1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to oxide thin films produced by an ALD method. In particular, the present invention relates to yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide (YSZ) thin films.
2. Description of Related Art
The continuous decrease in the size of microelectronic components leads to the situation in which SiO2 used today as the gate oxide in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transitions (MOSEFT) must be replaced with a higher permittivity oxide. This is due to the fact that in order to achieve the required capacitances, the SiO2 layer should be made so thin that the tunneling current would increase to a level affecting the functioning of the component. This problem can be solved by using a dielectric material having a higher dielectric constant than SiO2. For example, the capacitance of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) capacitors must remain nearly constant while their size decreases rapidly, and thus it is necessary to replace the previously used SiO2 and Si3N4 with materials which have higher permittivities than these and give higher capacitance density.
There is a number of materials exhibiting sufficiently high dielectric constant, but in addition to high permittivities, these dielectric thin films are required to have, among other things, low leakage current densities and high dielectric breakdown fields. The achievement of both of these properties presupposes a dense and flawless film structure. It is also important that the materials are stable in contact with silicon and can be exposed to the high post-treatment temperatures essentially without changes. Especially in the gate oxide application it is important that in the interface between silicon and the metal oxide having high dielectric constant there are very few electrically active states. In the memory application it is important that the structure of the dielectric of the capacitor is stable, since the temperatures used for activation of implanted ions are high.
Zirconium oxide, ZrO2 is an insulating material having a high melting point and good chemical stability. ZrO2 can be further stabilised by adding other oxides, the aim of adding other oxides is to eliminate the phase changes of ZrO2. Normally, the monoclinic crystal form is stable up to 1100° C. and tetragonal up to 2285° C., above which the cubic form is stable. The stabilisation is typically carried out by adding yttrium oxide (Y2O3), but also MgO, CaO, CeO2, In2O3, Gd2O3, and Al2O3 have been used. Previously, YSZ thin film layers have been produced, for example, by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) (Garcia, G. et al., Preparation of YSZ layers by MOCVD: Influence of experimental parameters on the morphology of the film, J. Crystal Growth 156 (1995), 426) and e-beam evaporation techniques (cf. Matthée, Th. et al., Orientation relationships of epitaxial oxide buffer layers on silicon (100) for high-temperature superconducting YBa2Cu3O7, films, Appl. Phys. Lett. 61 (1992), 1240).
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be used for producing binary oxide thin films. ALD, which originally was known as atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) is a variant of traditional CVD. The method name was recently changed from ALE into ALD to avoid possible confusion when discussing about polycrystalline and amorphous thin films. Equipment for ALD is supplied under the name ALCVD™ by ASM Microchemistry Oy, Espoo, Finland. The ALD method is based on sequential self-saturating surface reactions. The method is described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,058,430 and 5,711,811. The growth benefits from the usage of inert carrier and purging gases which makes the system faster.
When ALD type process is used for producing more complicated compounds, all components may not have, at the same reaction temperature range, an ALD process window, in which the growth is controlled. Mölsä et al. have discovered that an ALD type growth can be obtained when growing binary compounds even if a real ALD window has not been found, but the growth rate of the thin film depends on the temperature (Mölsä, H. et al., Adv. Mat. Opt. El. 4 (1994), 389). The use of such a source material and reaction temperature for the production of solid solutions and doped thin films may be found difficult when a precise concentration control is desired. Also the scaling of the process becomes more difficult, if small temperature changes have an effect on the growth process.
Mölsä et al. (Mölsä, H. et al., Adv. Mat. Opt. El. 4 (1994), 389) disclosed a process for growing Y2O3 by ALE-method. They used Y(thd)3 (thd=2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione) as the yttrium source material and ozone-oxygen mixture as the oxygen source material in a temperature range of 400-500° C. As already discussed, no ALE window could be found since the growth rate increased steadily from 0.3 Å/cycle to 1.8 Å/cycle with increasing temperature.
Ritala et al. (Ritala, M. and Leskelä, M., Appl. Surf. Sci. 75 (1994), 333) have disclosed a process for growing ZrO2 by an ALD type process. ZrCl4 was used as the zirconium source material and water was used as the oxygen source material. The temperature in the process was 500° C. and the growth rate was 0.53 Å/cycle.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the problems of prior art and to provide a novel process for producing yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide (YSZ) thin films.
This and other objects together with the advantages thereof are achieved by the present invention as hereinafter described and claimed.
The present invention is based on the finding that yttrium oxide and zirconium oxide can be grown by an ALD type method so that the film growth is in accordance with the principles of ALD so as to form an yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide thin film.
