Effects of neutron irradiation of ultra-thin HfO{sub 2} films

Journal Article · Mon Jan 20 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4863222· OSTI ID:22280590

Hsu, K. -W.; Bian, S.; Shohet, J. L. ^[1]; Ren, H. ^[2]; Agasie, R. J. ^[3]; Nishi, Y. ^[4]

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1. Plasma Processing and Technology Laboratory and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
2. Applied Materials, Sunnyvale, California 94085 (United States)
3. Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
4. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

Neutron irradiation at low fluence decreases the Pb-type and E′ defect levels in ultra-thin hafnium dioxide films because electrons can fill existing states. These electrons come from electron-hole pairs generated by neutron interactions with silicon and oxygen. Thus, a low fluence of neutrons “anneals” the sample. However, when neutron fluence increases, more neutrons collide with oxygen atoms and cause them to leave the lattice or to transmute into different atoms. This causes the E′ states to increase. As defect-state concentrations increase, leakage currents increase, but since the E′ is much lower than the Pb concentration, this is not a dominant factor.

• OSTI ID: 22280590
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CONCENTRATION RATIO
ELECTRONS
HAFNIUM OXIDES
HOLES
IRRADIATION
LEAKAGE CURRENT
NEUTRON FLUENCE
OXYGEN
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
POINT DEFECTS
SILICON
THIN FILMS