Ferroelectricity Enhancement in Hf<sub>0.5</sub>Zr<sub>0.5</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Based Tri-Layer Capacitors at Low-Temperature (350 °C) Annealing Process
V. Gaddam, Dipjyoti Das, Taeseung Jung, Sanghun Jeon
Abstract
The use of additional dielectric (DE) layers such as Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> , ZrO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> , HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> and Ta <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sub> with Hf <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.5</sub> Zr <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.5</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> (HZO) ferroelectric (FE) layer, namely bi-layer systems are drawing much attention in the recent past due to enhanced FE properties and their applications in memory technology. However, HZO based tri-layer capacitors with various DE layers are not yet reported. The present paper demonstrates the enhanced FE properties of MFM tri- layer capacitors were found at low temperature (350 °C) using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. Various tri-layer capacitors were fabricated by changing top dielectric layers such as TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> , ZrO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> and SiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> (thickness of 10Å) while keeping FE HZO (100Å) and bottom HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> DE layer (10Å) as constant and traditional P-E curves for all those tri-layer (DE/FE/DE) capacitors were observed. Among all the tri-layer capacitors, highest remanent polarization ( P <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">r</sub> ~ 16.6 μC/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ) was observed for the TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> top DE at 350 °C. The addition of top DE layers induced strain in the FE film due to their different thermal expansion coefficients and as a resulting in enhancing o-phase. The demonstration of excellent ferroelectric property by the as fabricated metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) capacitors with crystallization temperature as low as 350 °C can be of significant importance in sensor and display applications.