Zirconium oxide films have been synthesized by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering deposition on n-Si(001) substrate with metal zirconium target at variant O₂ partial pressures. The influences of O₂ partial pressures of the morphology, deposition...
Zirconium oxide films have been synthesized by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering deposition on n-Si(001) substrate with metal zirconium target at variant O₂ partial pressures. The influences of O₂ partial pressures of the morphology, deposition rate, microstructure, and the dielectric constant of ZrO₂ have been discussed. The results show that deposition rate of ZrO₂ films decreases, the roughness, and the thickness of the native SiO₂ interlayer increases with the increase of O₂ partial pressure. ZrO₂ films synthesized at low O₂ partial pressure are amorphous and monoclinic polycrystalline in nanometer scale at low O₂ partial pressure. The relative dielectrics of ZrO₂ films are in the range of 12 to 25.