Characteristics of Fluorine Implantation for HfO₂ Gate Dielectrics with High-Temperature Postdeposition Annealing

In this work, we describe the characteristics of silicon surface fluorine implantation (SSFI) for HFO2 films with high-temperature postdeposition annealing. The thermal stability of HfO2 gate dielectrics is much improved owing to the incorporation of fluorine into HfO2 thin films. The gate leakage current of the SSFI HfO2 films is about three orders less than that of samples without any fluorine implantation. In addition, improvements in stress-induced leakage current (SILC) and charge trapping characteristics are realized in the HfO2 films with the SSFI. The incorporation of fluorine atoms into the HfO2 films reduces not only interface dangling bonds but also bulk traps, which is responsible for the improvements in properties.