More specifically, the process for producing YSZ thin films is characterised by what is stated in the characterising part of claim 1.
A number of considerable advantages are achieved by means of the present invention.
The growth rate of the yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide thin film is high, e.g., the growth rate of ALD thin film was approximately 25% higher than would be expected based on the growth rates of ZrO2 and Y2O3.
The temperatures used in the present invention are low compared with the processes of prior art, which reduces the cost of the production process.
A film grown with the present process exhibits good thin film properties. Thus, the oxide films obtained have an excellent conformality even on uneven surfaces. The method also provides an excellent and automatic self-control for the film growth.
The ALD grown yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide thin films can be used, for example, as insulators in electronics and optics. For example, in field emission displays (FED) it is preferred that insulating oxides which have a smooth surface, are used. It is also possible to use the YSZ thin films as solid electrolytes in gas sensors and fuel cells. Particularly suitably the YSZ thin films are used as gate oxides in microelectronic devices, and as capacitor in dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
Next, the invention is described in detail with the aid of the following detailed description and by reference to the attached drawings.
For the purposes of the present invention, an “ALD-type process” designates a process in which growth of material from gaseous or vaporized source chemicals onto a surface is based on sequential and alternating self-saturating surface reactions. The principles of ALD are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,058,430 and 5,711,811.
“Reaction space” is used to designate a reactor or reaction chamber in which the conditions can be adjusted so that growth by ALD is possible.
“ALD window” is used to designate the temperature range in which the growth of a thin film takes place according to the principles of ALD. One indication of thin film growing according to the ALD principles is the fact that the growth rate remains essentially constant over the temperature range.
“Thin film” is used to designate a film which is grown from elements or compounds that are transported as separate ions, atoms or molecules via vacuum, gaseous phase or liquid phase from the source to the substrate. The thickness of the film depends on the application and it varies in a wide range, e.g., from one molecular layer to 800 nm or up to 1 μm or even over that.
According to the present invention, the oxide thin films are produced by an ALD method. Thus, a substrate placed in a reaction chamber is subjected to sequential, alternately repeated surface reactions of at least two vapor-phase reagents for the purpose of growing a thin film thereon.
The conditions in the reaction space are adjusted so that no gas-phase reactions, i.e., reactions between gaseous reagents, occur, only surface reactions, i.e., reactions between species adsorbed on the surface of the substrate and a gaseous reagent. Thus, the molecules of oxygen source material react with the adsorbed metal source compound layer on the surface. This kind of growth is in accordance with the principles of ALD.
According to the present process the vapour-phase pulses of the metal source material and the oxygen source material are alternately and sequentially fed to the reaction space and contacted with the surface of the substrate fitted into the reaction space. The “surface” of the substrate comprises initially the surface of the actual substrate material which optionally has been pre-treated in advance, e.g., by contacting it with a chemical for modifying the surface properties thereof. During the growth process of the thin films, the previous metal oxide layer forms the surface for the following metal oxide layer. The reagents are preferably fed into the reactor with the aid of an inert carrier gas, such as nitrogen.
Preferably, and to make the process faster, the metal source material pulse and the oxygen source material pulse are separated from each other by an inert gas pulse, also referred to as gas purge in order to purge the reaction space from the unreacted residues of the previous chemical and the reaction products. The inert gas purge typically comprises an inactive gas, such as nitrogen, or a noble gas, such as argon.
Thus, one pulsing sequence (also referred to as a “cycle” or “reaction cycle”) preferably consists essentially of
The purging time is selected to be long enough to prevent gas phase reactions and to prevent metal oxide thin film growth rates higher than optimum ALD growth rate per cycle for said oxide.
The deposition can be carried out at normal pressure, but it is preferred to operate the method at reduced pressure. The pressure in the reactor is typically 0.01-20 mbar, preferably 0.1-5 mbar.
The substrate temperature has to be low enough to keep the bonds between thin film atoms intact and to prevent thermal decomposition of the gaseous or vaporised reagents. On the other hand, the substrate temperature has to be high enough to keep the source materials in gas phase, i.e., condensation of the gaseous or vaporised reagents must be avoided. Further, the temperature must be sufficiently high to provide the activation energy for the surface reaction. When growing zirconium oxide on a substrate, the temperature of the substrate is typically 250-500° C., preferably 275-450° C., and in particular 275-325° C. The temperature range used for growing Y2O3 on a substrate is typically 200-400° C., preferably 250-350° C. The YSZ films are typically grown at 250-400° C., preferably at 275-350° C., and in particular at 275-325° C.
