Data for Influence of co-reactants on surface passivation by nanoscale hafnium oxide layers grown by atomic layer deposition on silicon

Atomic layer deposition offers a route to produce conformal films at the nanometre scale, but there is a lack of clarity over how the growth conditions affect the film properties. Here we present a study into the role of different co-reactants (O2 plasma, O3 and H2O) for the atomic layer deposition of HfOx on n-type silicon from a tetrakis(dimethylamido)hafnium (TDMAH) precursor at 200 °C followed by post-deposition annealing (up to 500 °C).

Through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we demonstrate variations in film composition, stoichiometry and crystallinity with co-reactant. Depth profiling conducted with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals differences in composition between the HfOx surface and the HfOx/Si interface. We also determine differences in the charge level and chemical passivation through photoconductance decay measurements and Kelvin probe analysis.