The crystallized ZrO2 high-K gate dielectrics treated with in-situ atomic layer doping of nitrogen using remote N-2 and NH3 plasma were investigated, to suppress the capacitance equivalent thickness (CET), leakage current density (J(g)), and interfacial state density (D). The stress-induced leakage current (SILC) was reduced significantly as well. The tetragonal/cubic phase of ZrO2 was formed by post metallization annealing at a low temperature of 450 C to offer a high dielectric constant of the gate oxide. The in-situ atomic layer doping of nitrogen using the remote NH3 plasma contributes to the deactivation of the oxygen vacancies and the well passivation of D-it. Accordingly, a suppressed j(g) of 4.79 x 10(-5) A cm(-2) and Dit of 3.96 x 1011 cm-2 eV(-1) were realized in the crystallized ZrO2 gate oxide with a low CET of 1.35 nm. The gate dielectrics were also optically examined by the photoluminescence from the high-K/Si interface, indicating that the at is highly correlated with the hydrogen passivation originating from the remote NH3 plasma. The results indicate that in-situ atomic layer doping of nitrogen is an applicable and effective technique to improve the electrical properties of crystallized gate dielectrics in the advanced metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.