Microwave Tunable Properties of Ni-Doped (Ba0.5Sr0.5)TiO3 Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

(Ba_0.5Sr_0.5)TiO₃ (BST) thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and investigated as a function of Ni dopant concentration in low and high frequency regions. In low frequency region (<10 MHz), the Ni-dopant concentration in BST films has a strong influence on the material properties including dielectric and tunable properties. Ni-doped (≤3 mol%) BST films showed denser, smoother morphologies and smaller grain sizes than those with 6 and 12 mol% Ni. Dielectric constant and loss of 3 mol% Ni-doped BST films were about 980 and 0.3%, respectively. In addition, tunability and figure of merit of 3 mol% doped BST films showed maximum values of approximately 39% and 108, respectively. In high frequency region (>1 GHz), the frequency tunability range at center frequency of undoped BST and 3 mol% Ni-doped BST coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators showed 102 and 152 MHz, respectively at 30 V dc bias. The Ni-doped BST thin films are possible in applications of microwave tunable capacitors.     

Frequency and Voltage Dependent Dielectric Properties of Ni-doped Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 Thin Films

Highly (100) preferred undoped and 1–5% Ni-doped Ba_1–xSr_xTiO₃ (BST) thin films were deposited onto MgO (100) single crystal substrate at 750°C using pulsed laser deposition. BST thin film-based interdigital capacitors (IDC) were prepared by standard photolithography process. The microwave properties of BST films were measured at 10 GHz. Ni-doped BST films showed better dielectric properties by exhibiting improved dielectric Q while retaining an appropriate capacitance tuning compared to undoped BST films. 1% Ni-doped BST film showed the maximum figure of merit of 2896.1. It is suggested that 1 mol% Ni doped BST film is an effective candidate for high performance tunable device applications.     

Magnetron sputter-deposited multilayer (BaxSr1x)Ti1+yO3+z thin films for passive and active devices

Abstract

High permittivity (Ba_xSr_1?x)Ti_1+yO_3+z(BST) thin films are being investigated for integration into charge storage dielectrics and electric-field tunable elements for high frequency devices. For the latter application, it is desirable to have BST capacitors with high tunability and low losses. Therefore, we investigated the use of multilayer BST thin films consisting of very low dielectric loss BST/electrode interfacial layers ((Ba+Sr)/Ti = 0.73) sandwiching a high tunability, high permittivity primary BST layer ((Ba+Sr)/Ti = 0.9). BST capacitors with multiple layers of controlled composition can be effectively produced insitu by magnetron sputter deposition, using a single stoichiometric target and controlling the layer composition by changing the total process gas (Ar+O<₂) pressure. The layered BST film capacitors exhibit simultaneous low loss (tan Δ = 0.005), high tunability (76%), high charge storage energy density (34 J/cm³), low leakage, and high dielectric breakdown (>2.8 MV/cm).     

A comparison of mocld with PLD BaxSr1−xTiO3 thin films on LaAIO3 for tunable microwave applications

Abstract

Historically, tunable dielectric devices using thin crystalline Ba_xSr_1-x TiO₃ (BST) films deposited on lattice-matched substrates, such as LaAlO₃, have generally been grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Highly oriented BST films can be grown by PLD but large projects are hampered by constraints of deposition area, deposition time and expense. The Metal-Organic Chemical Liquid Deposition (MOCLD) process allows for larger areas, faster turnover and lower cost. Several BST films deposited on LaAlO₃ by MOCLD have been tested in 16 GHz coupled microstrip phase shifters. They can be compared with many PLD BST films tested in the same circuit design. The MOCLD phase shifter performance of 293° phase shift with 53 V/μm dc bias and a figure of merit of 47°/dB is comparable to the most highly oriented PLD BST films. The PLD BST films used here have measured XRD full-width-at-half-maxima (FWHM) as low as 0.047°. The best FWHM of these MOCLD BST films has been measured to be 0.058°.     

Low dielectric dissipation and enhanced tunability of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thin films by the modified composition and multilayer structure

Ba_0.6Sr_0.4Ti_1+yO₃ (BST, y?=?0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3) thin films were fabricated on Pt-coated silicon substrates by modified sol-gel techniques. It was found that the tunability of BST thin films and dissipation factor decreased with the increase of Ti content. The multilayer structure of Ba_0.6Sr_0.4Ti_1+yO₃(200 nm)/Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃(100 nm)/Ba_0.6Sr_0.4Ti_1+yO₃ (200 nm; y?=?0.1, 0.2, 0.25) was designed to enhance the tunability. Our results indicated that the modified composition and multilayer structure were beneficial to lowering the dielectric dissipation and enhancing the tunability simultaneously. The tunability of 26.7% and dielectric dissipation of 0.013 were achieved for modified BST thin films.     

