Temperature-dependent structural stability and optical properties of ultrathin Hf–Al–O films grown by facing-target reactive sputtering.

The structural stability and optical properties of ultrathin HfAlOx films grown by facing-target reactive sputtering, depending on the postannealing temperature, have been determined via x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). By virtue of the chemical shifts of Hf4f, Al2p, and Si2p core-level spectra, it has been found that the structural stability of HfAlOx/Si system sustains up to 800 °C. However, the breaking of the Hf–Al–O bond and the phase separation take place drastically at the annealing temperature of 900 °C. In particular, the information of an interfacial Si–O–Si bond as the dominant reaction during the postannealing treatment has been observed, confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Analysis by SE, based on the Tauc-Lorentz model, has indicated that increase in the refractive index and reduction in thickness has been observed as a function of annealing temperature, originating from the annealing-induced higher packing density. The change of the complex dielectric functions and bandgap Eg correlated with the annealing temperature are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]