The Impact of Stacked Cap Layers on Effective Work Function With HfSiON and SiON Gate Dielectrics

Cap layers have been used to modulate the effective work function (EWF) for high- /metal-gate CMOS devices. We have investigated the impact of stacking cap layers on the EWF. Stacked cap layers consisting of two sequential cap layers, including, Al₂O₃, Dy₂O₃, Sc₂O₃ and La₂O₃, were formed on HfSiON or SiON as host dielectrics. It is demonstrated that the EWF change due to the stacked cap layers corresponds to the sum of the EWF change from each single cap layer. Furthermore, no host dielectric dependence on the shifts is observed. This behavior is attributed to the complete intermixing of the stacked cap layers with the host dielectrics.