Ferroelectricity and thermal retention through in situ hydrogen plasma treatment of doped hafnium oxide
Various examples are provided related to hydrogen plasma treatment of hafnium oxide. In one example, a method includes depositing a monolayer of a precursor on a first oxide monolayer; forming a second oxide monolayer by applying an oxygen (O 2 ) plasma to the monolayer of the precursor; and creating oxygen vacancies in the second oxide monolayer by applying a hydrogen (H 2 ) plasma to the second oxide monolayer. In another example, a device includes a hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) based ferroelectric thin film on a first side of a substrate and an electrode layer disposed on the HfO 2 based ferroelectric thin film opposite the substrate. The HfO 2 film includes a plurality of oxide monolayers including at least one HfO 2 monolayer, each of the plurality of oxide monolayers having oxygen vacancies distributed throughout that oxide monolayer.
1. A method, comprising:
depositing a monolayer of a precursor on a first oxide monolayer;
forming a second oxide monolayer by applying an oxygen (O 2 ) plasma to the monolayer of the precursor; and
creating oxygen vacancies in the second oxide monolayer by applying a hydrogen (H 2 ) plasma to the second oxide monolayer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor is a hafnium (Hf) precursor and the second oxide monolayer is a hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) monolayer.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first oxide monolayer is a zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ) monolayer.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oxide monolayer is a hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) monolayer.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the precursor is a zirconium (Zr) precursor and the second oxide monolayer is a zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ) monolayer.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oxide monolayer is disposed on a substrate.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the substrate comprises silicon (Si) or germanium (Ge).
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the substrate comprises a metal layer upon which the first oxide monolayer is deposited.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the metal layer comprises titanium nitride (TiN), iridium (Ir), ruthenium (Ru), platinum (Pt) or molybdenum (Mo).
10. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
depositing a monolayer of a second precursor on the second oxide monolayer; and
forming a third oxide monolayer by applying an oxygen (O 2 ) plasma to the monolayer of the second precursor.
11. The method of claim 10 , comprising creating oxygen vacancies in the third oxide monolayer by applying a hydrogen (H 2 ) plasma to the third oxide monolayer.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second precursor is a hafnium (Hf) precursor and the third oxide monolayer is a hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) monolayer.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the precursor is a zirconium (Zr) precursor and the second oxide monolayer is a zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ) monolayer.
14. A device, comprising:
a substrate;
a hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) based ferroelectric thin film on a first side of the substrate, the HfO 2 based ferroelectric thin film comprising a plurality of oxide monolayers including at least one zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ) monolayer disposed adjacent to a plurality of adjacent HfO 2 monolayers, each of the plurality of oxide monolayers individually formed with oxygen vacancies distributed throughout that oxide monolayer; and
an electrode layer disposed on the HfO 2 based ferroelectric thin film opposite the substrate.
15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the substrate comprises silicon (Si) or germanium (Ge).
16. The device of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of oxide monolayers comprises a ZrO 2 monolayer disposed between two HfO 2 monolayers.
17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of oxide monolayers comprises a plurality of alternating HfO 2 and Z rO2 monolayers, wherein the plurality of oxide monolayers includes a plurality of HfO 2 and a plurality of ZrO 2 monolayers.
18. The device of claim 14 , comprising a metal layer disposed between the HfO 2 based ferroelectric thin film and the first side of the substrate.
19. The device of claim 18 , wherein the metal layer comprises titanium nitride (TiN), iridium (Ir), ruthenium (Ru), or molybdenum (Mo).