Electrical properties of conventional and microwave sintered lead free magnetoelectric composites

Abstract

Here we report comparison of dielectric properties of composition synthesized by microwave and conventional sintering. Microwave sintering requires less time and temperature to achieve the same quality of materials as sintered by conventional route. The material sample was prepared by conventional solid state method and sintered in conventional & microwave furnace. Sintered samples were then subjected to XRD analysis. X-ray diffraction revealed the formation of single phase material. The dielectric and ferroelectric properties were recorded for both the samples and properties were found to improve in microwave sintered samples. There is also a significant improvement in density by microwave processing.     

Thin films of novel ferroelectric composites

Abstract

Composites of BSTO combined with other non electrically active oxides have demonstrated adjustable electronic properteis which can be tailored for use in various electronic devices.^[1,2] These novel composites of barium strontium titanate (BSTO) and oxide III compounds have already exhibited promising results in their ceramic form.^[3] The additive oxides modify the dielectric constant, tunability (change in the dielectric constant with applied voltage), and dielectric loss of the material. One application has been for use in phased array antennas and insertion has been accomplished into several working antenna systems.^[4] To further accommodate the frequencies required by these phased array antennas, thin films of the composites have been fabricated. Preliminary studies have indicated that thin films of such composites exhibit similar behavior as their bulk ceramic counterparts.^[5] The purpose of this study is to investigate the properties of the BSTO/oxide III based compounds in thin film form.     

Full Integration of Highly Reliable Phase Change Memory With Advanced Ring Type Bottom Electrode Contact

ABSTRACT

We successfully developed 256Mb Phase Change Random Access Memory (PRAM) based on 0.10μ m-CMOS technologies using ring type contact. The writing current with uniform CD process variation of Bottom Electrode Contact (BEC) was achieved by improving CMP process and developing core dielectric material. Also, the ring type contact scheme provided strong reliability such as the cycling endurance and data retention time for 256 Mb high density PRAM.     

Electrical characteristics of high dielectric constant BCTZ thin films

Abstract

High dielectric constant Ba_0.96Ca_0.04Ti_0.84Zr_0.16O₃ (BCTZ) thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by spin on metal-organic decomposition (MOD) technique. Undoped and 0.4% Mg-doped BCTZ thin films were annealed in the temperature range from 600 to 900 °C for 1 hour in oxygen environment. The crystal structure of BCTZ thin films was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The electrical properties of BCTZ thin films were investigated by capacitance—voltage (C—V) characteristics. Also, the electrical properties of these films were compared in conjunction with 0.4% Mg doping effect of BCTZ thin films for possible high dielectric constant material applications.     

EFFECT OF ANNEALING ON THE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SrTiO3 THIN FILMS PRODUCED BY ION BEAM SPUTTERING

ABSTRACT

Thin film capacitors with SrTiO₃ (STO) as dielectric and Pt as electrode material have been prepared by ion beam sputtering. The as-deposited film is amorphous and exhibits a crystallization temperature around 321°C as proved by X-ray diffraction. The effect of post annealing on the crystalline quality of the films was systematically studied by x-ray diffraction and Atomic Force microscopy (AFM). The temperature and frequency dependent dielectric properties were measured from 30°C to 200°C and 0.01 Hz to 10⁵ Hz, respectively. The influence of the microstructure of SrTiO₃ thin films on their electrical properties was investigated through an extensive characterization. The electrical properties of SrTiO₃ films appear to be strongly depending on the annealing temperatures. The capacitance voltage (C-V) characteristics reveal an improvement of capacitance density with increasing the annealing temperature.     

