Sticking probabilities of H2O and Al(CH3)3                                                  during atomic layer deposition of Al2O3                                                  extracted from their impact on film conformality

Karsten Arts; Vincent Vandalon; Riikka L. Puurunen; Mikko Utriainen; Feng Gao; Wilhelmus M.M. Erwin Kessels; Harm C.M. Knoops

doi:10.1116/1.5093620

Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality

Karsten Arts^*, Vincent Vandalon, Riikka L. Puurunen, Mikko Utriainen, Feng Gao, Wilhelmus M.M. Erwin Kessels, Harm C.M. Knoops^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The conformality of a film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is strongly affected by the reactivities of the precursor and coreactant, which can be expressed in terms of their sticking probabilities toward the surface. We show that the leading front of the thickness profile in high-aspect-ratio structures gives direct information on the sticking probabilities of the reactants under most conditions. The slope of the front has been used to determine the sticking probabilities of Al(CH₃)₃ and H₂O during ALD of Al₂O₃ . The determined values are (0.5-2) × 10^-3 for Al(CH₃)₃ and (0.8-2) × 10^-4 for H₂O at a set-point temperature of 275 °C, corresponding to an estimated substrate temperature of ∼220 °C. Additionally, the thickness profiles reveal soft-saturation behavior during the H₂O step, most dominantly at reduced temperatures, which can limit the conformality of Al₂O₃ grown by ALD. This work thus provides insights regarding quantitative information on sticking probabilities and conformality during ALD, which is valuable for gaining a deeper understanding of ALD kinetics.

Original language	English
Article number	030908
Journal	Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films
Volume	37
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5093620
Publication status	Published - 24 Apr 2019
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work is part of the research program HTSM with Project No. 15352, which is ( partly) financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). VTT acknowledges the financial support for developing the LHAR3 conformality test structure from the Academy of Finland through the Finnish Centre of Excellence on Atomic Layer Deposition and from Business Finland (National Innovation Funding Center of Finland, previously: Tekes) through the PillarHall TUTL project.

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Arts, K., Vandalon, V., Puurunen, R. L., Utriainen, M., Gao, F., Erwin Kessels, W. M. M., & Knoops, H. C. M. (2019). Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, 37(3), Article 030908. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5093620

Arts, Karsten ; Vandalon, Vincent ; Puurunen, Riikka L. et al. / Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality. In: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films. 2019 ; Vol. 37, No. 3.

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title = "Sticking probabilities of H2O and Al(CH3)3 during atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 extracted from their impact on film conformality",

abstract = " The conformality of a film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is strongly affected by the reactivities of the precursor and coreactant, which can be expressed in terms of their sticking probabilities toward the surface. We show that the leading front of the thickness profile in high-aspect-ratio structures gives direct information on the sticking probabilities of the reactants under most conditions. The slope of the front has been used to determine the sticking probabilities of Al(CH3)3 and H2O during ALD of Al2O3 . The determined values are (0.5-2) × 10-3 for Al(CH3)3 and (0.8-2) × 10-4 for H2O at a set-point temperature of 275 °C, corresponding to an estimated substrate temperature of ∼220 °C. Additionally, the thickness profiles reveal soft-saturation behavior during the H2O step, most dominantly at reduced temperatures, which can limit the conformality of Al2O3 grown by ALD. This work thus provides insights regarding quantitative information on sticking probabilities and conformality during ALD, which is valuable for gaining a deeper understanding of ALD kinetics. ",

keywords = "OtaNano",

author = "Karsten Arts and Vincent Vandalon and Puurunen, {Riikka L.} and Mikko Utriainen and Feng Gao and {Erwin Kessels}, {Wilhelmus M.M.} and Knoops, {Harm C.M.}",

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Arts, K, Vandalon, V, Puurunen, RL, Utriainen, M, Gao, F, Erwin Kessels, WMM & Knoops, HCM 2019, 'Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality', Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, vol. 37, no. 3, 030908. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5093620

Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality. / Arts, Karsten; Vandalon, Vincent; Puurunen, Riikka L. et al.
In: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, Vol. 37, No. 3, 030908, 24.04.2019.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sticking probabilities of H2O and Al(CH3)3 during atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 extracted from their impact on film conformality

AU - Arts, Karsten

AU - Vandalon, Vincent

AU - Puurunen, Riikka L.

AU - Utriainen, Mikko

AU - Gao, Feng

AU - Erwin Kessels, Wilhelmus M.M.

AU - Knoops, Harm C.M.

PY - 2019/4/24

Y1 - 2019/4/24

N2 - The conformality of a film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is strongly affected by the reactivities of the precursor and coreactant, which can be expressed in terms of their sticking probabilities toward the surface. We show that the leading front of the thickness profile in high-aspect-ratio structures gives direct information on the sticking probabilities of the reactants under most conditions. The slope of the front has been used to determine the sticking probabilities of Al(CH3)3 and H2O during ALD of Al2O3 . The determined values are (0.5-2) × 10-3 for Al(CH3)3 and (0.8-2) × 10-4 for H2O at a set-point temperature of 275 °C, corresponding to an estimated substrate temperature of ∼220 °C. Additionally, the thickness profiles reveal soft-saturation behavior during the H2O step, most dominantly at reduced temperatures, which can limit the conformality of Al2O3 grown by ALD. This work thus provides insights regarding quantitative information on sticking probabilities and conformality during ALD, which is valuable for gaining a deeper understanding of ALD kinetics.

AB - The conformality of a film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is strongly affected by the reactivities of the precursor and coreactant, which can be expressed in terms of their sticking probabilities toward the surface. We show that the leading front of the thickness profile in high-aspect-ratio structures gives direct information on the sticking probabilities of the reactants under most conditions. The slope of the front has been used to determine the sticking probabilities of Al(CH3)3 and H2O during ALD of Al2O3 . The determined values are (0.5-2) × 10-3 for Al(CH3)3 and (0.8-2) × 10-4 for H2O at a set-point temperature of 275 °C, corresponding to an estimated substrate temperature of ∼220 °C. Additionally, the thickness profiles reveal soft-saturation behavior during the H2O step, most dominantly at reduced temperatures, which can limit the conformality of Al2O3 grown by ALD. This work thus provides insights regarding quantitative information on sticking probabilities and conformality during ALD, which is valuable for gaining a deeper understanding of ALD kinetics.

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M3 - Article

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SN - 0734-2101

VL - 37

JO - Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

JF - Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

IS - 3

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ER -

Arts K, Vandalon V, Puurunen RL, Utriainen M, Gao F, Erwin Kessels WMM et al. Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films. 2019 Apr 24;37(3):030908. doi: 10.1116/1.5093620

Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality

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Sticking probabilities of H2O and Al(CH3)3 during atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 extracted from their impact on film conformality

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Cite this

Sticking probabilities of H₂O and Al(CH₃)₃ during atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ extracted from their impact on film conformality