Effect of film thickness on the electrical properties of AlN films prepared by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition

Date
2015
Advisor
Instructor
Source Title
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
Print ISSN
0018-9383
Electronic ISSN
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Volume
62
Issue
11
Pages
3627 - 3632
Language
English
Type
Article
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract

In this paper, AlN thin films with two different thicknesses, i.e., 7 and 47 nm, were deposited at 200 °C on p-type Si substrates by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition using trimethylaluminum and ammonia. To investigate the electrical characteristics of these AlN films, MIS capacitor structures were fabricated and characterized using current-voltage and high-frequency (1 MHz) capacitance-voltage measurements. The results showed that the current transport mechanism under accumulation mode is strongly dependent on the applied electric field and thickness of the AlN film. Possible conduction mechanisms were analyzed, and the basic electrical parameters were extracted and compared for AlN thin films with different thicknesses. Compared with 7-nm-thick film, a 47-nm-thick AlN film showed a lower effective charge density and threshold voltage along with a higher dielectric constant.

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Other identifiers
Book Title
Keywords
Aluminum nitride (AlN), Current transport, Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling, Frenkel-Poole (FP) emission, Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), Trap-assisted tunneling (TAT)., Atomic layer deposition, Capacitance, Deposition, Electric fields, Threshold voltage, Accumulation modes, Capacitance voltage measurements, Conduction Mechanism, Current transport mechanism, Electrical characteristic, Electrical parameter, High frequency HF, Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition, Thin films
Citation
Published Version (Please cite this version)