Effect of a silicon nitride buffer layer on the electrical properties of tantalum pentoxide films

Ta 2O 5 films with a buffer layer of silicon nitride of various thicknesses were deposited on Si substrate by reactive sputtering and submitted to annealing at 700 °C in nitrogen atmosphere. The microstructure and the electrical properties of thin films were studied. It was found that with a buffer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microelectronic engineering 2010-04, Vol.87 (4), p.597-600
Main Authors: Wang, B.Y., Wang, Hao, Ye, C., Wang, Y., Ye, Y., Wang, W.F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annealing
Applied sciences
Buffer layer
Buffer layers
Cold working, work hardening
annealing, quenching, tempering, recovery, and recrystallization
textures
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Conduction mechanisms
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Density
Deposition
Deposition by sputtering
Dielectric constant
Dielectric properties of solids and liquids
Dielectrics, piezoelectrics, and ferroelectrics and their properties
Electrical properties
Exact sciences and technology
Heat treatment
Leakage current
Materials science
Metals. Metallurgy
Methods of deposition of films and coatings
film growth and epitaxy
Permittivity (dielectric function)
Physics
Production techniques
Reactive sputtering
Silicon nitride
Tantalum oxides
Treatment of materials and its effects on microstructure and properties
Voltage
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Description
Summary:Ta 2O 5 films with a buffer layer of silicon nitride of various thicknesses were deposited on Si substrate by reactive sputtering and submitted to annealing at 700 °C in nitrogen atmosphere. The microstructure and the electrical properties of thin films were studied. It was found that with a buffer layer of silicon nitride the electrical properties of Si x N y /Ta 2O 5 film can be improved than Ta 2O 5 film. When the thickness of the buffer layer was 3 nm, the Si x N y /Ta 2O 5 film has the highest dielectric constant of 27.4 and the lowest leakage current density of 4.61 × 10 −5 A/cm 2 (at −1 V). For the Si x N y (3 nm)/Ta 2O 5 film, the conduction mechanism of leakage current was also analyzed and showed four types of conduction mechanisms at different applied voltages.
ISSN:0167-9317
1873-5568
DOI:10.1016/j.mee.2009.08.020