Impact of microwave annealing on CeO2 thin films sputtered on (1 1 1) Si

Abstract The impact of the microwave annealing (MA) on the crystallinity and on the electrical properties of CeO 2 thin films has been investigated by Raman Spectroscopy, capacitance–voltage ( C – V ) measurements and current–voltage ( I – V ) measurements. This paper highlights the influence of the temperature, time, and atmosphere used for the MA on the crystallinity, the surface quality, and the oxidation state of Ce of CeO 2 thin films. At the same time, the impact of microwave annealing on the flatband voltage ( V FB ) and the interface traps density ( D it ) is studied by C – V measurements. Moreover, the leakage current is compared before and after the microwave annealing. Therefore, this paper shows a sharp improvement of the CeO 2 film crystallinity and a decrease in leakage current after a microwave annealing performed at 900 °C for 5 min under nitrogen atmosphere. To our knowledge, it is the first time that the impact of MA on CeO 2 films is reported.