Trimethylsilylcyclopentadienyl tris(dimethylamino)zirconium as a single-source metal precursor for the atomic layer deposition of Zr _xSi_{1 -x}O₄

Zr Silicate (Zr_xSi_{1 -x}O₄) films with a cation ratio of Zr:Si = 3:1 were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using trimethylsilylcyclopentadienyl tris(dimethylamino)zirconium (SCTDMAZ) and ozone as a single-source metal precursor and oxidant, respectively. The resultant films showed low residual impurity concentration as well as excellent conformality over complex structures, implying that the growth is controlled by a surface-limited reaction and hence proper ALD growth behavior. The Zr-silicate films exhibited amorphous characteristics as deposited and after post-deposition annealing (PDA) up to temperatures of 800 °C. After PDA the electrical properties of the amorphous Zr-silicate showed standard output values in the metal-insulator-semiconductor structure, with a low hysteresis of 0.04 V and moderate dielectric constant of ∼ 10. Accordingly, these experimental results suggest that SCTDMAZ is indeed a viable option as a single-source metal precursor for the ALD of Zr-silicate thin films.