The Cut-Off Phenomenon Effect on ZrO2 Growth Using Remote Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition

Remote plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (R-PEALD) of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) experiments were conducted using tetrakis(dimethylamino)zirconium (TDMAZ) with O2 plasma as the oxidant. The reaction mechanisms of ZrO2 were studied using in situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and in situ quadrupole mass spectroscopy (QMS). QMS revealed typical combustion byproducts such as CO2, CO, NO, and H2O during the O2 plasma process. In addition, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements were used to identify the bonds present in the thin film at different deposition temperatures. In our previous work, it was found that an increase in temperature resulted in a reduction of impurities in thin films. The influence of the deposition temperature on several possible surface reaction characteristics of the plasma process was studied. Such characteristics included composition of the film and growth per cycle. In particular, it was first demonstrated that the −C≡N group gave rise to cutoff phenomenon at high temperature. Several reaction pathways were accordingly established. The present work initiates a new way of achieving controlled growth properties of ZrO2 thin films.