Interfacial compound suppression and dielectric properties enhancement of F–N codoped ZrO2 thin films

Fluorine and nitrogen codoped ZrO2 is produced on p-type Si (100) wafers by cathodic arc deposition and the interfacial and dielectric characteristics of the thin films are investigated. F–N codoping is found to effectively suppress the interfacial compounds between ZrO2 and silicon and the dielectric properties are also improved. Negligible flatband shift and hysteresis are achieved, implying that the fixed charge centers in the thin films and the interfacial states are obviously reduced. The improvement can be attributed in part to the large electronegativity of F radicals that are chemically more active.