Enhancement of ferroelectric phase and dielectric properties of P(VDF-HFP) by NiCl2⋅6H2O nucleating agent

Abstract

This work focuses on an improvement of dielectric properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) or P(VDF-HFP) via mixing with different nickel(II) chloride hexahydrate (NiCl₂?6H₂O) contents (0–2?wt%). The nanocomposite films have been prepared by a conventional solution technique. The results reveal that the surface roughness increases with increasing salt content. The NiCl₂?6H₂O salt has no significant effect on the crystallinity of films. Additional incorporation of NiCl₂?6H₂O in the polymer leads to the growing conductivity. However, the considerable enhancement in dielectric constant with the relatively low dielectric loss tangent (0.1–0.3) can be found because of the formation of β-phase nucleation of NiCl₂?6H₂O in the P(VDF-HFP) matrix. The maximum value of calculated β-phase fraction of the nanocomposite is achieved 86% for salt content 0.5?wt%. Moreover, the largest dielectric constant (29.2 at 10?Hz) of the film doped 2?wt% NiCl₂?6H₂O is about 7 times greater than that of the pure P(VDF-HFP). The findings in this research suggest that the NiCl₂?6H₂O/P(VDF-HFP) nanocomposite is a candidate dielectric material for the next generation of energy conversion components.     

ENHANCED TUNABILITY AND RELAXOR CHARACTERISTICS IN CALCIUM SUBSTITUTED BARIUM ZIRCONIUM TITANATE THIN FILMS

ABSTRACT

Thin films of BaZr_0.25Ti_0.75O₃ in which Ba^{2 +} is partially substituted by Ca^{2 +} are prepared by a sol-gel method. Phases and dielectric properties of the films are studied.The crystal structure of BaZr_0.25Ti_0.75O₃ is cubic and does not change with Ca substitution upto x = 0.25 in Ba_1-xCa_xZr_0.25Ti_0.75O₃. A change from a normal to relaxor behavior is observed for x = 0.20 as indicated by a change in the frequency of dielectric maxima with temperature and other parameters.The dielectric constant and transition temperatures are found to increase with increasing Ca substitution. A tunabilty of 71%, much higher than reported in literature for this material, is observed for x = 0.1 i.e for Ba_0.9Ca_0.1Zr_0.25Ti_0.75O₃.     

DIELECTRIC BEHAVIOUR OF A NANOGRAIN PMN POWDERS

ABSTRACT

Dielectric permittivity of 150 nm mean grain size Pb(Mn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ (PMN) nanopowder has been investigated by dielectric spectroscopy in the 20 Hz–1 MHz frequency range and 100 K–400 K temperature range. The broad and diffused dielectric dispersion has been observed, but the dispersion region and the maximum of the real part of dielectric permittivity is shifted to lower temperatures compare to PMN single crystal and ceramics. The mean relaxation time, obtained from fits of the frequency dependences of the dielectric permittivity with Cole-Cole formula, changes according to the Vogel-Fulcher law with the freezing temperature T ₀ = 88 K which is much lower than in bulk PMN materials.     

Challenges for plasma etch integration of ferroelectric capacitors in FeRAM's and DRAM's

Abstract

The plasma etch process requirements are different for etching 2μm ferroelectric capacitor structures in FeRAM's (SRAM) vs. the smaller capacitor sizes (0.2–0.5 μm) of DRAM's. Plasma etch integration of ferroelectric capacitors presents three major differences between FeRAM's and DRAM's. The first difference is in the ferroelectric capacitor structure. FeRAM's use planar capacitors with top side metal contacts to vias while DRAM's use vertical capacitor structures with bottom side contact to a poly post structure. The second major difference is in material selected and thickness of layers. FeRAM's use thicker electrodes of Pt or Ir and a thicker PZT or Y1 dielectric layer. FeRAM's use a thick bottom electrode (and a thin top electrode) consisting of Pt, Ru or Ir and a thin BST dielectric layer. The third major difference is the plasma etch process requirements for the two devices. FeRAM's require a clean etch process and no corrosion. Profile is not critical but should be maintained at greater than 60° for 2μm bottom post electrode. An HRe^? (Highly Density Reflected Electron) etch system is used to develop process trends for ferroelectric capacitor applications.     

