Rare-earth substituted HfO2 thin films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition.

Thin films of HfGdOx and HfDyOx were deposited by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) utilizing guanidinate precursors for Hf, Gd and Dy. The close match in the thermal properties of the precursors enabled the MOCVD of rare-earth (RE) substituted HfO2 over a wide temperature window. Film deposition was carried out in the temperature range 300–700 °C in the presence of oxygen on Si(100) substrates. HfGdOx films were analyzed in detail for their structure, composition and morphology using X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, proton induced X-ray emission, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The electrical properties of HfGdOx in terms of capacitance–voltage and current–voltage characteristics of metal-insulator-semiconductor device structures were evaluated.