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High and Low K Materials

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LOW & HIGH K MATERIALS


EXPLANATORY REPORT
zyein University Engineering Faculty

ME 554 Semiconductor Technology and Processing


Dr. Bahar Bam
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Contents

Low K Materials
High K Materials

Low K Materials
In semiconductor manufacturing, a low- is a material with a small dielectric constant relative to silicon dioxide.
Although the proper symbol for the dielectric constant is the Greek letter (kappa), in conversation such
materials are referred to as being "low-k" (low-kay) rather than "low-" (low-kappa). Low- dielectric material
implementation is one of several strategies used to allow continued scaling of microelectronic devices,
colloquially referred to as extending Moore's law. In digital circuits, insulating dielectrics separate the
conducting parts (wire interconnects and transistors) from one another. As components have scaled and
transistors have gotten closer together, the insulating dielectrics have thinned to the point where charge build
up and crosstalk adversely affect the performance of the device. Replacing the silicon dioxide with a low-
dielectric of the same thickness reduces parasitic capacitance, enabling faster switching speeds and lower heat
dissipation.
The dielectric constant of SiO2, the insulating material used in silicon chips, is 3.9. This number is the ratio of
the permittivity of SiO2 divided by permittivity of vacuum, SiO2/0,where 0 = 8.854106 pF/m.[1] There
are many materials with lower dielectric constants but few of them can be suitably integrated into a
manufacturing process. Development efforts have focused primarily on three classes of materials:
Fluorine-doped silicon dioxide
By doping SiO2 with fluorine to produce fluorinated silica glass, the dielectric constant is lowered from 3.9 to
3.5.

High K Materials

The term high- dielectric refers to a material with a high dielectric constant (as compared to silicon dioxide).
High- dielectrics are used in semiconductor manufacturing processes where they are usually used to replace a
silicon dioxide gate dielectric or another dielectric layer of a device. The implementation of high- gate
dielectrics is one of several strategies developed to allow further miniaturization of microelectronic
components, colloquially referred to as extending Moore's Law.
Sometimes these materials are called "high-k" instead of "high-" (high kappa).

Need for high- materials


Silicon dioxide (SiO2) has been used as a gate oxide material for decades. As transistors have decreased in size,
the thickness of the silicon dioxide gate dielectric has steadily decreased to increase the gate capacitance and
thereby drive current, raising device performance. As the thickness scales below 2 nm, leakage currents due to
tunneling increase drastically, leading to high power consumption and reduced device reliability. Replacing the
silicon dioxide gate dielectric with a high- material allows increased gate capacitance without the associated
leakage effects.

Use in industry
The industry has employed oxynitride gate dielectrics since the 1990s, wherein a conventionally formed silicon
oxide dielectric is infused with a small amount of nitrogen. The nitride content subtly raises the dielectric
constant and is thought to offer other advantages, such as resistance against dopant diffusion through the gate
dielectric.
In early 2007, Intel announced the deployment of hafnium-based high-k dielectrics in conjunction with a
metallic gate for components built on 45 nanometer technologies, and has shipped it in the 2007 processor
series codenamed Penryn. At the same time, IBM announced plans to transition to high-k materials, also

hafnium-based, for some products in 2008. While not identified, the most likely dielectric used in such
applications are some form of nitrided hafnium silicates (HfSiON). HfO2 and HfSiO are susceptible to
crystallization during dopant activation annealing. NEC Electronics has also announced the use of a HfSiON
dielectric in their 55 nm UltimateLowPower technology. However, even HfSiON is susceptible to trap-related
leakage currents, which tend to increase with stress over device lifetime. This leakage effect becomes more
severe as hafnium concentration increases. There is no guarantee however, that hafnium will serve as a de
facto basis for future high-k dielectrics. The 2006 ITRS roadmap predicted the implementation of high-k
materials to be commonplace in the industry by 2010.

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