Low temperature nitridation of PLCVD HfSi/sub x/O/sub y/ gate dielectrics using nitrogen radicals

The effect of nitrogen incorporation on polyatomic layer chemical vapor deposition (PLCVD) HfSi/sub x/O/sub y/ films was investigated. The nitrogen engineering of stacked film with different compositions was studied. The nitrogen profile was obtained from secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The result confirms that we can control the nitrogen gradient in the film by varying the film compositions. The single layer and stacked HfSi/sub x/O/sub y/ and HfSi/sub x/O/sub y/N/sub z/ films show respectable electrical performance.