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High-temperature in situ Cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigation of Crystallization Process of Yttrium-stabilized Zirconia/Si and Yttrium-stabilized Zirconia/SiOx/Si Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2005

Takanori Kiguchi ,
Naoki Wakiya ,
Kazuo Shinozaki  and
Nobuyasu Mizutani
Takanori Kiguchi*
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials Analysis, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Naoki Wakiya
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgy and Ceramics Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
Kazuo Shinozaki
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgy and Ceramics Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
Nobuyasu Mizutani
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials Analysis, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan; and Department of Metallurgy and Ceramics Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author.e-mail: tkiguchi@cama.titech.ac.jp
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Abstract

The crystallization process of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) gate dielectrics deposited on p-Si (001) and SiOx/p-Si(001) substrates and the growth process of SiOx has been investigated directly using high-temperature in situ cross-sectional view transmission electron microscopy (TEM) method and high-temperature plan-view in-situ TEM method. The YSZ layer is crystallized by the nucleation and growth mechanism at temperatures greater than 573 K. Nucleation originates from the film surface. Nucleation occurs randomly in the YSZ layer. Subsequently, the crystallized YSZ area strains the Si surface. Finally, it grows in the in-plane direction with the strain, whereas, if a SiOx layer of 1.4 nm exists, it absorbs the crystallization strain. Thereby, an ultrathin SiOx layer can relax the strain generated in the Si substrate in thin film crystallization process.

Keywords

MicrostructureSemiconductorTransmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 20 , Issue 7 , July 2005 , pp. 1878 - 1887
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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