Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and nanoscale characterization of zirconium oxide thin films

We report on the growth of ZrO 2 thin films on silicon wafers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition from zirconiumtrifluoroacetylacetonate at deposition temperatures between 350 and 550 °C. The evolution of surface roughness of the deposited films is thoroughly investigated. Relative roughness is found to be minimum at a deposition temperature of 450 °C and also essentially independent of film thickness. The attained values of relative roughness are shown to be competitive to advanced deposition methods such as atomic layer deposition. Chemical composition of the films is examined in dependence of deposition temperature and post-deposition annealing procedures. Experimental results indicate that optimum properties in regard to chemical composition are obtained after thermal treatment at 650 °C. The film composition is not significantly altered by annealing at higher temperatures. Also the ambient atmosphere during the annealing process is shown to be of minor influence.