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Title: Examining the role of hydrogen in the electrical performance of in situ fabricated metal-insulator-metal trilayers using an atomic layer deposited Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dielectric

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4801979· OSTI ID:22162885
;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)
  2. Laboratory for Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics, CNAM and JQI, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)

Defects in electronic devices can lead to poor performance and device failure. We used deuterium doping to investigate the source of hydrogen defects in Atomic Layer Deposited (ALD) Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films and in situ fabrication techniques to produce ultraclean metal-insulator-metal trilayers. We compare leakage current and defect density of ALD Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dielectrics deposited using different oxidation conditions. The plasma O{sub 2} ALD process has lowest number of entrained defects and exhibits a leakage current 10{sup 4} times lower than the thermal ALD process. Deuterium doping during the ALD process shows that the majority of the hydrogen defects contained in the ALD films are due to entrained water.

OSTI ID:
22162885
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English