Atomic vapor deposition of Ru and RuO2 thin film layers for electrode applications

Ru and RuO"2 thin films for advanced metal gate applications were deposited on 200mm SiO"2/Si substrate by the novel deposition technique atomic vapor deposition (AVD(TM)). AVD(TM) was carried out in an Aixtron Tricent(TM) system using liquid delivery of the Ru precursor. The creation of Ru- and RuO"2-films is controlled by varying the O"2 flow and deposition temperature. Ru layers with a near bulk resistivity of 10@m@Wcm and a uniformity of ~2% for 20nm film thickness were obtained at 450^oC deposition temperature. The smooth Ru layers have a thickness uniformity of about 2% and a roughness <1nm. XRD measurements exhibit multi-crystalline Ru-films with a preferable orientation along the (002) plane. Adding O"2-flow RuO"2 layers were grown at 380^oC. RuO"2-films with a resistivity of about 80@m@Wcm and <2% uniformity were achieved for 30nm thick films. The roughness of the RuO"2 layers is about 2nm for 10-20nm thickness. No Ru-crystallites could be detected in the RuO"2 layers by XRD. The thermal stability of the grown Ru and RuO"2 films was investigated by rapid thermal annealing in O"2 and N"2 atmosphere. Ru films were found to be stable in N"2 up to 900^oC and up to 500^oC in O"2. RuO"2-layers have been shown to be stable in O"2 up to at least 600^oC.