Computer Modeling of Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of HfO2 and ZrO2

Abstract Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is widely utilized in the modern microelectronic industry due to its capability of depositing thin films with exceptional conformality and uniformity. The first Russian ALD system Izofaz TM 200-01 has already been successfully employed in the deposition of various materials, particularly high-k dielectrics such as aluminum oxide. This study presents the computer modeling-based investigation of the ALD process for hafnia and zirconia oxide films using the aforementioned ALD system. The growth per cycle was determined to be 1.1 Å/cycle, while the within-wafer nonuniformity was measured to be 1.2% or lower. These results are consistent with previously reported results and, more importantly, with experimental results also collected in this work, and demonstrate a high level of quality. Additionally, the electrical and physical properties of hafnia oxide films, including their potential application in ReRAM-like structures, were investigated. The storage elements based on hafnia oxide exhibited stable performance over 3 million switching cycles. Consequently, the Izofaz TM 200-01 ALD system has been proven effective in the deposition of thin films composed of hafnia and zirconia oxides.