At these conditions, the amount of reagents bound to the surface will be determined by the surface. This phenomenon is called “self-saturation”.
Maximum coverage on the substrate surface is obtained when a single layer of metal source chemical molecules is adsorbed. The pulsing sequence is repeated until an oxide film of predetermined thickness is grown.
The source temperature is preferably set below the substrate temperature. This is based on the fact that if the partial pressure of the source chemical vapour exceeds the condensation limit at the substrate temperature, controlled layer-by-layer growth of the film is lost.
The amount of time available for the self-saturating reactions is limited mostly by the economical factors such as required throughput of the product from the reactor. Very thin films are made by relatively few pulsing cycles and in some cases this enables an increase of the source chemical pulse times and, thus, utilization of the source chemicals with a lower vapour pressure than normally.
The substrate can be of various types, for example sheet-formed or powder-like. Examples include silicon, silica, coated silicon, copper metal, and various nitrides, such as metal nitrides.
The YSZ thin films grown according to the process of the present invention are typically (100) oriented.
Chlorine residues can be found in thin films comprising zirconium and/or yttrium, when one or more of the source materials contains chlorine. In the YSZ thin films produced according to the present invention the concentration of Cl in the films is typically 0.05-0.25 wt-%. It was surprisingly found out in the connection of the present invention, that when the concentration of yttrium in the formed film was low, i.e., below 20 wt-%, and in particular below 15 wt-%, the chloride content of the formed thin film was lower than that of a film consisting essentially of ZrO2.
In the pulsing sequence described above, the metal source chemical is either a zirconium source material or an yttrium source material. Thus, in the growth process of the present invention, yttrium oxide and zirconium oxide are grown on a substrate.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide thin film is formed. Thus, during the growth of the thin film, at least one pulsing cycle described above will be carried out using an yttrium source chemical as the metal source chemical, and at least one pulsing cycle described above will be carried out using a zirconium source chemical as the metal source chemical.
The pulsing ratio between yttrium source chemical and zirconium source chemical can be selected so as to obtain the desired properties to the thin film. Typically, the pulsing ratio Y:Zr is from 1:10 to 10:1, preferably from 1:5 to 5:1, more preferably from 1:3 to 3:1, and most preferably the pulsing ratio is approximately 1:1.
According to one embodiment of the invention, when growing a YSZ thin film the first pulsing cycle on a substrate is carried out using an yttrium source chemical as the metal source chemical.
According to another embodiment of the invention, when growing a YSZ thin film the first pulsing cycle on a substrate is carried out using a zirconium source material as the metal source chemical.
Gaseous or volatile compounds of yttrium and zirconium are used as metal source materials in the process of the present invention.
Since the properties of each metal compound vary, the suitability of each metal compound for the use in the process of the present invention has to be considered. The properties of the compounds are found, e.g., in N. N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw, Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Pergamon Press, 1997.
The metal source material has to be chosen so that requirements for sufficient vapour pressure, the sufficient thermal stability at substrate temperature and sufficient reactivity of the compounds are fulfilled.
Sufficient vapour pressure means that there must be enough source chemical molecules in the gas phase near the substrate surface to enable fast enough self-saturating reactions at the surface.
In practice sufficient thermal stability means that the source chemical itself must not form growth-disturbing condensable phases on the substrates or leave harmful levels of impurities on the substrate surface through thermal decomposition. Thus, one aim is to avoid non-controlled condensation of molecules on substrates.
Further selecting criteria may include the availability of the chemical in a high purity, and the easiness of handling, inter al., reasonable precautions.
In addition, the quality of the by-products resulting from the ligand exchange reaction needs to be considered. It is important that the reaction product is essentially gaseous. By this it is meant that the by-products possibly formed in the ligand exchange reaction are gaseous enough to be moved from the reaction space with the aid of the inert purging gas, which means that they will not remain as impurities in the films.
The yttrium source material is typically selected from the group of materials having general formula (I) or (II):
YX3 (I)
YX3B (II)
wherein
C5H5-yR′″y (IV)
According to one embodiment of the present invention, Y(cot)Cp*(cot=cyclooctatetraenyl and Cp*=pentamethyl cyclopentadienyl) is used as the yttrium source material.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Y(thd)3 (thd=2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione) is used as the yttrium source material.
The zirconium source material is typically selected from the group of zirconium halides and zirconium compounds comprising at least one carbon atom.
