Investigation of the structure of thin HfO(2) films by soft x-ray reflectometry techniques.

HfO(2) thin films of different thicknesses and deposited by two methods (ALD and MOCVD) were studied. The microstructure of films was characterized by reflection spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), and soft x-ray reflectometry. It was established that the HfO(2) film microstructure is closely dependent on film thickness. The 5 nm thick film synthesized by ALD shows an amorphous phase while the film prepared by MOCVD was inhomogeneous in depth and showed signs of crystalline structure. First results on the reconstruction of the depth distribution of chemical elements based on the analysis of reflectivity curves are discussed.