Ha, Min-Ji Kang, Na-Gyeong Kim, Woo-Hee Park, Tae Joo Park, Tae-Eon Ahn, Ji-Hoon 2024-08-07T05:30:16Z 2024-08-07T05:30:16Z 2024-08-06 2024-07 0734-2101 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/150366 The rapid increase in the resistivity of thin metal films as their thickness decreases to sub-10？nm, known as the resistivity size effect, is an important issue that must be addressed to ensure device performance in ultraminiaturized semiconductor devices. Molybdenum carbide (MoCx) has been studied as a candidate for emerging interconnection materials because it can maintain a low resistivity even at a low thickness. However, reports on stable precursors with guaranteed reactivity for atomic layer deposition (ALD) remain limited; moreover, the process of forming low-resistance MoCx thin films must be studied. In this study, we propose a new route to form low-resistivity MoCx thin films by thermal ALD with partial ligand dissociation by controlling the process pressure to enhance the reactivity of the Mo precursor with reactants. Following the proposed deposition process and subsequent annealing, uniform and continuous thin films were formed (even at a sub-5？nm thickness), with an extremely low resistivity of approximately 130？μΩ？cm. Therefore, the proposed method can be applied as a next-generation interconnect process; notably, high-quality thin films can be formed through pressure-assisted decomposition, even with a lack of thermal energy during the ALD process. English American Institute of Physics Low-resistivity molybdenum-carbide thin films formed by thermal atomic layer deposition with pressure-assisted decomposition reaction Article 10.1116/6.0003664 1 Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, v.42, no.4 Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 42 4 N scie scopus 001284541900001 Materials Science, Coatings & Films Physics, Applied Materials Science Physics Article NITRIDES DIFFUSION BARRIER GROWTH