AbstractIn this work, we report the effects of nitrogen on electrical and structural properties in TaSixNy /SiO2/p-Si MOS capacitors. TaSixNy films with various compositions were deposited by reactive sputtering of TaSi2 or by co-sputtering of Ta and Si targets in argon and nitrogen ambient. TaSixNy films were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. It was found that the workfunction of TaSixNy (Si>Ta) with varying N contents ranges from 4.2 to 4.3 eV. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy shows no indication of interfacial reaction or crystallization in TaSixNy on SiO2, resulting in no significant increase of leakage current in the capacitor during annealing. It is believed that nitrogen retards reaction rates and improves the chemical-thermal stability of the gate-dielectric interface and oxygen diffusion barrier properties.
