Hafnium Chloride Pulse Time Reduction on Atomic Layer Deposited High-K HfO2 Dielectric Films

For Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) in high volume manufacturing, higher pulse time for the precursor causes waste of chemical when similar deposition thickness can be achieved with reduced pulse time. Higher pulse time also leads to thicker deposition on the chamber walls and susceptor edges of the reaction chamber causing impact to chamber lifetime and leading to early chamber kit changes. In this study, we are depositing Hf02 using ALD technique and studying the impact of variation in pulse time of the HfCl
4
(precursor) on film thickness, percent Hf, percent O, dielectric constant and device performance. We are also studying the impact of HfCl
4
purge time, H
2
O (oxidant) pulse and purge times on Hf02 film thickness. These process modulations help in understanding the reaction mechanism of HfCl
4
/H
2
O ALD process better. By implementing a lower pulse time for this process in high volume manufacturing, higher throughput can be achieved. Other benefits will be improved chamber lifetime and longer chemical lifetime.