Highly (1 0 0)-oriented Pb(Zr0.20Ti0.80)O3/(Pb1−xLax)Ti1−x/4O3 multilayered thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

The Pb(Zr_0.20Ti_0.80)O₃/(Pb_1−xLa_x)Ti_1−x/4O₃ (x = 0, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) (PZT/PLT_x) multilayered thin films were in situ deposited on the Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique with a PbO_x buffer layer. With this method, all PZT/PLT_x multilayered thin films possess highly (1 0 0) orientation. The PbO_x buffer layer leads to the (1 0 0) orientation of the multilayered thin films. The effect of the La content in PLT_x layers on the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of the PZT multilayered thin films was systematically investigated. The enhanced dielectric and ferroelectric properties are observed in the PZT/PLT_x (x = 0.15) multilayered thin films. The dielectric constant reaches maximum value of 365 at 1 KHz for x = 0.15 with a low loss tangent of 0.0301. Along with enhanced dielectric properties, the multilayered thin films also exhibit large remnant polarization value of 2P_r = 76.5 μC/cm², and low coercive field of 2E_c = 238 KV/cm.     

High performance TaYOx-based MIM capacitors

TaYO_x-based metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors with excellent electrical properties have been fabricated. Ultra-thin TaYO_x films in the thickness range of 15-30 nm (EOT ∼ 2.4-4.7 nm) were deposited on Au/SiO₂ (100 nm)/Si (100) structures by rf-magnetron co-sputtering of Ta₂O₅ and Y₂O₃ targets. TaYO_x layers were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to examine the composition and crystallinity. An atomic percentage of Ta:Y = 58.32:41.67 was confirmed from the EDX analysis while XRD revealed an amorphous phase (up to 500 °C) during rapid thermal annealing. Besides, a high capacitance density of ∼3.7-5.4 fF/μm² at 10 kHz (ε_r ∼ 21), a low value of VCC (voltage coefficients of capacitance, α and β) have been achieved. Also, a highly stable temperature coefficient of capacitance, TCC has been obtained. Capacitance degradation phenomena in TaYO_x-based MIM capacitors under constant current stressing (CCS at 20 nA) have been studied. It is observed that degradation depends strongly on the dielectric thickness and a dielectric breakdown voltage of 3-5 MV/cm was found for TaYO_x films. The maximum energy storage density was estimated to be ∼5.69 J/cm³. Post deposition annealing (PDA) in O₂ ambient at 400 °C has been performed and further improvement in device reliability and electrical performances has been achieved.     

Effect of a silicon nitride buffer layer on the electrical properties of tantalum pentoxide films

Ta₂O₅ films with a buffer layer of silicon nitride of various thicknesses were deposited on Si substrate by reactive sputtering and submitted to annealing at 700 °C in nitrogen atmosphere. The microstructure and the electrical properties of thin films were studied. It was found that with a buffer layer of silicon nitride the electrical properties of Si_xN_y/Ta₂O₅ film can be improved than Ta₂O₅ film. When the thickness of the buffer layer was 3 nm, the Si_xN_y/Ta₂O₅ film has the highest dielectric constant of 27.4 and the lowest leakage current density of 4.61 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm² (at −1 V). For the Si_xN_y (3 nm)/Ta₂O₅ film, the conduction mechanism of leakage current was also analyzed and showed four types of conduction mechanisms at different applied voltages.     

