Nanomechanical study of amorphous and polycrystalline ALD HfO₂ thin films
by K. Tapily, J.E. Jakes, D. Gu, H. Baumgart, A.A. Elmustafa
International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering (IJSURFSE), Vol. 5, No. 2/3, 2011

Abstract: Thin films of hafnium oxide (HfO₂) were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The structural properties of the deposited films were characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). We investigated the effect of phase transformations induced by thermal treatments on the mechanical properties of ALD HfO₂ using nanoindentation. The elastic modulus of the amorphous low temperature deposited ALD HfO₂ films was measured to be 370 ± 20 GPa. Subsequent to crystallisation by annealing in a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) chamber, the elastic modulus dropped to 240 ± 20 GPa. Similarly, the Meyer hardness decreased from a value of 18 ± 1 GPa for amorphous HfO₂ to 15 ± 1 GPa following the transition temperature from amorphous to polycrystalline HfO₂.

Online publication date: Tue, 14-Oct-2014

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering (IJSURFSE):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com