Influence of Y and Mn alternately doped order on the microstructures and dielectric properties of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 films

ABSTRACT

The influences of Y and Mn alternately doped order on the microstructures and dielectric properties of the Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ (BST) films were reported in this paper. The Y and Mn alternately doped BST films were designed as YBST/MnBST/… and MnBST/YBST…multilayer films orderly expressed as (Y/Mn)_M and (Mn/Y)_M for short, and prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si wafers by an improved sol-gel method, where Y and Mn represent yttrium doped BST layer and manganese doped BST layer, and M is cycle unit, respectively. The microstructures of the alternately doped BST films were observed by SEM and the capacitance-voltage curves at 100 kHz or 1 MHz were measured by a HP4284A LCR meter and the dielectric properties in the range of 1GHz were measured by an E4991A impedance analyzer. Compared to Y or Mn doped multilayer BST film, (Y/Mn)_M and (Mn/Y)_M show higher dielectric tunability and lower dielectric loss with higher dielectric constant. Moreover, (Y/Mn)_M show better dielectric properties than (Mn/Y)_M because (Y/Mn)_M show granular microstructures independent of M, while the (Mn/Y)_M show granular microstructures when M is 2 and add to a surface layer of columnar microstructures on the granular microstructures when M is 4. The related mechanisms were obtained in terms of the XRD phase structures, the cross-sectional SEM microstructures and the AFM morphologies.     

Enhanced dielectric properties of low-temperature-sintered Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thick films

Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ thick films were fabricated at a lower temperature of 880°C by adding Li₂O as sintering aid. A novel pretreatment of cold isostatic pressing was introduced to enhance the quality of films. After cold isostatic pressing prior to annealing, the thick film had a more compact morphology and better dielectric properties. The permittivity and tunability were increased to 1,318 and 19.04% from 925 and 14.81% while the dielectric loss was still kept low (1 MHz, 16 kV/cm). The enhanced properties and low-temperature sintering made BST thick films a potential candidate for Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) and microwave tunable devices.     

CHARACTERISTIC OF (100)-TEXTURED (PbxSr1 −x)TiO3 THIN FILMS USED FOR DRAM AND TUNABLE DEVICE APPLICATION

ABSTRACT

The (Pb_xSr_1-x)TiO₃ (PST) thin films were deposited on LaNiO₃ (LNO(1 0 0))/ Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates electrode by RF-magnetron sputtering using three different Pb target composition ranging from 32.5%～37.5% and different process condition. Structural and dielectric properties of the PST thin films for tunable microwave and DRAM application were investigated. The PST thin films deposited at 400°C show higher dielectric constant than those post-annealed at 600°C because of better crystallization. The former also have lower leakage current around 10^?8 A/cm² up to applied field of 350 kv/cm, which is suitable for DRAM application. On the other hand, the post-annealed PST thin films have satisfactory tunability around 58% and figure of merit around 30, which are more suitable for microwave device application.     

CHARACTERIZATIONS OF W-DOPED (Ba0.5Sr0.5)TiO3 THIN FILMS USING LaNiO3 ELECTRODE

ABSTRACT

The (Ba_0.5Sr_0.5)TiO₃ thin films were deposited onto LaNiO₃ by RF-magnetron sputtering at 550°C. The influence of W content on microstructure and electrical properties of BST films were investigated. The surface and grain size become smoother and smaller as the W content increased. Besides, the dielectric constant, tunability, dissipation factor, and leakage current decreased when the W content increased. The 1% W is the optimal doping concentration. The resultant BST film, with proper dielectric constant and leakage current, has a tunability of 32%, a dissipation factor of 0.006, a FOM value of 53.3 under applied field of 450 kV/cm.     

Structure and dielectric properties of Ca-doped (Ba0.7Sr0.3) TiO3 thin films fabricated by sol–gel method

A wide range of Ca-doped (Ba_0.7Sr_0.3)TiO₃ (BST) thin films (from 0 to 20 mol%) have been prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si (100) substrates by sol–gel technique. The structural and dielectric properties of BST thin films were investigated as a function of Ca dopant concentration. The results showed that the microstructure and dielectric properties of the BST films were strongly dependent on the Ca contents. With the Ca dopant concentration increasing, the grain size, dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the BST thin films decreased. As the content of Ca dopant reaches 10 mol%, the dielectric constant, dielectric loss, tunability, the value of FOM and the leakage current density are 281, 0.0136, 16.7%, 12.3 and 5.5?×?10^?6 A/cm², respectively.     