The zirconium source material is typically selected from the group having the general formula (V)
R2ZrX2 (V)
wherein
The following preferred combinations of X and R can also be used in the present invention:
Preferably, the zirconium source material used in the present invention is zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl4) or dicyclopentadienyl zirconium dichloride (Cp2ZrCl2).
The oxygen source material may be any oxygen compound usable in the ALE technique. Preferable oxygen source materials include water, oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, and aqueous solutions of hydrogen peroxide. Ozone (O3) is an especially preferable oxygen source material, also as mixture with oxygen (O2). It is known on the basis of the literature that, if ozone is used as the precursor for oxygen, a denser layer of material is obtained from the forming oxides, and thereby the permittivity of the oxide thin film can be improved.
One or more of the following compounds may also be used as the precursor for oxygen:
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a YSZ thin film is grown by an ALD type method using Y(thd)3 as the yttrium source material, dicyclopentadienyl zirconium dichloride (Cp2ZrCl2) as the zirconium source material and ozone or a mixture of O3 and O2 as the oxygen source material.
According to another preferred embodiment, a YSZ thin film is grown by an ALD type method using Y(thd)3 as the yttrium source material and a mixture of O3 and O2 as the oxygen source material, and zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl4) as the zirconium source material and water as the oxygen source material.
The following examples illustrate the invention further.
In the examples, Y(thd)3 and dicyclopentadienyl zirconium dichloride (Cp2ZrCl2) (Strem Chemicals) were used as the metal source materials. Y(thd)3 was prepared according to the teaching of Eisentraut and Sievers (Eisentraut, K. J. and Sievers, R. E., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 87 (1965), 5254). The source materials were analysed thermogravimetrically (TG/DTA, Seiko SSC 5200) at a pressure of 1 mbar.
The thin films were grown in MC-120 and F-120 reactors (ASM Microchemistry Oy, Espoo, Finland) and N2 (5.0, Aga) was used as the carrier gas. Ozone, produced with an ozone generator (Fisher 502) from O2 (5.0, Aga), was used as the oxidiser. (100) oriented silicon (Okmetic Oy, Finland) and lime glass were used as substrates. The growing of separate yttrium oxides and zirconium oxides was examined as the function of temperature and the suitability of the source materials was confirmed by experimenting with pulsing times in the range of 0.5-4 seconds.
The crystallinity and orientation of the grown Y2O3, ZrO2 and YSZ thin films were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD, Philips MPD1880, Cu Kα). The Y and Zr contents and the possible impurities were determined by X-ray fluoresence (XRF, Philips PW1480) using UniQuant 4.0 software and by Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) using STRATA software. YSZ thin films were also analysed by X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS, AXIS 165, Kratos Analytical) using monochromated Al Kα radiation. Both wide scan spectra and HiRes (high resolution) spectra from areas C 1 s, O 1 s, Zr 3d and Y 3d were determined. The area of the measured sample was approximately 1 mm2, and measurements were carried out from several points.
The thicknesses of the thin films were determined either with Hitachi U-2000 UV-Vis spectrophotometer and with optical fitting method as taught by Ylilammi, M. and Ranta-Aho, T. in Thin Solid Films 232 (1993), 56 or by profilometry (the Y2O3 thin films) (Sloan Dektak SL3030, Veeco Instruments) by etching with a solution of HCl the appropriate steps using a photoresist (AZ 1350H, Hoechst) as a mask.
The thin films were analysed also by Nicolet Magna-IR 750 FT-IR-spectrophotometer using a DTGS detector and a DRIFTS accessory (Spectra Tech Inc.). From the samples prepared on a approximately 0.5×0.5 cm2 (100) silicon substrate mid-IR-area spectra were measured with 2 cm−1 resolution and signal-averaging of 64 scans were used. The background was measured with the diffuse alignment mirror of the device (SpectraTech no: 7004-015). The spectra of the silicon wafer with a native oxide was subtracted from the spectra of the samples. The interference in the spectra resulting from water and CO2 residues in the IR apparatus was eliminated by purging with dry air. Smoothing of the measured spectra was carried out when necessary.
Y2O3 thin films were grown by ALD method at a temperature of 250-350° C. The growth rate of the Y2O3 thin films was 0.23 Å/cycle.
