Ru and RuO2 gate electrodes for advanced CMOS technology

Due to the downscaling of device dimensions in CMOS technology, the introduction of metal gate electrodes and high-k dielectrics will be necessary in order to meet future performance requirements. In particular, deposition techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been identified as promising methods for growth of these materials. In this scope, we have analysed properties of Ru and RuO2 gate electrodes in metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) gate stacks prepared on SiO2, atomic-layer chemical vapor deposition (ALCVD) Al2O3 and MBE Y2O3 dielectric films. The Ru and RuO2 films were grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at 250 °C. The dielectric and metal gate electrode films were analysed by X-ray diffraction and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS). sistivity of the films at room temperature were 20 and 150 μΩ cm for the Ru and RuO2 films, respectively. Thermal stability of the films in forming gas (10% H2 + 90% N2), nitrogen and oxygen environments was investigated by applying low temperature (420 °C, 30 min) and rapid thermal (800 °C) annealing. The results indicate good thermal behavior of the Ru films but limited thermal stability of the RuO2 films. The Ru and RuO2 gate electrode workfunctions were extracted from high-frequency capacitance–voltage measurements on MOS capacitors. The obtained results are discussed in connection with applications of Ru and RuO2 films as gate electrodes in CMOS technology.