Title :
Investigation of zirconium oxide based high-k dielectrics for future memory applications
Author :
Grube, Matthias ; Martin, Dominik ; Weber, Walter M. ; Bierwagen, Oliver ; Geelhaar, Lutz ; Riechert, Henning
Author_Institution :
Namlab gGmbh, Dresden, Germany
Abstract :
Zirconium oxide based high-k dielectrics are studied for their possible future integration in Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitors. To better understand their electrical properties a combined study is presented considering both their macroscopic and mesoscopic electrical behavior. Molecular beam deposition is used to deposit thin films of ZrO2 as well as (ZrO2)x (Al2O3)1-x. Three different ZrO2 deposition methods are compared and evaluated by capacitance voltage (CV) and current voltage (IV) measurements. These deliver valuable information for benchmarking. To further understand the leakage current mechanism in nanometer thin zirconate based films conductive atomic force microscopy is performed. IV curves are taken with high spatial resolution enabling a detailed comparison between the leakage paths at crystallites and in the amorphous matrix. Through this method the evolution of the leakage path formation can be traced.
Keywords :
alumina; atomic force microscopy; high-k dielectric thin films; leakage currents; molecular beam epitaxial growth; zirconium compounds; (ZrO2)x(Al2O3)1-x; ZrO2; amorphous matrix; capacitance-voltage measurement; conductive atomic force microscopy; crystallites; current-voltage measurement; dynamic random access memory; electrical properties; high-k dielectrics; leakage current; leakage paths; macroscopic electrical behavior; mesoscopic electrical behavior; metal-insulator-metal capacitors; molecular beam deposition; spatial resolution; Atomic force microscopy; Capacitance-voltage characteristics; DRAM chips; Dielectric thin films; High-K gate dielectrics; MIM capacitors; Metal-insulator structures; Random access memory; Sputtering; Zirconium; Al2O3; CAFM; DRAM; High-k dielectric; MIM capacitor; ZrO2; leakage current; percolation path;
Conference_Titel :
Signals, Circuits and Systems (SCS), 2009 3rd International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Medenine
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4397-0
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4398-7
DOI :
10.1109/ICSCS.2009.5412231
