Confirmation of the surface smoothing effect of atomic layer deposition and the physical mechanism responsible for such an effect

摘要

Previously, Lau et al. [1]-[2] suggested that the atomic layer deposition of an amorphous high-k dielectric thin film has a surface smoothing effect on a rough surface, resulting in a strong effect on the electrical characteristics of high-k MIM capacitors. Sometimes this effect may be hard to observe by atomic force microscopy. In this paper, we try to confirm the existence of this effect and discuss the physical mechanism responsible.