Interface strain study of thin Lu2O3/Si using HRBS

• Main Authors: Chan, T. K., Darmawan, P., Ho, C. S., Malar, P., Osipowicz, T., Lee, Pooi See
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Microelectronics and semiconductor materials::Thin films
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97350; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/10513
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The interface of thin Lu2O3 on silicon has been studied using high-resolution RBS (HRBS) for samples annealed at different temperatures. Thin rare earth metal oxides are of interest as candidates for next generation transistor gate dielectrics, due to their high-k values allowing for equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of less than 1 nm. Among them, Lu2O3 has been found to have the highest lattice energy and largest band gap, making it a good candidate for an alternative high-k gate dielectric. HRBS depth profiling results have shown the existence of a thin (∼2 nm) transitional silicate layer beneath the Lu2O3 films. The thicknesses of the Lu2O3 films were found to be ∼8 nm and the films were determined to be non-crystalline. Angular scans were performed across the [1 1 0] and [1 1 1] axis along planar channels, and clear shifts in the channeling minimum indicate the presence of Si lattice strain at the silicate/Si interface.