Dielectric relaxation phenomenon of rare earth Nd3+ modified bismuth layer ferroelectric ceramics fabricated by plasma active sintering method

Abstract

The crystalline structure, dielectric relaxation and ferroelectric properties of the solid solution, Nd _x Bi_4-x Ti₃O₁₂ (NBIT) compound were measured. The Curie temperature of the NBIT ceramics was determined to be 490°C from dielectric measurements. The dielectric constant of the NBIT ceramics shows a small anisotropic property. Polarization switching was observed using a Sawyer-Tower circuit at 50 Hz. Remnant polarizations and coercive fields could not be confirmed since the hysteresis loops were not saturated. The large dielectric relaxation is observed in the frequency range between 100 kHz and 1 MHz.     

ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF LEAD FERROTANTALATE CERAMICS

ABSTRACT

Perovskite structures with high dielectric constants and magnetic properties play an important role in micro- and optoelectronics and have numerous practical applications. Relaxor type ferroelectric ceramics PbFe_1/2Ta_1/2O₃ with perovskite structure was subject of present studies. Pyrochlore free lead ferrotantalate ceramics were produced by solid state technology from oxides. Low- and infra-low frequency studies of dielectric properties of PbFe_1/2Ta_1/2O₃ ceramics have revealed considerable infra-low frequency dispersion at temperatures above the temperature of maximum dielectric permittivity. The observed dispersion described by lemniscates is due to a considerable Maxwell-Wagner relaxation.     

Fabrication and characterization of flexible piezoelectric composites with natural rubber matrix

Abstract

This work aims to fabricate and characterize flexible piezoelectric composites with natural rubber (NR) matrix. Different amounts of Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.65Ti_0.35O₃ (PMNT) powders were added in NR matrices. Porosity, tensile strength and percent elongation at break of composites tended to decrease with increasing PMNT content. The dielectric constant of the NR materials was found to be 3.5. It was raised up to 4.2, 5.0, 4.5, 4.8 and 5.1 when 60, 80, 100, 120 and 150 phr PMNT powders were added. However, dielectric loss of NR materials did not change with PMNT additions. Among this composite system, the NR/100PMNT composite showed the best piezoelectric properties, which its output voltage, piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) and piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g₃₃) values were equal to 1.61 V, 2.1?×?10^?4 pC/N and 5.4?×?10^?6 V?m/N, respectively. This composition composite is a promising material suitable for further improvement to be used as piezoelectric generators in energy harvesting applications.     

Piezoelectric and dielectric aging in pb(zr,ti)o3 thin films and bulk ceramics

Abstract

Piezoelectric and dielectric aging was studied in Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) thin films and bulk ceramics. It was found that piezoelectric aging in thin films obeys the logarithmic time dependence with the relative aging rate much higher than that of the dielectric constant, while comparable aging rates of piezoelectric and dielectric constants were found in PZT ceramics. The origin of piezoelectric aging in PZT films was related to depolarization of the films rather than to suppression of the domain wall motion as was generally accepted for PZT ceramics.     

Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of sol-gel and excimer-laser-deposited lead zirconate titanate and barium titanate films

Abstract

Switched remanent polarization was measured as a function of accumulated switching cycles for a variety of ferroelectric films using sinusoidally driven hysteresis loops. Switched remanent polarization and dielectric constant and loss were also obtained as a function of the cycling frequency. PZT films with niobium additives appeared to lose switched remanent polarization with accumulated cycles at a lesser rate than films without niobium. The switched remanent polarization was found to decrease with increasing frequency, which we attribute to the effect of grain size. Also, a decrease of dielectric constant with increasing frequency and an increase of dielectric constant with increased applied voltage are attributed to the effects of domain wall motion contributions to dielectric constant.     

Image production mechanism for scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy with super high resolution and its application to quantitative evaluation of linear and nonlinear dielectric properties of ferroelectric materials

Abstract

A theory for scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy (SNDM) and its application tothe quantitative evaluation of the linear and nonlinear dielectric constants of dielectric materials are described. First, a general theorem for the capacitance variation under an applied electric field is derived and a capacitance variation susceptibility S_nl , which is a very useful parameter for the quantitative measurement of nonlinear dielectric constants, is defined. This S_nl is independent of the tip radius, and therefore the sensitivity of the SNDM probe does not change, even if a tip with a smaller radius is selected to obtain a finer resolution. Using the theoretical results and the data taken by SNDM, the quantitative linear and nonlinear dielectric properties of several dielectric materials were successfully determined. From the calculation of a one-dimensional image of a 180 ° c-c domain boundary, it is demonstrated that the SNDM has an atomic scale resolution.     

