Optimization of oxygen flow rate for e-beam evaporated HfO2 thin films

In this study, we have employed e-beam evaporation technique to evaluate the effect of O 2 flow rate during evaporation on HfO 2 films grown on Silicon substrates. We report the influence of oxygen flow rate on 32-40nm HfO 2 films, by characterizing the chemical and electrical properties. It has been demonstrated that the films deposited at 3 SCCM O 2 flow rate show better compositional and electrical properties. The effect of post deposition annealing (PDA) and post metallization annealing (PMA) in forming gas ambient (FGA) has been analyzed on the electrical properties of the films. After annealing the leakage decreases drastically, with a slight deterioration in dielectric constant. O 2 flow rate of 3 to 5 SCCM has been found to be the optimum condition.