Electrodepositing ZnxMnyOz alloys from zinc oxide to manganese oxide

Electrodeposition has emerged as a practical and simple method to synthesise semiconductor materials under different forms, thin films or nanostructured layers. This work reports on the cathodic electrodeposition of ZnMnO thin layers using both zinc and manganese chlorides as precursors. The composition of thin films can be varied from binary zinc oxide to manganese oxide varying the Mn/(Mn+Zn) ratio between 0 and 1. The composition of Zn_xMn_yO_z films was obtained by energy dispersive spectroscopy. Zn_1−xMn_xO films with Mn/Zn ratio less than 10% exhibit a crystalline wurtzite structure typical of ZnO fully oriented in the (0 0 2) direction. Higher Mn content leads to deformation of the ZnO lattice and the wurtzite structure is no longer maintained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy points out that Mn₃O₄ tends to be deposited when a high Mn/Zn ratio is used in the starting solution. Magnetic measurements on films with Mn/(Zn+Mn) ratio near 1 reveal magnetic characteristics similar to Mn₃O₄ compounds. The transmission spectra of Zn_xMn_yO_z show the typical absorption edge of crystalline ZnO while the wurtzite structure is maintained and it shifts to higher wavelengths when Mn content increases.     

Rare earth-based high-k materials for non-volatile memory applications

A study of a La-based high-k oxide to be employed as active dielectric in future scaled memory devices is presented. The focus will be held on La_xZr_1−xO_2−δ (x = 0.25) compound. In order to allow the integration of this material, its chemical interaction with an Al₂O₃ cap layer has been studied. Moreover, the electrical characteristics of these materials have been evaluated integrating them in capacitor structures. The rare earth-based ternary oxide is demonstrated to be a promising candidate for future non-volatile memory devices based on charge trapping structure.     

Structural and Electrical Properties of Ta ax La(1−a)x O y Thin Films

Effect of annealing temperature on the characteristics of sol–gel-driven Ta _ax La_(1?a)x O _y thin film spin-coated on Si substrate as a high-k gate dielectric was studied. Ta _ax La_(1?a)x O _y thin films with different amounts of a were prepared (as-prepared samples). X-ray diffraction measurements of the as-prepared samples indicated that Ta_0.3x La_0.7x O_y film had an amorphous structure. Therefore, Ta_0.3x La_0.7x O _y film was chosen to continue the present studies. The morphology of Ta_0.3x La_0.7x O _y films was studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The obtained results showed that the size of grain boundaries on Ta_0.3x La_0.7x O _y film surfaces was increased with increasing annealing temperature. Electrical and optical characterizations of the as-prepared and annealed films were investigated as a function of annealing temperature using capacitance–voltage (C–V) and current density–voltage (J–V) measurements and the Tauc method. The obtained results demonstrated that Ta_0.3x La_0.7x O _y films had high dielectric constant (≈27), wide band gap (≈4.5 eV), and low leakage current density (≈10^?6 A/cm² at 1 V).     

Ferroelectric and leakage current characteristics of (Pb0.72La0.28)Ti0.93O3 thin films prepared by a sol-gel process

(Pb_1 − xLa_x)Ti_1 − x/4O₃(x = 28 mol%, denoted as PLT) thin films were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by using a sol-gel process. The Pt/PLT/Pt film capacitor showed well-saturated hysteresis loops at an applied electric field of 500 kV/cm with spontaneous polarization (P_s), remanent polarization (P_r) and coercive electric field (E_c) values of 9.23 μC/cm², 0.53 μC/cm² and 19.7 kV/cm, respectively. At 100 kHz, the dielectric constant and dissipation factor of the film were 748 and 0.026, respectively. The leakage current density is lower than 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ A/cm²over the electric field range of 0 to 200 kV/cm. And the Pt/PLT interface exist a Schottky emission characteristics.     

Stackable nonvolatile memory with ultra thin polysilicon film and low-leakage (Ti, Dy)xOy for low processing temperature and low operating voltages

We report the fabrication process as well as material and electrical characterization of ultra thin body (UTB) thin film transistors (TFTs) for stackable nonvolatile memories by using in situ phosphorous doped low-temperature polysilicon followed by the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. The resulting polysilicon film is about 13 nm thick with approximately 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ doping. Root mean square surface roughness below 1 nm is achieved. Metal nanocrystals and high-k dielectric are selected for storage nodes and tunneling barriers to achieve low operating voltages. The number density and average diameter of nanocrystals embedded in the gate stack are 7.5 × 10¹¹ cm⁻² and 5.8 nm, respectively. Furthermore, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) are performed for material characterization. The dielectric constant of the (Ti, Dy)_xO_y film is 35, and the off-state leakage current at −1 V bias and 2.8 nm equivalent oxide thickness is 5 × 10⁻⁷ A/cm². We obtain a memory window of about 0.95 V with ±6 V program/erase voltages. Our results show that UTB TFT is a promising candidate for the three-dimensional integration in high-density nonvolatile memory applications.     