Bottom electrode etching effect on the electrical properties of lead strontium titanate thin film

(Pb_0.4Sr_0.6)TiO₃ thin films were prepared by a modified sol-gel method on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates, where lower figure of merit of about 16% was observed in spite of higher tunability above 58%. The electrode surface was etched with different CF₄ and Ar gas ratios to modify the surface roughness. The electrical properties of PST thin films were investigated as a function of etching condition and film thickness. With changing CF₄/(Ar+CF₄) gas composition, the dielectric loss and the figure of merit were apparently affected which can be explained in terms of the surface roughness of Pt bottom electrode. When the Pt electrode surface was etched by using CF₄/(Ar+CF₄) = 20% gas mixture, the improvement above 25–27% in dielectric loss and figure of merit was observed, according to the decreased rms value of Pt surface of ∼30%, from 1.8 to 1.2 nm. The etching effect was found to be dominant for the dielectric loss and the thinner films.     

Dielectric properties and tunability of BST and BZT thick films for microwave applications

Abstract

Dielectric properties and tunability of Ba_0.60Sr_0.40TiO₃ (BST) and BaZr_0.25Ti_0.75O₃ (BZT) thick films and bulk ceramics have been investigated as a function of temperature (90 K - 320 K) in the kHz region. Thick films show compared to bulk ceramics low permittivity and a very broad ferroelectric phase transition which leads to low temperature dependence of tunability. Tunability of 30% can be achieved with an external field of 2 kV/mm. Measurements in the microwave region adumbrate that the dielectric losses of BZT are about three times higher than that of BST thick films.     

Design and implementation of combline bandpass tunable filter using barium-strontium-titanate thin-film capacitors

The design, fabrication and microwave properties of tunable fifth-order combline bandpass filter using etched barium-strontium-titanate (BST) thin films on sapphire (0001) substrates were investigated. At 1 MHz and 1000 kV/cm electric field, the dielectric tunability, the remanent polarization (2P_r) and the coercive electric field (2E_C) of BST films were 45.96%, 2.26 µC/cm² and 81.83 kV/cm, respectively. The loss tangent was 1.36% at zero electric field. After the BST parallel plate capacitors characterization, BST capacitors were loaded at the end of parallel coupled resonators in the design of the tunable filter. With the application of 20 V DC voltage, the center frequency of the filter varied from 1.17 GHz to 1.34 GHz which corresponds to a relative shift of 13.5%.     

Microwave Characterization of BST Thin Films on LAO Interdigital Capacitor

The dielectric properties of (Ba_0.5Sr_0.5)TiO₃ (BST) thin films on LaAlO₃ (LAO) single crystals were studied over a wide frequency range. The samples with interdigital electrodes were prepared by microelectronic processing. The dielectric characterizations were carried out in the following steps: 1) the standard calibration of the instrument, 2) the removal of parasitic capacitance and the extraction of the capacitance of the interdigital capacitor (IDC) and 3) the extraction of the dielectric permittivity (?) of BST. It was found that ? of BST has a constant value (about 400) from 50 MHz to 2 GHz; at higher frequencies, ? gradually decreases. The BST interdigital capacitors exhibited good dielectric tunability.     

Planar and Parallel Dielectric Properties of Compositionally Graded (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Thin Films for Tunable Microwave Applications

Compositionally graded (Ba_x,Sr_{1 ? x})TiO₃ [BST] ferroelectric thin films have been received much attention in graded ferroelectric devices due to their unique properties, such as large pyroelectric coefficients, large polarization offset and small temperature coefficient of dielectric constant for microwave tunable devices. Compositionally graded BST thin films were deposited epitaxially on LaAlO₃ [LAO] and Nb-doped SrTiO₃ [STO:Nb] substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The planar and parallel dielectric properties of compositionally graded BST epitaxial thin films ware investigated in the frequency ranges of 100 Hz ～ 1 MHz as a function of the direction of the composition gradient with respect to the substrate at room temperature. The dielectric properties of the graded BST films depended strongly on the direction of the composition gradient with respect to the substrate. The graded ST → BT films grown on LAO and STO:Nb substrates exhibited a excellent dielectric properties than the graded BT → ST films.     

