Alternative channel materials (ACM) such as germanium (Ge) will need to be integrated into future CMOS ICs, and one part of the integration was shown at the recent Materials Research Society (MRS) spring meeting by John Ekerdt, Associate Dean for Research in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, in his presentation on “Atomic Layer Deposition of Crystalline SrHfxTi1-xO3 Directly on Ge (001) for High-K Dielectric Applications.”

Strontium hafnate, SrHfO3 (SHO), and strontium titanate, SrTiO3 (STO), with dielectric constants of ~15 and ~90 (respectively) can be grown directly on Ge using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Following a post-deposition anneal at 550-590°C for 5 minutes, the perovskite films become crystalline with epitaxial registry to the underlying Ge (001) substrate. Capacitor structures using the crystalline STO dielectric show a k~90 but also high leakage current. In efforts to optimize electrical performance including leakage current and dielectric constant, crystalline SrHfxTi1-xO3 (SHTO) can be grown directly on Ge by ALD. SHTO benefits from a reduced leakage current over STO and a higher k value than SHO. By minimizing the epitaxial strain and maintaining an abrupt interface, the SHTO films are expected to reduce dielectric interface-traps (Dit) at the oxide-Ge interface.

Much of the recent conference has been archived, and can now be accessed online.

—E.K.