Interaction of HfO/sub 2//SiO/sub 2/Si structures with deuterium gas

Abstract

HfO2 films 2.5 to 12 nm deposited on thermal SiO2 1.5 nm on Si were annealed in deuterium gas at 400–600 °C and incorporated D amounts were quantified using the D 3He, p 4He nuclear reaction.We found 1013 D cm−2 in the SiO2 interlayer region and up to 2.2 1014 D cm−2 near the HfO2 surface, whereas D amounts in the bulk of the HfO2 films were determined to be below 1013 cm−2. However, analyses employing the 1H 15N, 12C nuclear resonant reaction showed much more spurious H present in the bulk of HfO2 films. Mechanisms of D incorporation and desorption as well as contribution of the present results to the understanding of HfO2-based devices are discussed.