Effect of furnace annealing on the ferroelectricity of Hf0.5 Zr0.5O2 thin films

The effect of furnace annealing on the ferroelectricity and crystal phase of Hf0.5ZrO2 (HZO) ultrathin films is studied as a function of film thickness. HZO films are deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) in a Ge-HZO-TiN stack with Pt as the top contact electrode. Furnace annealing is carried out after crystallizing the films with rapid thermal annealing in the presence of a TiN capping electrode. While furnace annealing did not have much impact on the 108 ALD cycles (similar to 11 nm) film, it enhanced the ferroelectricity of the 44 ALD cycles film (similar to 4.5 nm). Positive-up-negative-down tests provide evidence of ferroelectricity in the 40 ALD cycles (similar to 4 nm) furnace annealed film after cycling the film at higher fields. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction shows that the non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic phase responsible for ferroelectricity increased after furnace annealing in thinner films, but little change occurred in the 108 ALD cycles film that was rich in orthorhombic phase prior to furnace annealing. An analysis of the HZO films with a tapping mode atomic force microscope shows grain growth in the 44, and 40 ALD cycles films after furnace annealing.