Attention:The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 5:00 PM ET until 8:00 PM ET on Friday, September 11 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


This content will become publicly available on January 1, 2027

Title: Optimization of High‐κ HfO 2 Transistor Dielectrics by Atomic Layer Deposition as an Enabler of Novel Thin‐Film Circuits and Sensors
ABSTRACT This study explores the integration of atomic layer deposited (ALD) HfO2dielectric films with solution‐processed In2O3semiconductor channel, thin‐film transistors (TFTs) for a silicon chip‐free temperature sensor label. The inclusion of the HfO2high‐κ dielectric permits reduced voltage operation of the sensor label. HfO2films are deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at three different hot source temperatures (80°C, 90°C, 100°C), with XPS revealing improved stoichiometry and O/Hf ratios of 1.75, 1.92, and 1.95, respectively, as temperature increases. MOSCAP measurements show improved oxide/semiconductor interface with higher deposition temperatures. The extracted dielectric constants (εr≈ 18.5–18.8) correspond to an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of about 3.1 nm, consistent with optimized high‐κ film formation. To enhance drain current, a reduced 7.5 nm HfO2film thickness is used, achieving higher current but reducing yield by 30% due to increased leakage probability in ultrathin films. A voltage divider circuit is developed to integrate an electrochemical thermal sensor, TFT, and an irreversible visual indicator (IVI), allowing for temperature monitoring with a resistivity change of three orders of magnitude at 8°C. The circuit is powered by a 60 mF supercapacitor array providing approximately 0.21 J of available energy, resulting in IVI activation within 40 min at measured activation currents of 20 µA. The system demonstrates potential for low‐voltage, energy‐efficient, silicon‐free sensor labels in applications such as food safety and healthcare monitoring.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2235385
PAR ID:
10701290
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley-VCH GmbH
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Advanced Physics Research
Volume:
5
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2751-1200
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract In this work, TiO2thin films deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method were treated with a special N2O plasma surface treatment and used as the gate dielectric for AlGaN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MISHEMTs). The N2O plasma surface treatment effectively reduces defects in the oxide during low-temperature ALD growth. In addition, it allows oxygen atoms to diffuse into the device cap layer to increase the barrier height and thus reduce the gate leakage current. These TiO2films exhibit a dielectric constant of 54.8 and a two-terminal current of 1.96 × 10−10A mm−1in 2μm distance. When applied as the gate dielectric, the AlGaN/GaN MISHEMT with a 2μm-gate-length shows a high on/off ratio of 2.59 × 108and a low subthreshold slope (SS) of 84 mV dec−1among all GaN MISHEMTs using TiO2as the gate dielectric. This work provides a feasible way to significantly improve the TiO2film electrical property for gate dielectrics, and it suggests that the developed TiO2dielectric is a promising high-κgate oxide and a potential passivation layer for GaN-based MISHEMTs, which can be further extended to other transistors. 
    more » « less
  2. A series of different high κ dielectrics such as HfO2, ZrO2, and Al2O3 thin films were studied as an alternative material for the possible replacement of traditional SiO2. These large areas, as well as conformal dielectrics thin films, were grown by the atomic layer deposition technique on a p-type silicon substrate at two different deposition temperatures (150 and 250 °C). Atomic force microscopic study reveals that the surface of the films is very smooth with a measured rms surface roughness value of less than 0.4 nm in some films. After the deposition of the high κ layer, a top metal electrode was deposited onto it to fabricate metal oxide semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) structures. The I–V curve reveals that the sample growth at high temperatures exhibits a high resistance value and lower leakage current densities. Frequency-dependent (100 kHz to 1 MHz) C–V characteristics of the MOSCAPs were studied steadily. Furthermore, we have prepared a metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor device with Al-doped ZnO as a channel material, and the electrical characteristic of the device was studied. The effect of growth temperature on the structure, surface morphology, crystallinity, capacitance, and dielectric properties of the high κ dielectrics was thoroughly analyzed through several measurement techniques, such as XRD, atomic force microscopy, semiconductor parameter analysis, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. 
    more » « less
  3. The interface and bulk properties of ∼20 nm hafnium-silicon-oxide (HfSiOx) dielectric deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on (001) β-Ga2O3 were investigated systematically using deep ultraviolet photo-assisted capacitance–voltage (C–V) and current–voltage (I–V) measurements. The ALD HfSiOx dielectric constant, bulk, and HfSiOx/Ga2O3 interface quality and breakdown field were determined, and the impact of post-deposition annealing (PDA) on these parameters was studied. PDA reduced near-interface traps resulting in a smaller hysteresis without changing the dielectric constant. An average trap density of 2.72 × 1012 and 1.06 × 1012 cm−2 eV−1 was measured on samples with PDA at 400 and 900 °C, respectively. In addition, a high dielectric constant of 9.28 and breakdown field as high as 8.7 MV/cm were achieved on these devices. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract 2D layered semiconductors have attracted considerable attention for beyond‐Si complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. They can be prepared into ultrathin channel materials toward ultrascaled device architectures, including double‐gate field‐effect‐transistors (DGFETs). This work presents an experimental analysis of DGFETs constructed from chemical vapor deposition (CVD)‐grown monolayer (1L) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with atomic layer deposition (ALD) of hafnium oxide (HfO2) high‐k gate dielectrics (top and bottom). This extends beyond previous studies of DGFETs based mostly on exfoliated (few‐nm thick) MoS2flakes, and advances toward large‐area wafer‐scale processing. Here, significant improvements in performance are obtained with DGFETs (i.e., improvements in ON/OFF ratio, ON‐state current, sub‐threshold swing, etc.) compared to single top‐gate FETs. In addition to multi‐gate device architectures (e.g., DGFETs), the scaling of the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) is crucial toward improved electrostatics required for next‐generation transistors. However, the impact of EOT scaling on the characteristics of CVD‐grown MoS2DGFETs remains largely unexplored. Thus, this work studies the impact of EOT scaling on subthreshold swing (SS) and gate hysteresis using current–voltage (I–V) measurements with varying sweep rates. The experimental analysis and results elucidate the basic mechanisms responsible for improvements in CVD‐grown 1L‐MoS2DGFETs compared to standard top‐gate FETs. 
    more » « less
  5. We report the growth of nanoscale hafnium dioxide (HfO2) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) thin films using remote plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD), and the fabrication of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits using the HfO2 and ZrO2 thin films as the gate oxide. Tetrakis (dimethylamino) hafnium (Hf[N(CH3)2]4) and tetrakis (dimethylamino) zirconium (IV) (Zr[N(CH3)2]4) were used as the precursors, while O2 gas was used as the reactive gas. The PE-ALD-grown HfO2 and ZrO2 thin films were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The XPS measurements show that the ZrO2 film has the atomic concentrations of 34% Zr, 2% C, and 64% O while the HfO2 film has the atomic concentrations of 29% Hf, 11% C, and 60% O. The HRTEM and XRD measurements show both HfO2 and ZrO2 films have polycrystalline structures. n-channel and p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (nFETs and pFETs), CMOS inverters, and CMOS ring oscillators were fabricated to test the quality of the HfO2 and ZrO2 thin films as the gate oxide. Current-voltage (IV) curves, transfer characteristics, and oscillation waveforms were measured from the fabricated transistors, inverters, and oscillators, respectively. The experimental results measured from the HfO2 and ZrO2 thin films were compared. 
    more » « less