Room temperature interactions of water vapor with HfO2 films on Si

HfO2/SiO2/Si(001) thin film structures were exposed at room temperature to water vapor isotopically enriched in H-2 and O-18 followed by quantification and profiling of these nuclides by nuclear reaction analysis. We showed (i) the formation of strongly bonded hydroxyls at the HfO2 surface; (ii) room temperature migration of oxygen and water-derived oxygenous species through the HfO2 films, indicating that HfO2 is a weak diffusion barrier for these oxidizing species; (iii) hydrogenous, water-derived species attachment to the SiO2 interlayer, resulting in detrimental hydrogenous defects therein. Consequences of these results to HfO2-based metal-oxide-semiconductor devices are discussed. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.