Conductive hafnium nitride films were deposited from a plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PA-ALD) process using a metallorganic hafnium precursor, tetrakis (ethylmethylamino)hafnium (TEMAH), using H, plasma as a reducing agent, at a sub-strate temperature of 250 degrees C. The effects of radio frequency plasma pulse time and power on film resistivity, composition, and microstructure were investigated. The deposited films consisted of cubic HfN phase as shown by X-ray diffraction analysis, and the resistivity ranged from similar to 2300 to 8200 mu Omega cm depending on the plasma conditions. The most conductive films were observed, to result from conditions of higher plasma power, which is attributed to microstructural modifications as well as a decrease in N:Hf ratio, which approached unity at the highest plasma powers employed. Carbon incorporation in the form of HfCx phase was shown to be beneficial in terms of improving both post-rapid-thermal-anneal stability and electrical conductivity. A midgap work function (4.63 eV) vas obtained for a HfN, electrode structure integrated into a metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor featuring a SiO2 dielectric. (c) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.