ALD of LaHfOx nano-laminates for high-κ gate dielectric applications

Electrical properties and thermal stability of LaHfO_x nano-laminate films deposited on Si substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have been investigated for future high-κ gate dielectric applications. A novel La precursor, tris(N,N′-diisopropylformamidinato) lanthanum [La(ⁱPrfAMD)₃], was employed in conjunction with conventional tetrakis-(ethylmethyl)amido Hf (TEMA Hf) and water (H₂O). The capacitance-voltage curves of the metal oxide semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs) showed negligible hysteresis and frequency dispersion, indicating minimal deterioration of the interface and bulk properties. A systematic shift in the flat-band voltage (V_fb) was observed with respect to the change in structure of nano-laminate stacks as well as La₂O₃ to HfO₂ content in the films. The EOTs obtained were in the range of ∼1.23-1.5 nm with leakage current densities of ∼1.3 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm² to 1.3 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm² at V_fb − 1 V. In addition, the films with a higher content of La₂O₃ remained amorphous up to 950 °C indicating very good thermal stability, whereas the HfO₂ rich films crystallized at lower temperatures.     

Fabrication and electrical characteristics of ultrathin (HfO2)x(SiO2)1−x films by surface sol-gel method and reaction-anneal treatment

Hafnium oxide (HfO₂) films were deposited on Si substrates with a pre-grown oxide layer using hafnium chloride (HfCl₄) source by surface sol-gel process, then ultrathin (HfO₂)_x(SiO₂)_1−x films were fabricated due to the reaction of SiO₂ layer with HfO₂ under the appropriate reaction-anneal treatment. The observation of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy indicates that the ultrathin films show amorphous nature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses reveal that surface sol-gel derived ultrathin films are Hf-Si-O alloy instead of HfO₂ and pre-grown SiO₂ layer, and the composition was Hf_0.52Si_0.48O₂ under 500 °C reaction-anneal. The lowest equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) value of 0.9 nm of film annealed at 500 °C has been obtained with small flatband voltage of −0.31 V. The experimental results indicate that a simple and feasible solution route to fabricate (HfO₂)_x(SiO₂)_1−x composite films has been developed by means of combination of surface sol-gel and reaction-anneal treatment.     

Effects of high doping on the bandgap bowing for AlxGa1−xN

This paper gives the composition dependence of the bandgap energy for highly doped n-type Al_xGa_1−xN. We report results of the bowing parameter obtained using a random simulation. Three groups of Al_xGa_1−xN semiconductors were considered and which are distinguishable by their non degenerate or degenerate character in the doping density (10¹⁷?N_D?10²⁰ cm⁻³). A striking feature is the large discrepancy of the bandgap bowing (−2.02?b?2.94 eV), as was demonstrated from our calculations. This suggests that high doping may be a possible cause able to induce the large range of bowing parameters reported for Al_xGa_1−xN alloys.     

SrO capping effect for La2O3/Ce-silicate gate dielectrics

The chemical bonding states and electrical characteristics of SrO capped La₂O₃/CeO_x gate dielectric have been examined. Angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement has revealed that Sr atoms diffuse into silicate layer to form SrLa-silicate after annealing. Owing to the incorporation of Sr atoms into silicate layer, a transistor operation with an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) below 0.5 nm has been demonstrated. A strongly degraded effective electron mobility of 78 cm²/V s at 1 MV/cm has been obtained, which fit well with the general trend in small EOT range below 1 nm. Although process optimization is needed to improve the performance of transistors, Sr capping technique can be useful for EOT scaling.     

