Patent 7554161 Issued on June 30, 2009.
Estimated Expiration Date: August 31, 2024.
Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
A dielectric film containing HfAlO3 and a method of fabricating such a dielectric film produce a reliable gate dielectric having an equivalent oxide thickness thinner than attainable using SiO2. A gate dielectric is formed by atomic layer deposition employing a hafnium sequence and an aluminum sequence. The hafnium sequence uses HfCl4 and water vapor. The aluminum sequence uses either trimethylaluminium, Al(CH3)3, or DMEAA, an adduct of alane (AlH3) and dimethylehtylamine [N(CH3)2(C2H5)], with distilled water vapor. These gate dielectrics containing a HfAlO3 film are thermodynamically stable such that the HfAlO3 film will have minimal reactions with a silicon substrate or other structures during processing.
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August 31, 2024.
Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
