Nucleation promotion for the atomic layer deposition of HfO₂ onto carbon nanotubes for device applications

Abstract The potential of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the next-generation semiconductor information material as a successor to silicon-based technology is promising. However, a significant challenge for CNT based electronics at device level lies in the obtainment of high-quality gate dielectrics such as HfO 2 on the dangling bond-free and chemically inert surface of CNTs. To address this issue, this paper studies the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of HfO 2 onto the surface of carbon-based materials, and focuses on how to promote the nucleation via two methods, i.e. low-temperature Nanofog method and high-temperature variable parameter method. Both methods are confirmed to be effective in improving the continuity and uniformity of ALD HfO 2 films.