Quick link to open access paper: Applied Physics Reviews 9, 041313 (2022)

Earlier this month I published my review paper entitled Atomic layer deposition of conductive and semiconductive oxides. It was an invited review for Applied Physics Reviews and I was very happy to see it picked as Featured article![1]

In case you are not familiar with the terms (semi)conductive oxide, amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) or transparent conductive oxide (TCO), you can find a brief introduction in the text box below.

What I think is an interesting aspect of the review paper is that it discusses ALD of both the AOS and TCO material systems on an equal footing. This is different from other works that discuss either systems (e.g. [2], [3]), while to me it makes a lot of sense to address both: there is a very strong overlap in the elements used, in their optoelectronic properties, and even more so in the important ALD aspects and approaches. I personally realized this at the moment I started exploring the field of ALD AOS and noticed how much I benefited from my background in the field of ALD TCOs (For solar cells, i.e. high-mobility hydrogen-doped In₂O₃[4]–[6] and ZnO TCOs[7], as well as TCO-based passivating contacts [8]–[12]) As such, it would be great if this review paper could also help in bringing these communities closer together.

I think the second unique feature of the review paper is its scope: As you would expect of a review paper, an important aspect of the paper is to review the many ALD processes and approaches for these conductive oxides available in literature, including graphs and tables on precursors, growth-per-cycle values, and so on… In the review paper I tried to go a step further by drawing a connection: of how ALD aspects (surface chemistry, supercycles, nucleation, …) relate to the resulting film structure (crystallinity, doping density and dispersion, stoichiometry…) and thereby the optical and electrical properties (carrier density, mobility, free-carrier absorption, …) . Moreover, examples are given of how such insights can be leveraged to make better films.

Since the review paper is open access for you to read, I don’t intend to reiterate the contents in this blog post. Instead, I would like to take a different angle here by highlighting four of the interesting (recent) applications of ALD of (semi)conductive oxides that I came across. I’ll focus on those applications that are uniquely enabled by ALD. Interestingly, in these four applications, four distinct merits of ALD play an enabling role. These merits are (1) composition control, (2) the ability to make ultrathin films, (3) conformality, and (4) soft deposition. Therefore, I decided to structure the blog based on these merits!  Finally, I reckon there are other cool examples that I might have missed, so feel free to add in the comments section below!

ALD merit #1: Composition control

Nanolaminate In-Ga-Zn-O channels for TFTs

InGaZnO is an AOS channel material used thin-film transistors (TFTs), for example in display technology. What is interesting about this material is that the film structure and electronic properties can be accurately tailored by changing the stoichiometry of the metal centers. Briefly put, In-rich films exhibit a higher mobility due to a favorable overlap of the In 5s orbitals that build up the conduction band. However, In-rich films also suffer from a high carrier density (and hence from a negative threshold voltage V_th). This can be understood from the intrinsic tendency of oxygen vacancies to form in In₂O₃ owing to a relatively weak In-O bond. These oxygen vacancies act as electron donors. Ga can be added to the film in order to reduce the carrier density, yet at the expense of carrier mobility. Similarly, the main role of Zn in InGaZnO is to suppress crystallinity. Therefore, accurately balancing the composition of these InGaZnO films is vital for making the best films possible.

With conventional deposition methods (mostly PVD), the metal atoms are in principle incorporated randomly within the matrix, where the composition of the deposited film is determined by e.g. the (sputter) target composition. See also the figure below. Interestingly, with ALD you easily obtain an additional degree of freedom to design the material! Because of the cyclic nature of ALD, where films are grown atomic layer by atomic layer, you can design nanolaminate structures and graded compositions in a rather straightforward manner (note that there are many exceptions and subtleties, which I review in the paper). For example, Cho et al. showed improved TFT characteristics by making a bilayer InGaZnO structure of varying composition.[13] Here, I would like to focus on another interesting approach I encountered that is really enabled by ALD. Sheng et al. showed very good transistor properties (e.g. high field-effect mobility μ_FE of ~74 cm²/Vs) by making a clever nanolaminate that I will explain below.[14] Interestingly, these results were also recently reproduced by spatial ALD by TNO at Holst Center and SparkNano (previously known as SALDtech, see also the interview as part of the Company talk series).

