Formation of Ru nanocrystals by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition for nonvolatile memory applications

The formation of Ru nanocrystals is demonstrated on a SiO2 substrate by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition using diethylcyclopentadienyl ruthenium and NH3 plasma. The island growth of Ru was observed at the initial stages of the film formation up to a nominal thickness of 11.1 nm. A maximum Ru nanocrystal spatial density of 9.7x10(11) /cm(2) was achieved with an average size of 3.5 nm and standard deviation of the size of 20%. Electron charging/discharging effect in the Ru nanocrystals is demonstrated by measuring the flatband voltage shift in the capacitance-voltage measurement of metal-oxide-semiconductor memory capacitor structure. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.