Observation of Extreme-Ultraviolet-Irradiation-Induced Damages on High-Dielectric-Constant Dielectrics

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiation may induce damages on high-dielectric-constant (high-
k
) dielectrics. In this letter, the EUV-irradiation-induced damages on HfSiO, HfAlO, and Al
₂
O
₃
are investigated. After EUV irradiation, hole traps, border traps, and interface traps are all increased. All of the three high-
k
dielectrics exhibit poorer immunity to the EUV irradiation than SiO
₂
. The oxide traps scale down with the dielectric thickness. Interfacial layer plays an important role in the increase of border traps and interface traps. Therefore, high-quality SiO-like interfacial layer is critical for radiation-hard devices.