Effects of nitrogen atom doping on optical properties and dielectric constant of HfO2 gate oxides.

The effect of nitrogen atom doping on the optical properties and dielectric constant of HfO2 films has been systematically investigated. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was employed to investigate the optical properties of nitrogen incorporated HfO2 films. The values of average oscillator strength and average oscillator position extracted from spectroscopic ellipsometry demonstrated that nitrogen incorporation could influence the dipole oscillator strength and oscillator position of HfO2. A physical model of dipole structures was proposed to verify the enhancement of dielectric constant of HfO2 films by nitrogen incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]