Au ion-induced atomic migration behavior in an HfO2/Si stack

Abstract In this work, we investigated the mixing of different constituent layers in an HfO2 dielectric oxide semiconductor by performing transmission electron microscope (TEM) characterizations. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) line scanning indicated that the elemental distribution extended into the substrates and the migration was bidirectional. The migration distance was at the same order of magnitude as the simulation result. The formation of new chemical bonds at the migration endpoint resulted in complex surface conditions. Hafnium oxide is considered a promising material for microelectronic devices with a size of less than 20 nm and has promising potential applications in aerospace engineering; therefore, the surface conditions determine the performance of the devices.