For Y2O3 thin film growth from Y(thd)3 an ALD window was found in which the growth rate remained essentially constant in the temperature range of 250-350° C. The source material temperature was 120° C., the pulsing times were 0.8 s for Y(thd)3 and 3.0 s for O3, and the purging after each source material pulse lasted 1.0 s. This is also presented in
In
The Y2O3 films grown in the ALD window of 250-350° C. were (100) oriented. In the films grown at higher temperatures also (111) and (440) orientations were detected. The growth at temperatures higher than 400° C. yielded results similar to those obtained in prior art (Mölsä, H. et al., Adv. Mat. Opt. El. 4 (1994), 389). The orientation or crystallinity of the thin films did not vary according to the pulsing times of the source materials.
Zirconium oxide thin films were produced using Cp2ZrCl2 as the zirconium source material. The temperature of the source material was 140° C. The ZrO2 thin films could be grown according to the principles of ALD at temperatures of 275-325° C. and at 400-450° C. In the first range, a growth rate of 0.48 Å/cycle was obtained, and in the second range, the growth rate was 0.53 Å/cycle.
This can also be seen in
The pulsing times of the source materials were changed in some experiments. A Cp2ZrCl2 pulse of 1.0 s saturated the surface of the substrate. An O3 pulse of 1.5 s was needed to complete the reaction cycle.
In
XRF was used to analyse possible Cl residues present in the ZrO2 thin films. In the thin films grown on a silicon or glass substrate at 250-275° C., approximately 0.1 wt-% of Cl was present. The thin films grown at 300-325° C. exhibited a chlorine content of approximately 0.06-0.07 wt-%. For films grown at temperatures higher than 325° C. chloride was not detected, i.e., the chlorine content was under the detection limit, i.e., approximately 0.02 wt-% or less.
XRD was used to analyse the ZrO2 films grown at different temperatures. The ZrO2 thin films grown on silicon or glass substrate at temperatures below 300° C. were almost amorphous. Only very weak peaks, which could be interpreted as reflections of monoclinic ZrO2 were shown in the film grown at 275° C. In the film grown at 300° C. the peaks could be identified as reflections of monoclinic or cubic ZrO2 phase. When the growth temperature was up to 450° C., the monoclinic (−111) reflection was even stronger. The XRD patterns for the films grown at 300° C. and 450° C. on a silicon substrate are presented in
YSZ thin films were grown at a temperature of 300° C. with different pulsing programmes. In each pulsing programme the number of pulsing sequences consisting of Y(thd)3-pulse/purge/O3-pulse/purge was varied with relation to the number of pulsing sequences consisting of Cp2ZrCl2-pulse/purge/O3-pulse/purge.
The quality or the growth rate of the thin film did not depend on the choice of the metal source material first deposited on the surface of the substrate.
The growth rate of the yttrium-stabilised zirconium oxide was dependent on the Y/Zr pulsing ratio. If the growth rate of YSZ is compared with the summed growth rates of separate oxides, it is noticed that the at a pulsing ratio of 1:1, the growth rate is approximately 25% greater than the value calculated from the growth rates of separate oxides. When the number of yttrium pulsing sequences is increased, i.e., when the yttrium content in the thin film increases, the growth rate approaches the calculated value. This can also be concluded from
The YSZ films grown at 300° C. were cubic, mainly (100) oriented, but, as
The chlorine content of the YSZ films grown at 300° C. was analysed with XRF. At low concentrations of Y the amount of Cl in the films seemed to be slightly lower than in the films consisting essentially of ZrO2. In the range 20-50 wt-% of Y2O3 in the thin film the increase in the amount of yttrium in the film resulted in an increase of the amount of Cl incorporated in the film. This can also be seen in
The IR-spectra measured for the YSZ films in the mid-IR-area mostly showed only the peaks resulting from the silicon substrate at different wave numbers. The actual peaks resulting from the YSZ film could be detected by subtracting the IR-spectra of the Si-substrate (cf.
A series of grown Y2O3, ZrO2 and YSZ films was analysed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The contents of Y2O3 in the samples were 0, 3, 10, 30 or 100 wt-%. Small amounts of carbon and oxygen (CO2) were detected on the surface. This is typical for samples handled in air. The spectra measured from the surface was used to calculate the atom compositions on the surface, and the atom ratio Y/Zr which was compared with the results obtained from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements. This comparison is presented in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20000898 | Apr 2000 | FI | national |
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Parent | 11864663 | Sep 2007 | US |
Child | 12820633 | US |
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Parent | 10917906 | Aug 2004 | US |
Child | 11864663 | US | |
Parent | 10410718 | Apr 2003 | US |
Child | 10917906 | US | |
Parent | 09835737 | Apr 2001 | US |
Child | 10410718 | US |