Fabrication of ultrathin films of dielectric (with particular reference to materials with high dielectric constants) materials has significance in many advanced technological applications including hard protective coatings, sensors, and next-generation logic devices. Current state-of-the-art in microelectronics for fabricating these thin films is a combination of atomic layer deposition and photolithography. As feature size decreases and aspect ratios increase, conformality of the films becomes paramount. Here, we show a polymer brush template-assisted deposition of highly conformal, ultrathin (sub 5 nm) high-κ dielectric metal oxide films (hafnium oxide and zirconium oxide) on topographically patterned silicon nitride substrates. This technique, using hydroxyl terminated poly-4-vinyl pyridine (P4VP-OH) as the polymer brush, allows for conformal deposition with uniform thickness along the trenches and sidewalls of the substrate. Metal salts are infiltrated into the grafted monolayer polymer brush films via solution deposition. Tailoring specific polymer interfacial chemistries for ion infiltration combined with subsequent oxygen plasma treatment enabled the fabrication of high-quality sub 5 nm metal oxide films.
Keywords: conformal deposition; high-κ dielectric; ion infiltration; polymer brush; ultrathin films.