Effects of boron incorporation on the structural, optical and electrical properties of sol–gel-derived ZrO2 gate dielectrics

Abstract The effect of boron (B) doping on the microstructure, band gap energy and electrical properties of ZrO 2 gate dielectrics deposited by sol–gel method at low temperature were systemically investigated. By means of characterization of spectroscopy ellipsometry and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, the thicknesses and optical constants of ZrO 2 gate dielectrics have been determined precisely. The B incorporation dependent electrical properties of ZrO 2 films were determined by capacitance–voltage ( C–V ) and leakage current density–voltage ( J–V ) measurements. The dominant conduction mechanisms of Al/B:ZrO 2 / n -Si MOS structures have been discussed systematically in detail. As a result, the optimized B incorporation content has been obtained to achieve ZrO 2 gate dielectrics with high quality.