DESIGN,FABRICATION AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF TEMPERATURE STABLE PERFORMANCE CONSISTENT TUNABLE DEVICES

ABSTRACT

The premier candidate active material for tunable microwave phase shifter devices is single composition, paraelectric BaSrTiO₃ (BST). However, there is concern that in practical applications the device performance will be compromised due to the temperature dependence of the BST based device capacitance. We report a device design which controls the magnitude and the sign of the temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) via a multilayer paraelectric BST/buffer layer/ferroelectric BST coplanar device structure. To realize this multilayer device structure we have designed, fabricated, and optimized a 10 mol% Al doped Ta₂O₅ barrier layer with low loss (tan δ = 0.004), moderate permittivity (?_r = 42.8), low TCC (?20 ppm/°C), and a low bias stability of capacitance (0.4%). The thin film integration of the barrier layer with the BST layers was optimized for structure, microstructure, interfacial/surface morphology, and dielectric properties as a function of Al doping concentration, annealing temperature, material growth and integration process parameters.     

Deposition and characterization of low-loss epitaxial non-linear dielectric thin films for microwave devices

Abstract

Oxide ferroelectric thin films for frequency-tunable microwave devices, in which the dielectric constant of the non-linear dielectric is varied by application of electric fields, have been deposited using PLD. We have fabricated single phase epitaxial Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ and KTaO₃ thin film capacitors for applications at 300K and 77K, respectively. Single phase KTaO₃ films were obtained only with excess potassium source in the target along with KTaO₃ perovskite phase. The films have been characterized for structure and morphology by X-ray diffraction and AFM. The dielectric properties were measured in the low frequency range from 100 kHz to 10 MHz, using interdigitated capacitors. Low loss tangents (0.002 at 300K) were observed for highly oriented Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ films. The importance of low losses for various devices is discussed and the dielectric constants, loss tangents and tunability of these films are reported in this paper.     

Origin of giant dielectric response in ferroelectric thin film multilayers

Abstract

A thermodynamic theory of dielectric response in ferroelectric thin film multilayers is developed. The solution of Lame equation for static dielectric susceptibility has shown that susceptibility diverges at the transition temperature of the thickness induced ferroelectric phase. This divergence is shown to be the origin of the giant dielectric response observed in some multilayers. The theory gives an excellent fit to the temperature dependence of the giant susceptibility observed recently in multilayers of PbTiO₃-Pb_1-xLa_xTiO₃ (x = 0.28).     

Structural and dielectric properties of BaTiO3SrTiO3-multilayers deposited by PLD

Abstract

Dielectric superlattices are characterized by the structural variability of the film periodicity additional to the stochiometry. They have interesting dielectric properties different from the solid solutions of the same overall composition.

In this paper the structural and dielectric properties of BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃-superlattices prepared by pulsed laser deposition on single crystalline substrates are characterized in comparison to a (Ba_0.5Sr_0.5)TiO₃ solid solution. The films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, SEM and dielectric measurements.

The BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃-superlattices have a different frequency and a weaker bias and temperature dependence of the dielectric properties than the solid solution. The mechanical stresses caused by the lattice mismatch between the different layers could be one reason for this behaviour.     

Ferroelectric switching and fatigue behavior for PZT/YBCO thin film heterostructures

Abstract

The dielectric and ferroelectric properties for Au/Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃/YBa₂Cu₃O_7?x heterostructures at low temperatures are reported. The fatigue behavior and the ferroelectric switching effect for the structures are also investigated. The PZT/YBCO thin film heterostructures were deposited on MgO(100) substrates by laser ablation. The ferroelectric and dielectric properties and optical response of the oriented PZT films with different thicknesses have been studied over the temperature range from 20 K to 300 K. The dielectric loss of the structure was found to decrease by an order of magnitude when the YBCO bottom electrode became superconducting. A very low fatigue rate of the structure has also been obtained below T _c of YBCO layer.