Ozone-based metal oxide atomic layer deposition: Impact of N2 / O2 supply ratio in ozone generation

Abstract

The O2 / N2 flow ratio during O3 generation by dielectric barrier discharge has a large impact on the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of metal oxides in a hot wall ALD reactor. For HfO 2 ALD using HfCl4 as a metal precursor, a higher growth per cycle and a broader ALD temperature window are obtained when N2 is added to the O2 supply of the O3 generation. A positive impact of N2 in the O3 generation is also observed for ZrO2 and La2 O3 ALD. A negative impact is observed for Al2 O3 ALD: The Al2 O3 thickness is reduced for those conditions for O3 where HfO 2 ALD is enhanced. © 2010 The Electrochemical Society.