Modulated temperature method of atomic layer deposition (ALD) of high dielectric constant films

摘要

A method of forming a layer of high-k dielectric material in an integrated circuit includes preparing a silicon substrate; forming a high-k dielectric layer by a sequence of ALD cycles including: depositing a first layer of metal ligand using ALD with an oxygen-containing first precursor; and depositing a second layer of metal ligand using ALD with a second precursor; repeating the sequence of ALD cycles N times until a near-critical thickness of metal oxide is formed; annealing the substrate and metal oxide layers every N ALD cycles in an elevated temperature anneal; repeating the sequence of ALD cycles and elevated temperature anneals until a high-k dielectric layer of desired thickness is formed; annealing the substrate and the metal oxide layers in a final annealing step; and completing the integrated circuit.