Transport mechanism in O-terminated diamond/ZrO2 based MOSCAPs

Metal Oxide Semiconductor capacitors were fabricated using p-type O-terminated (001) diamond and zirconium dioxide deposited by atomic layer deposition at low temperature (100 degrees C). X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy evidence monoclinic structure and polycrystalline nature of the oxide layer. I-V, C-V and C-F experiments have been performed in a large frequency range, i.e. from 1 Hz to 1 MHz, in order to analyse the electrical properties of the metal/dielectric/diamond stack. The presence of charges in the oxide and interface states induces a flat-band voltage shift in the C-V curve and a strong Fermi level pinning effect. A leakage current mechanism considering the correlation of the microstructural characterization and the electrical response is proposed.