Luminescence of intrinsic and extrinsic defects in hafnium oxide films

Both intrinsic and extrinsic defects of hafnium oxide films are investigated based on photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. Instead of using the high-power synchrotron radiation or ArF excimer laser sources, a hydrogen-deuterium lamp (HDL) was used for the PL measurements to avoid the possible generation of active oxygen and hydroxyl ions. Results show that the HDL PL spectra generally agree with those registered using the conventional high-power excitation sources. CL spectra also agree with the PL ones. Narrow emission band at peak energy of 4.0 eV, which is ascribed to the vibronic transition of excited O H•* radical, was found using photoluminescence excitation and at energy of 4.25 eV. © 2007 The American Physical Society.