Investigating the effects of etching systems and low-temperature thermal processing on hafnium zirconium oxide thin film properties

This study examines the electrical properties and material characteristics of hafnium zirconium oxide thin films under various annealing and etching processes. High-pressure annealing is shown to significantly enhance the orthorhombic phase fraction, reaching 42% at 700 °C, with supercritical fluids treatment further increasing this to 46%. The impact of atomic layer etching and reactive ion etching on surface roughness is also analyzed, revealing increases of approximately 3.5 and 7 Å, respectively, which are mitigated by subsequent rapid thermal annealing. Additionally, high-pressure annealed capacitors exhibit a reduction in leakage current density from 10−7 to 10−9 A/cm2 and an increase in remnant polarization from 14 to 18 μC/cm2. Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm these processes’ significant impact on the structure and performance, highlighting their value for future high-performance electronic devices.