Fabrication and characterization of ALD-grown ZrO₂ :Ge thin films on Si(1 0 0) using CpZr(NMe₂)₃ and (NMe₂)₂ Ge(ⁱpr ₂en) precursors with ozone

The thickness of each film was determined using ellipsometry (MG-1000; Nano-View, Seoul, Korea). The film F1 was 213.8 Å thick, and the growth rate was 1.08 Å/cycle. The observed growth rate of the Ge-doped thin films was equal to that of un-doped ZrO₂ thin films grown under identical ALD conditions. We have demonstrated high-quality Ge- doped ZrO₂ thin films via ALD using the precursors CpZr(NMe₂)₃ and (NMe₂)₂ Ge(ⁱpr₂en). A dual-subcycle system was used to separately feed the Zr precurso r and a mixture of the Zr and Ge precursors, which was crucial in growing films without forming precipitates. The growth rate and dopant concentration were characterized as a function of the number of subcycles of the mixed precursors. The growth rates with Ge mole fractions of 0.09, 0.14, and 0.33 were 1.08, 1.04, and 0.935 Å/cycle, respectively. These thin films had a smooth surface morphology, and the carbon and nitrogen impurity concentrations were smaller than the detection limit of the TOF-SIMS system