Metal Gate Electrodes for Advanced CMOS Devices

In this paper, the electrical properties of PVD Ta and $TaN_x$ gate electrodes on $SiO_2$ and their thermal stabilities are investigated. The results show that the work functions of $TaN_x$ gate electrode are modified by the amount of N, which is controlled by the flow rate of $N_2$during reactive sputtering process. The thermal stability of Ta and $TaN_x$ with RTO-grown $SiO_2$ gate dielectrics is examined by changes in equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), flat-band voltage ($V_{FB}$), and leakage current after post-metallization anneal at high temperature in $N_2$ambient. For a Ta gate electrode, the observed decrease in EOT and leakage current is due to the formation of a Ta-incorporated high-K layer during the high temperature annealing. Less change in EOT and leakage current is observed for $TaN_x$ gate electrode. It is also shown that the frequency dispersion and hysteresis of high frequency CV curves are improved significantly by a post-metallization anneal.