China

    M. Liu

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  1. L. Zhu
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  2. G. He
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  3. Z. Q. Sun
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  4. M. Liu
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  5. S. S. Jiang
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  6. S. Liang
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  7. W. D. Li
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Correspondence to G. He or M. Liu.

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Zhu, L., He, G., Sun, Z.Q. et al. Annealing temperature-dependent microstructure and optical and electrical properties of solution-derived Gd-doped ZrO2 high-k gate dielectrics. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 83, 675–682 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-017-4468-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-017-4468-y

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