Sheng et al. obtained superior transistor characteristics by making a nanolaminate that is made up by so-called ALD “supercycles”. One ALD supercycle consist of an integer n ALD In₂O₃ subcycles, followed by what they call “spacers” consisting of one ALD Ga₂O₃ subcycle and one ALD ZnO subcycle. The “In₂O₃-rich” layers contribute to a high lateral carrier mobility, while the Ga₂O₃ and ZnO subcycles still sufficiently suppress the carrier density and crystallinity, respectively. Ostensibly, a better trade-off between properties can be made using a nanolaminate instead of an isotropically-dispersed InGaZnO layer, and the best mobility of ~74 cm²/Vs was found for an In₂O₃ interlayer thickness of 1.8 nm.

What I also found insightful is that they mention a clear benefit of using plasma ALD in their work. I was aware that plasma ALD is commonly used in these AOS materials, mainly since the use of a reactive oxygen plasma results in less oxygen vacancies and thereby helps suppress the carrier density (as oxygen vacancies form electron donors). What Sheng et al. highlight, is that by using a plasma-based process, the growth-per-cycle of the various materials in the In-Ga-Zn-O nanolaminate is equal to that in the pure compound. In other words, for example the growth-per-cycle of the ZnO step within the nanolaminate is the same as when growing pure ZnO. This is certainly not the case for most ALD supercycle processes! Actually a large portion of the review paper is devoted to such growth effects: basically almost always the growth-per-cycle is different (enhanced or inhibited) when combining ALD materials in a supercycle. This renders it difficult to target for example a certain stoichiometry without prior knowledge of such effects. These changes in growth-per-cycle  arise due to a myriad of mechanisms that can occur when changing ALD process within the supercycle and are mostly related to surface chemistry. Again, more details in the review paper. Most likely, in the case of Sheng et al. the O₂ plasma helps to combust any remaining ligands and to fully oxidize the surface, thereby “resetting” the surface chemistry for the next subcycle.

ALD merit #2: Ultrathin continuous films

Ultrathin In₂O₃ transistor channels

Another cool application of ALD that I came across is the use of ultrathin (down to 0.7 nm!) In₂O₃ channels in TFTs that are made by plasma ALD.[15] The key perk of ALD here is  the ability to provide such ultrathin layers with wafer-scale uniformity, as also shown in the cited paper. Although not reported in the paper, I would expect the use of plasma ALD is quite vital here too, as its reactivity helps expedite a fast nucleation. This is critical for obtaining continuous, closed films at these very low thicknesses.

The authors also mention two strong benefits from keeping the In₂O₃ so extremely thin:

Firstly, by keeping the In₂O₃ thickness down to the nanometer regime, the formation of the polycrystalline phase is suppressed. Having an amorphous channel has its advantages. Even though polycrystalline In₂O₃ can have a high mobility, the grain size is typically on a similar order of magnitude as the device dimensions. This leads to variability in TFT characteristics, as some TFTs might have few or no grain boundaries, while others have many. 

Secondly, In₂O₃ has the downside that donor defects are easily formed that raise the carrier density to the order of 10²⁰ cm^-3, sufficient to reach degeneracy. By making the In₂O₃ ultrathin (quasi-2D) films, quantum confinement effect kicks in, basically increasing the band gap of the material (as also used in many quantum dot applications). As the conduction band shifts upwards, the trap neutrality level moves within the band gap, as opposed to within the conduction band for bulk In₂O₃. Because of this, unintentional defect doping no longer leads to degeneracy. For more details and visualization, be sure to check out the original paper. [15]

ALD merit #3: conformality

Ferroelectric RAM with oxide semiconductor channel

One area where it seems ALD oxide semiconductors will play a defining role is in monolithic 3D integration of back-end-of-line (BEOL) compatible AOS transistors. Basically, this entails 3D memory that can be placed vertically above the Si transistors on a chip. This is an alternative scaling method to use chip area more efficiently, and was one of the “hot topics” that Intel mentioned in their keynote during last month’s IEDM conference (see Intel website). Specifically ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) is mentioned. In FeRAM, the gate dielectric is ferroelectric, which means that a remnant polarization can be induced in the dielectric by biasing the gate. The electric field from this remnant polarization in turn controls the carrier population in the oxide semiconductor channel. By switching polarity of the gate, “program” and “erase” operations can be performed.

An example of explorative work in this direction is shown in the figure below.[16] While quite a lot can be said about the workings of such a device (see the paper), I would like to focus here on some of the ALD aspects of this structure. As can be seen in the figure, the FeFET is based on a trench structure. The rationale behind this is that the use of vertical structures helps increase the areal density of the transistors. This is also where ALD shows its merits, as it can conformally coat the trench with the (anti)ferroelectric gate dielectric as well as the oxide semiconductor (In₂O₃ in this case). While the aspect ratio of the trench shown in the figure might not appear extremely challenging, this will likely change in the future: firstly, further downscaling beyond such a demonstrator device is expected and second, as the paper also mentions the envisioned application is to stack multiple of such transistors in a single trench.

