Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same

1. A method for fabricating a capacitor, comprising:

forming a first electrode;

forming a dielectric layer stack on the first electrode, the dielectric layer stack including an initial hafnium oxide layer and a tetragonal seed layer having a tetragonal doping layer embedded therein;

forming a thermal source layer on the dielectric layer stack to crystallize the initial hafnium oxide layer into tetragonal hafnium oxide layer; and

forming a second electrode on the thermal source layer,

wherein the tetragonal seed layer having the tetragonal doping layer embedded therein includes a lower seed layer and an upper seed layer,

wherein the tetragonal doping layer is positioned between the lower seed layer and the upper seed layer and has a thickness not to separate crystal grains of the lower seed layer and crystal grains of the upper seed layer, and

wherein the tetragonal hafnium oxide layer is doped with a crystallization promoting dopant.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the dielectric layer stack includes:

forming the tetragonal seed layer having the tetragonal doping layer embedded therein on the first electrode; and

forming the initial hafnium oxide layer on the tetragonal seed layer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the dielectric layer stack includes:

forming the initial hafnium oxide layer on the first electrode; and

forming the tetragonal seed layer having the doping layer embedded therein on the initial hafnium oxide layer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the dielectric layer stack includes forming the tetragonal seed layer having a single doping layer embedded therein between two initial hafnium oxide layers.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the dielectric layer stack includes forming a single initial hafnium oxide layer between two seed layers each having the tetragonal doping layer embedded therein.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tetragonal doping layer includes doped-tetragonal zirconium oxide that is doped with a dopant, and the lower seed layer and the upper seed layer include undoped-tetragonal zirconium oxide that is not doped with a dopant, and

wherein the dopant includes aluminum or beryllium.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tetragonal hafnium oxide layer has a pure tetragonal crystal structure.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the dielectric layer stack is performed by atomic layer deposition (ALD).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the thermal source layer is performed at a temperature of 300° C. to 500° C.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, before the forming of the thermal source layer:

forming a leakage blocking layer on the dielectric layer stack; and

forming an interface control layer on the leakage blocking layer.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lower seed layer and the upper seed layer have larger thicknesses than the tetragonal doping layer, and the upper seed layer has a larger thickness than the lower seed layer.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tetragonal doping layer has a higher energy band gap than the tetragonal hafnium oxide layer and the lower and upper seed layers.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crystallization promoting dopant includes strontium (Sr), lanthanum (La), gadolinium (Gd), aluminum (Al), silicon (Si), yttrium (Y), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), bismuth (Bi), germanium (Ge), dysprosium (Dy), titanium (Ti), cerium (Ce), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N) or combinations thereof.

14. A method for forming hafnium oxide layer, comprising:

forming a stack including an initial hafnium oxide layer and a tetragonal seed layer having a tetragonal doping layer embedded therein over a substrate; and

forming a thermal source layer on the stack to crystallize the initial hafnium oxide layer into tetragonal hafnium oxide layer,

wherein the tetragonal seed layer having the tetragonal doping layer embedded therein includes a lower seed layer and an upper seed layer,

wherein the tetragonal doping layer is positioned between the lower seed layer and the upper seed layer and has a thickness not to separate crystal grains of the lower seed layer and crystal grains of the upper seed layer,

wherein the tetragonal hafnium oxide layer is doped with a crystallization promoting dopant, and

wherein the crystallization promoting dopant includes strontium (Sr), lanthanum (La), gadolinium (Gd), aluminum (Al), silicon (Si), yttrium (Y), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), bismuth (Bi), germanium (Ge), dysprosium (Dy), titanium (Ti), cerium (Ce), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N) or combinations thereof.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming of the stack including an initial hafnium oxide layer and a tetragonal seed layer having a tetragonal doping layer embedded therein includes:

forming the tetragonal seed layer on the substrate, such that the tetragonal doping layer is disposed or embedded in the tetragonal seed layer; and

forming the initial hafnium oxide layer on the tetragonal seed layer.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming of the stack including an initial hafnium oxide layer and a tetragonal seed layer having a tetragonal doping layer embedded therein includes:

forming the initial hafnium oxide layer on the substrate; and

forming the tetragonal seed layer on the initial hafnium oxide layer, such that the tetragonal doping layer is disposed or embedded in the tetragonal seed layer.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming of the stack including an initial hafnium oxide layer and a tetragonal seed layer having a tetragonal doping layer embedded therein includes forming a single seed layer between two initial hafnium oxide layers,

wherein the tetragonal doping layer is disposed or embedded in the tetragonal seed layer.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming of the stack including an initial hafnium oxide layer and a tetragonal seed layer having a tetragonal doping layer embedded therein includes forming a single initial hafnium oxide layer between two seed layers,

wherein the tetragonal doping layer is disposed or embedded in at least one of the two seed layers.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the tetragonal doping layer includes doped-tetragonal zirconium oxide that is doped with a dopant, and the lower seed layer and the upper seed layer include undoped-tetragonal zirconium oxide that is not doped with a dopant, and

wherein the dopant includes aluminum or beryllium.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the tetragonal hafnium oxide layer has a pure tetragonal crystal structure.

21. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming of the stack of the tetragonal doping layer, the tetragonal seed layer and the initial hafnium oxide layer is performed by atomic layer deposition (ALD).

22. The method of claim 14 , wherein the forming of the thermal source layer is performed at a temperature of 300° C. to 500° C.

23. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, before the forming of the thermal source layer:

forming a leakage blocking layer on the stack; and

forming an interface control layer on the leakage blocking layer.