Annealing effect on physical and electrical characteristics of thin HfO2, HfSixOy and HfOyNz films on Si

We report the effect of annealing on electrical and physical characteristics of HfO₂, HfSi_xO_y and HfO_yN_z gate oxide films on Si. Having the largest thickness change of 0.3 nm after post deposition annealing (PDA), HfO_yN_z shows the lowest leakage current. It was found for both as-grown and annealed structures that Poole-Frenkel conduction is dominant at low field while Fowler-Nordheim tunneling in high field. Spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement revealed that the PDA process decreases the bandgap of the dielectric layers. We found that a decreasing of peak intensity in the middle HfO_yN_z layer as measured by Tof-SIMS may suggest the movement of N toward the interface region between the HfO_yN_z layer and the Si substrate during the annealing process.     

Electrical properties of metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor structure using BaxSr1−xTiO3 for ferroelectric-gate field effect transistor

Perovskite ferroelectric Ba_xSr_1−xTiO₃ (x = 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8) thin films have been fabricated as metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor (MFIS) configurations using a sol-gel technique. The C-V characteristics for different Ba-Sr ratios and different film thicknesses have been measured in order to investigate the ferroelectric memory window effect. The results show that the memory window width increases with the increase both of Ba content and film thickness. This behavior is attributed to the grain size and dipole dynamics effect. It is found also that the memory window increases as the applied voltage increases. In addition, the leakage current density for the films is measured and it is found to be of the order of 10⁻⁸ A/cm² for all tested samples, indicating that the films have good insulating characteristics.     

Carrier mobility in inversion layers of Si–thin Ta2O5 structures

The behaviour of carrier mobility in the inversion channel of gateless p-MOSFETs with thin (7-50 nm) Ta₂O₅ layers, having a dielectric constant of (23-27) and prepared by rf sputtering of Ta in an Ar-O₂ mixture, has been investigated. It is shown that independently of the high dielectric constant of the layers, the transport properties in the channel are strongly affected by defects in Ta₂O₅/Si system in the form of oxide charge and interface states. These defects act as scattering centers and are responsible for the observed minority carrier mobility degradation. Both, the oxide and the interface state charges are virtually independent on the oxygen content (in the range 10-30%) during the sputtering process. A reduction of the oxide charge and the density of interface states with increasing Ta₂O₅ film thickness was found, which results in the observed increase of the inversion channel mobility with thickness. It is assumed that the bond defects (broken or strained Ta-bonds as well as weak Si-O bonds in the transition region between Ta₂O₅ and Si) are much more probable sources of defect centers rather than Ta and O vacancies or impurities.     

Integration of HfxTayN metal gate with SiO2 and HfOxNy gate dielectrics for MOS device applications

Interaction of Hf_xTa_yN metal gate with SiO₂ and HfO_xN_y gate dielectrics has been extensively studied. Metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device formed with SiO₂ gate dielectric and Hf_xTa_yN metal gate shows satisfactory thermal stability. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) analysis results show that the diffusion depths of Hf and Ta are less significant in SiO₂ gate dielectric than that in HfO_xN_y. Compared to HfO_xN_y gate dielectric, SiO₂ shows better electrical properties, such as leakage current, hysteresis, interface trap density and stress-induced flat-band voltage shift. With an increase in post metallization annealing (PMA) temperature, the electrical characteristics of the MOS device with SiO₂ gate dielectric remain almost unchanged, indicating its superior thermal and electrical stability.     

Temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics of n-MgxZn1−xO/p-GaN junction diodes

This study investigates the temperature dependence of the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diodes. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO films were deposited on p-GaN using a radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering system followed by annealing at 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C in nitrogen ambient for 60 s, respectively. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN diode at a substrate temperature of 25 °C had the lowest leakage current in reverse bias. However, the leakage current of the diodes increased with an increase in annealing temperatures. The temperature sensitivity coefficients of the I-V characterizations were obtained at different substrate temperatures (25, 50, 75 100, and 125 °C) providing extracted values of 26.4, 27.2, 17.9, and 0.0 mV/°C in forward bias and 168.8, 143.4, 84.6, and 6.4 mV/°C in reverse bias, respectively. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diode fabricated with Mg_xZn_1−xO annealed at 800 °C demonstrated the lowest temperature dependence. Based on these findings, the n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diode is feasible for GaN-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs).     

