Atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 and AIxTi1-xOy thin films on N2O plasma pretreated carbon materials

A mild N2O plasma treatment technique (low power and low substrate temperature) for carbon materials' (including graphite and carbon nanotubes) functionalization followed by subsequent high-k dielectric atomic layer deposition (ALD) was developed. It was shown that N2O plasma carbon functionalization leads to the formation of epoxide and carboxylic groups on the carbon surface which act as active centers for ALD and, as a result, conformal and uniform Al2O3 and TixAl1-xOy films' growth occurred on the carbon surfaces. It was shown that the electrical properties of multinary TixAl1-xOy oxides are more promising in comparison to single Al2O3 oxide. Some electrical properties of the TixAl1-xOy films observed were a high dielectric constant similar to 19, low leakage current density (<3 x 10(-5) A/cm(2) at 1 MV/cm), and high breakdown field (similar to 5.5 MV/cm). (C) 2013 American Vacuum Society. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4769793]