High K dielectric material and method of making a high K...

Details High K dielectric material and method of making a high K... High K dielectric material and method of making a high K...

2002-05-28

2004-01-20

Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Composite

Of inorganic material

C428S698000, C428S702000, C428S704000, C361S762000, C361S524000, C361S763000, C423S322000, C423S385000, C423S305000, C423S592100, C423S624000, C423S625000, C257S288000, C257S296000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06680130

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to semiconductor devices and components and, specifically, to metal oxide dielectric materials for use in semiconductor devices and components.
2. Description of Related Art
Silicon dioxide (SiO
2
) is widely employed in the semiconductor industry as a gate dielectric for both logic and memory applications. When SiO
2
, which has a dielectric constant (K) value of approximately 4, is employed in a thin (i.e., less than about 15 Å) layer, the amount of leakage current from the gate dielectric can become prohibitively high.
To reduce leakage current, SiO
2
has been substituted with a high K dielectric material, i.e., a material with a K value of greater than 4. Most of these high K gate dielectrics are metal oxides. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,072 describes using metals like zirconium and hafnium to increase the dielectric value of an SiO
2
gate dielectric layer. Most metal oxides, however, have a large number of structural defects. Problems associated with the use of metal oxides having these structural defects include high interface state densities between the oxide and the underlying semiconductor. These charges can provide a conduction path in the dielectric layer, which leads to adverse device performance. That is, these defects may generate a conduction path in the dielectric, and may also generate charges in the dielectric and at the dielectric/Si interface. The presence of these charges (fixed charges) in the dielectric affects the threshold voltage of a transistor having a metal oxide gate dielectric, and more importantly, the carrier mobility at the dielectric/Si interface.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to solving the above-described problems associated with using a metal oxide to provide a high K dielectric material. More specifically, the invention addresses problems associated with the use of Group III metal oxides as a high K dielectric material.
The present invention provides a high K dielectric material layer with a reduced number of structural defects-and with a decreased fixed charge density by incorporating a Group V element in a Group III metal oxide material. Specifically, the incorporation of a Group V element in a Group III metal oxide reduces the number of defects in the dielectric material, and reduces both the fixed charge density and the conduction current of the dielectric material. The dielectric material has particular use wherever a dielectric is used in semiconductor structures, for example, as a gate dielectric for a transistor, or as a capacitor dielectric.


REFERENCES:
patent: 6184072 (2001-02-01), Kaushik et al.
patent: 6246076 (2001-06-01), Lipkin et al.
patent: 2002/0090777 (2002-07-01), Forbes et al.

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