Charge trapping and interface characteristics in normally-off Al2O3/GaN-MOSFETs

Normally-off GaN-MOSFETs with Al₂O₃ gate dielectric have been fabricated and characterized. The Al₂O₃ layer is deposited by ALD and annealed under various temperatures. The saturation drain current of 330 mA/mm and the maximum transconductance of 32 mS/mm in the saturation region are not significantly modified after annealing. The subthreshold slope and the low-field mobility value are improved from 642 to 347 mV/dec and from 50 to 55 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively. The I_D-V_G curve shows hysteresis due to oxide trapped charge in the Al₂O₃ before annealing. The amount of hysteresis reduces with the increase of annealing temperature up to 750 °C. The Al₂O₃ layer starts to crystallize at a temperature of 850 °C and its insulating property deteriorates.     

Preparation and characterization of Fe-doped Ni0.9Co0.8Mn1.3−xFexO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.7) negative temperature coefficient ceramic materials

Based on spinel-type semiconducting electroceramics, negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor materials, Ni_0.9Co_0.8Mn_1.3−xFe_xO₄ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.7), with different compositions were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The optimal pH value and the influence of Fe³⁺ doping during the synthesis processing were discussed. As-prepared Ni_0.9Co_0.8Mn_1.3−xFe_xO₄ materials were characterized by DT/TGA, XRD, FTIR, SEM, electrical measurement and impendance analysis. It was found that, as the Fe doping content in the Ni_0.9Co_0.8Mn_1.3−xFe_xO₄ samples increased, both the grain size and the density decreased. The as-sintered Ni_0.9Co_0.8Mn_1.3−xFe_xO₄ samples presented a single-phase cubic spinel structure. The impendance diagram indicated that the grain boundary resistance was dominant in the overall impendance of Ni_0.9Co_0.8Mn_1.3−xFe_xO₄ NTC ceramic materials. The value of ρ₂₅, B_25/50, slope and activation energy for the samples Ni_0.9Co_0.8Mn_1.3−xFe_xO₄ sintered at 1200 °C were in the range of 453.1-2411 Ω cm, 3103-3355 K, 3.27325-3.43149 and 0.28207-0.29325 eV, respectively. This suggests that the electrical properties can be adjusted to desired values by controlling the Fe³⁺ ion doping content.     

Electron transport in two dimensional electron gas formed at the heterojunction of AlxGa(1−x)N/GaN at microwave frequencies

Transport properties of the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at the interface of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure ranging from 20 K to 300 K has been investigated theoretically considering the various scattering mechanisms like the acoustic, the piezo, the surface roughness, the alloy, the polar optical phonon and the dislocation scattering. The dc mobility is found to remain constant up to 150 K and then it decrease sharply with further increase in temperature. The ac mobility is also found to decrease with increase in the temperature. The real part of ac mobility, i.e. μ_r decreases with the increase in the frequency very fast initially and then gradually attains a steady value. The imaginary part of the ac mobility μ_im initially increases with the increase in the frequency and then decreases after reaching the maximum value. The value of the ac mobility reduces quite reasonably as the 2D carrier concentration increases at lower range of the frequency. At the carrier concentration of 5 × 10¹⁷ m⁻², the ac mobility remains constant through a wide range of frequencies. With the increase in the dislocation densities, the values of the ac mobility are found to decrease at the lower range of frequencies. The thermo electric power is positive at the 2D carrier concentration of 5 × 10¹⁶ m⁻², the value of which increases with the increase in the temperature and gradually attains a steady value. But the thermoelectric power at n_2D of 10¹⁷ m⁻² is found to be negative in the value. The value of ZT is found to increase with the temperature and attains the maximum value of 0.007 at 150 K and the value of ZT then decreases with increase in the temperature.