Growth and Dielectric Properties of Ferroelectric BaTiO3 Thin Films for Cantilever-Type Microsensors

ABSTRACT

Ferroelectric BaTiO₃ (BTO) thin films were deposited on Si, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The orientations of the films, polycrystalline and epitaxial phase, were controlled by the lattice mismatch between the BTO film and substrates. The structural properties and surface morphologies were examined using X-ray diffractometer and atomic force microscope. The dielectric properties of BTO films were investigated using metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) and interdigital co-planar capacitors. Conductive oxide layers, SrRuO₃(SRO) and La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ (LSCO), were grown on Si and SOI substrates as bottom electrodes. For MFM capacitors based on Au/BTO/SRO/Si and Au/BTO/LSCO/SOI layer structures, a little asymmetric capacitance-voltage curves were obtained with about 36% capacitance tunability. The remanent polarizations were about 21 μC/cm² and the coercive fields were about 71 kV/cm. For an interdigital capacitor based on Au/BTO/MgO layer structure, a little lossy capacitance-voltage curve was obtained with about 64% capacitance tunability.     

Synthesis and characterization of (BaxSr1−x)Ti1+yO3+z thin films and integration into microwave varactors and phase shifters

Abstract

Precise control of composition and microstructure is critical for the production of (Ba_xSr_1?x)Ti_1+yO_3+z (BST) dielectric thin films with the large dependence of permittivity on electric field, low losses, and high electrical breakdown fields that are required for successful integration of BST into tunable high frequency devices. Here we review recent results on composition-microstructure-electrical property relationships of polycrystalline BST films produced by magnetron sputter deposition, that are appropriate for microwave devices such as phase shifters. Films with controlled compositions were grown from a stoichiometric Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ target by control of the background processing gas pressure. It was determined that the (Ba+Sr)/Ti ratios of these BST films could be adjusted from 0.73 to 0.98 by changing the total (Ar+O₂) process pressure, while the O₂/Ar ratio did not strongly affect the metal ion composition. Film crystalline structure and dielectric properties as a function of the (Ba+Sr)/Ti ratio are discussed. Optimized BST layers yielded capacitors with low dielectric losses (0.0047), among the best reported for sputtered BST, while still maintaining tunabili-ties suitable for device applications. These BST films were used to produce distributed-cir-cuit phase-shifters, using a discrete periodic loading of a coplanar waveguide with integrated BST varactors on high-resistivity silicon. Phase shifters yielding 30 degrees of phase shift per dB of insertion loss were demonstrated at 20GHz.     

Science and Technology of High Dielectric Constant Thin Films and Materials Integration for Application to High Frequency Devices

Thin films of Ba_1?x Sr _x Ti_1+y O_3+z (BST), were fabricated using both by RF-magnetron sputtering and MOCVD to demonstrate application to high frequency devices. Precise control of composition and microstructure is critical for the production of (Ba _x Sr_1?x )Ti_1+y O_3+z (BST) dielectric thin films with the large dependence of permittivity on electric field, low losses, and high electrical breakdown fields that are required for successful integration of BST into tunable high frequency devices. Here we review results on composition-microstructure-electrical property relationships of polycrystalline BST films produced by magnetron sputter deposition that are appropriate for microwave devices such as phase shifters. BST films with a multilayer structure were also developed with different Ti-elemental ratio in each layer to minimize losses and leakage current. Interfacial contamination from C and H species was studied and implications on electrical properties are highlighted. Finally, York's group at the University of California-Santa Barbara successfully integrated our BST films onto phase shifter arrays. The results show potential of BST films in such applications. Results from initial work on the integration of Cu-electrodes with BST films are also presented.     

Low frequency and microwave performances of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 films on atomic layer deposited TiO2/high resistivity Si substrates

We report on high tunablity of Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ (BST) thin films realized through the use of atomic layer deposited TiO₂ films as a microwave buffer layer between BST and a high resistivity (HR) Si substrate. Coplanar waveguide (CPW) meander-line phase shifters using BST/TiO₂/HR-Si and BST/MgO structures exhibited a differential phase shift of 95^∘ and 24.4^∘, respectively, at 15 GHz under an electric field of 10 kV/cm. The figure of merit of the phase shifters at 15 GHz was 30.6^∘/dB for BST film grown on a TiO₂/HR-Si substrate and 12.2^∘/dB for BST film grown on a MgO single crystal substrate. These results constitute significant progress in integrating BST films with conventional silicon technology.