Effect of postdeposition annealing on the interfacial and electrical properties of high-k NdOxNy gate dielectrics

The authors proposed a high-k NdO(x)N(y) gate dielectric grown on silicon substrate by reactive rf sputtering. It is found that the NdO(x)N(y) gate dielectric after annealing at 700 degrees C exhibits excellent electrical properties such as high capacitance value, small interface state, low leakage current, and almost no hysteresis in the capacitance-voltage curves. This indicates that annealing at 700 degrees C treatment can suppress the interfacial layer and silicate formation, reduce interface traps, and anneal out defects. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.