Low temperature processed lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film as dielectric for capacitor applications

Thin PZT film is being developed for use in microelectronics, electromechanical and optoelectronic applications. Thin Pb(ZrTi)O₃ film capacitor devices were fabricated using RF sputtering techniques. The multiple-layer configuration of Si/SiO₂/Ti/Pt was used as the substrate and bottom electrode. The top electrode was Pt. At 1 kHz, the dissipation factor (tangent loss) of PZT film capacitors processed at 100°C was 8.35%. However the dissipation factor of PZT film capacitor processed at 60°C was only 0.35%. The dielectric constant was calculated to be 32 at 1 kHz. After annealing at 400°C, the dielectric constant increased about 33% to 43. The dielectric constant increased to 165 after annealing at 500°C and to 1143 after annealing at 600°C. The PZT film capacitors produced to-date had little dependence on frequency from 20 Hz to 100 kHz. The frequency dependence increased with increasing annealing temperature from 400°C to 600°C. Lowering the processing temperature from 100°C to 60°C resulted in a tremendous decrease in the dissipation factor from 8.3% to 0.35%