Interesting to note is that ALD is used both for the FE-HfO₂ (HfO₂ often paired with ZrO₂) and the In₂O₃ channel. Prior to ALD In₂O₃, the ferroelectric layer is crystallized by annealing at 600 ^oC. This yields crystalline domains that play a key role in the ferroelectric effect. The In₂O₃ layer is deposited at 200 ^oC and then annealed in O₃ at 200 ^oC, presumably to lower the carrier concentration by the suppression of oxygen vacancies. As a detail (not noted in the paper), a close look at the TEM images therein seems to suggest the In₂O₃ layer is also crystalline, potentially already as-deposited or after annealing. Either way, in this specific case it is thus best to speak of an OS (oxide semiconductor) rather than an AOS.

ALD merit #4: soft deposition

ALD SnO₂ buffer layers in silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells

Actually, I already wrote about this application of ALD on AtomicLimits back in 2019! That blog gave a summary of a tutorial I gave at the ALD conference on “Atomic Layer Deposition for solar cells”. Back then I wrote “…, I think ALD SnO2 will keep on playing a key role in these tandem structures.” This is certainly still true, which I why I think it deserves mentioning in this blog again. Also, in three years a lot has happened, so a brief updated overview here.

One application where I really see a role for ALD is for SnO₂ in silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells (see the figure below). Such cells are a hot topic, where a solar cell based on a perovskite semiconductor is placed on top of a solar cell that is based on a conventional silicon solar cell. This can make the total solar cell more efficient: briefly put, the top perovskite solar cell is more efficient for absorbing high-energy photons, while it transmits low-energy photons to the silicon bottom cell that is more efficient in this low-energy part of the spectrum. For more info, see the previous blog.

What is the role of the ALD SnO₂ here? It serves mainly two functions:

1. The typically 10-20 nm thick ALD SnO₂ act as a buffer layer that prevents (plasma) damaging of the perovskite during sputter deposition of the top TCO contact. 
2. As a dense, amorphous material, it improves environmental stability of the perovskite cell which is susceptible to ingress of ambient oxygen and water.

What seemingly makes ALD an enabling technique here is that is a soft deposition technique. The SnO₂ is typically deposited by thermal ALD from tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin (TDMASn) as precursor and H₂O as co-reactant. Importantly, the fact that this ALD process is thermal (so only gases supplied) obviously ensures no plasma damage, while also the ALD process can be performed at very low temperatures (<100 ^oC) which makes it compatible with the temperature-sensitive perovskite materials.

Two main things have changed since my previous blog. The record efficiency is now at 32.5%, which is much higher than the 28% in 2019. Because of this, these tandem cells now have a very clear efficiency premium over silicon solar cells, which are levelling off at around 26.7%. Relatedly, there seems to be a lot of momentum to work towards mass production of these cells. Most notably, various EU consortia comprising manufacturers and knowledge institutes are teaming up in this respect, also in an effort to bring solar cell production back to Europe. For example, earlier this month Meyer Burger announced partnerships with various institutes in activities that “… center around industrialization of the new technologies, moving from the laboratory to mass production …”. Similarly, last month the PEPPERONI EU project was kicked off, where PV manufacturer Hanwha Qcells and partners strive to set up a pilot line for the production of tandem cells in Thalheim, Germany. Interestingly, whereas Meyer Burger (and most record cells) opt for so-called silicon heterojunction solar cells as bottom cells, the PEPPERONI project targets the use of PERC (passivated emitter and rear contact) silicon bottom cells (see image below). These PERC cells are by far more standard in industry than heterojunction cells, which make them an appealing option from an industry point of view. And while it appears that the record efficiency of PERC-perovskite solar cells is slightly lower thus far at 28.7%, it should be noted that this approach is relatively newer and it would be interesting to see how far this technology will go.[17]

Either way, in both cases ALD SnO₂ plays a vital role! Who knows, this application of ALD might very well be the next big contribution for ALD in photovoltaics, after the success of ALD Al₂O₃. (See also two of our earlier blogs on ALD Al₂O₃ for silicon solar cells here and here)

References

[1]       B. Macco and W. M. M. Kessels, “Atomic layer deposition of conductive and semiconductive oxides,” Appl. Phys. Rev., vol. 9, no. 4, p. 041313, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1063/5.0116732.

