Bradley M. Melnick

Investigation of hydrogen induced changes in SrBi2Ta2O9 ferroelectric films

The effect of hydrogen on strontium bismuth tantalate (SrBi2Ta2O9; SBT) ferroelectric capacitors is investigated. Using several analytical techniques such as x-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, Auger electron, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, the structural and compositional changes in the ferroelectric film are studied as a function of annealing gas and temperature. The mechanism for hydrogen induced damage to the capacitor is identified. Measurements show that the hydrogen induces both structural and compositional changes in the ferroelectric film. Hydrogen reacts with the bismuth oxide to form bismuth and the reduced bismuth diffuses out of the SBT film causing the electrodes to peel.

Effects of precursors and substrate materials on microstructure, dielectric properties, and step coverage of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

(Ba, Sr)TiO3 (BST) thin films have been grown on planar Ir/Si and Pt/Si substrates and on three-dimensional (3D) Ir electrodes by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using two kinds of β-diketonate-based BST precursors. Film growth was studied as a function of film thickness, composition, and substrate temperature. Growth rate was monitored by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. The BST films were characterized ex situ by a variety of techniques including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and impedance analyzer. The results reveal that the two sets of BST precursors, albeit slightly different, show quite different reactivities that strongly affect the step coverage on the 3D structure. However, different reactivities have no apparent effect on the microstructure, surface morphology, and dielectric properties of the stoichiometric BST films. These properties strongly depend on the film c...

Barium Strontium Titanate Capacitors for Embedded Dram

Long recognized as the best potential solution to the continued scaling of the onetransistor/one-capacitor standalone dynamic random access memory (DRAM) beyond a gigabit, barium strontium titanate (BST) and other high permittivity dielectrics are fast becoming enablers to embedding large amounts of memory into a high performance logic process. System requirements such as granularity, bandwidth, fill frequency, and power pose major challenges to the use of high density standalone DRAM, leading to the current push for embedded solutions where very wide buses are possible. As a result, projected embedded memory sizes are rapidly approaching that of the standalone products, and with the high wafer cost of the combined logic plus memory process, bit cell scaling is critical. The BST memory cell, with its low thermal budget processing, very high charge storage density, and high conductivity metal electrodes has the potential to be efficiently embedded with traditional logic flows if the materials and integration challenges of the required three dimensional (3D) bit cell capacitors can be solved. BST materials properties such as dielectric relaxation, interface capacitance, and resistance degradation and their impact on capacitor scaling will be reviewed along with the electrode materials issues associated with certain 3D capacitor designs. The scaling limits of BST bit cells in the deep sub-micron regime will be discussed.

Stoichiometric Effects of Sputtered Barium Strontium Titanate Films

Barium Strontium Titanate films have been deposited by rf magnetron sputtering and have been studied with respect to Ba/Sr ratio. Physical and electrical characterization has been done as a function of temperature, thickness, and composition, and results show that dielectric constant increases with increasing temperature, thickness (up to ∼80 nm), and Ba/Sr ratio for the compositions studied. The lattice parameters for the sputtered films are larger than those expected for powder samples and also increase with increasing Ba/Sr ratio.

Surface Roughness and Growth Texture of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Thin Films Formed by MOCVD

Describes results of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films grown on Ir/SiO2/Si substrates with MOCVD as well as the correlation between these results and dielectric properties.