Atomic Layer Deposition of Hafnium Oxide Passivating Layers on Silicon: Impact of Precursor Selection

Abstract

Hafnium oxide (HfOx) films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have recently been demonstrated to provide high‐quality silicon surface passivation. Reports have suggested that changing the composition of the hafnium‐containing precursor can enable films of both charge polarities to be produced. Herein, the passivation quality of hafnium oxide grown with metal amide precursors and a tetrakis(ethylmethylamido)hafnium (TEMAHf) precursor is examined, considering film charge polarity, chemical‐ and field‐based passivation effects, and film crystallinity. Throughout, the properties of TEMAHf‐HfOx are benchmarked against that of hafnium oxide grown with a tetrakis(dimethylamido)hafnium precursor. It is found that precursor choice has no influence on the fixed negative charge polarity (of order −1012 q cm−2) of HfOx films grown via plasma‐enhanced ALD. TEMAHf‐HfOx passivation is influenced by post‐deposition annealing temperature and can passivate with a surface recombination velocity ≤3 cm s−1 on n‐type silicon, compared to surface recombination velocities ≤11 cm s−1 for TDMAHf‐HfOx of a similar thickness.