[2]       T. Tynell and M. Karppinen, “Atomic layer deposition of ZnO: a review,” Semicond. Sci. Technol., vol. 29, p. 043001, 2014, doi: 10.1088/0268-1242/29/4/043001.

[3]       J. Sheng, J.-H. Lee, W.-H. Choi, T. Hong, M. Kim, and J.-S. Park, “Review Article: Atomic layer deposition for oxide semiconductor thin film transistors: Advances in research and development,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, vol. 36, no. 6, p. 060801, 2018, doi: 10.1116/1.5047237.

[4]       B. Macco, Y. Wu, D. Vanhemel, and W. M. M. Kessels, “High mobility In₂O₃:H transparent conductive oxides prepared by atomic layer deposition and solid phase crystallization,” Phys. status solidi – Rapid Res. Lett., vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 987–990, Oct. 2014, doi: 10.1002/pssr.201409426.

[5]       B. Macco, M. A. Verheijen, L. E. Black, B. Barcones, J. Melskens, and W. M. M. Kessels, “On the solid phase crystallization of In₂O₃:H transparent conductive oxide films prepared by atomic layer deposition,” J. Appl. Phys., vol. 120, no. 8, p. 085314, 2016, doi: 10.1063/1.4962008.

[6]       B. Macco, H. C. M. Knoops, and W. M. M. Kessels, “Electron Scattering and Doping Mechanisms in Solid-Phase-Crystallized In₂O₃:H Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 7, no. 30, 2015, doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b04420.

[7]       B. Macco, H. C. M. Knoops, M. A. Verheijen, W. Beyer, M. Creatore, and W. M. M. Kessels, “Atomic layer deposition of high-mobility hydrogen-doped zinc oxide,” Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, vol. 173, pp. 111–119, Dec. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2017.05.040.

[8]       B. W. H. Van De Loo, B. Macco, J. Melskens, W. Beyer, and W. M. M.. Kessels, “Silicon surface passivation by transparent conductive zinc oxide,” J. Appl. Phys., vol. 125, no. 10, p. 105305, 2019, doi: 10.1063/1.5054166.

[9]       B. Macco et al., “Atomic-layer-deposited Al-doped zinc oxide as a passivating conductive contacting layer for n⁺-doped surfaces in silicon solar cells,” Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, vol. 233, no. September, p. 111386, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111386.

[10]     B. Macco et al., “Temporal and spatial atomic layer deposition of Al-doped zinc oxide as a passivating conductive contact for silicon solar cells,” Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, vol. 245, no. June, p. 111869, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111869.

[11]     J. Melskens, B. W. H. van de Loo, B. Macco, L. E. Black, S. Smit, and W. M. M. Kessels, “Passivating Contacts for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells: From Concepts and Materials to Prospects,” IEEE J. Photovoltaics, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 373–388, Mar. 2018, doi: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2797106.

[12]     J. Ibarra Michel, J. Dréon, M. Boccard, J. Bullock, and B. Macco, “Carrier‐selective contacts using metal compounds for crystalline silicon solar cells,” Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl., no. January, pp. 1–34, Mar. 2022, doi: 10.1002/pip.3552.

[13]     M. H. Cho, C. H. Choi, H. J. Seul, H. C. Cho, and J. K. Jeong, “Achieving a Low-Voltage, High-Mobility IGZO Transistor through an ALD-Derived Bilayer Channel and a Hafnia-Based Gate Dielectric Stack,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 13, no. 14, pp. 16628–16640, 2021, doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c22677.

[14]     J. Sheng et al., “Amorphous IGZO TFT with High Mobility of ∼70 cm 2 /(V s) via Vertical Dimension Control Using PEALD,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 11, no. 43, pp. 40300–40309, Oct. 2019, doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b14310.

[15]     M. Si et al., “Why In₂O₃ Can Make 0.7 nm Atomic Layer Thin Transistors,” Nano Lett., vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 500–506, 2021, doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c03967.

[16]     Z. Li et al., “A Vertical Channel Ferroelectric/Anti-Ferroelectric FET with ALD InO_x and Field-Induced Polar-Axis Alignment for 3D High-Density Memory,” in 2022 IEEE Silicon Nanoelectronics Workshop (SNW), Jun. 2022, pp. 1–2, doi: 10.1109/SNW56633.2022.9889037.

[17]     K. Sveinbjörnsson et al., “Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cell with 28.7% Efficiency Using Industrial Silicon Bottom Cells,” ACS Energy Lett., vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 2654–2656, 2022, doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.2c01358.