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S. Harasek, H. D. Wanzenböck, B. Basnar, J. Smoliner, J. Brenner, H. Störi, E. Gornik, E. Bertagnolli:
"Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and nanoscale characterization of zirconium oxide thin films";
Thin Solid Films, 414 (2002), 199 - 204.

We report on the growth of ZrO thin films on silicon wafers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition from zirconiumtri- 2
fluoroacetylacetonate at deposition temperatures between 350 and 550 8C. The evolution of surface roughness of the deposited
films is thoroughly investigated. Relative roughness is found to be minimum at a deposition temperature of 450 8C and also
essentially independent of film thickness. The attained values of relative roughness are shown to be competitive to advanced
deposition methods such as atomic layer deposition. Chemical composition of the films is examined in dependence of deposition
temperature and post-deposition annealing procedures. Experimental results indicate that optimum properties in regard to chemical
composition are obtained after thermal treatment at 650 8C. The film composition is not significantly altered by annealing at
higher temperatures. Also the ambient atmosphere during the annealing process is shown to be of minor influence.
2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Zirconium; Chemical vapor deposition; Surface roughness; Atomic force microscopy; Auger electron spectroscopy