Scandium oxide deposited by high-pressure sputtering for memory devices: Physical and interfacial properties

Scandium oxide (ScO(x)) thin layers are deposited by high-pressure sputtering (HPS) for physical and electrical characterization. Different substrates are used for comparison of several ScO(x)/Si interfaces. These substrates are chemical silicon oxide (SiO(x)), H-terminated silicon surface and silic...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Lucía Mulas, María Luisa, Prado Millán, Álvaro Del, San Andrés Serrano, Enrique, Feijoo, P.C., Toledano-Luque, M.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/44401
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44401
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:537
Electron-Cyclotron-Resonance
High-K
Hafnium Oxide
Thin-Films
Dielectrics
Absorption
TiO2.
Electricidad
Electrónica (Física)
2202.03 Electricidad
Descripción
Sumario:Scandium oxide (ScO(x)) thin layers are deposited by high-pressure sputtering (HPS) for physical and electrical characterization. Different substrates are used for comparison of several ScO(x)/Si interfaces. These substrates are chemical silicon oxide (SiO(x)), H-terminated silicon surface and silicon nitride (SiN(x)), obtained by either electron-cyclotron-resonance chemical vapor deposition or plasma enhanced nitridation of the Si surface. Transmission electron microscopy images show that a 1.7 nm thick SiO(x) layer grows when ScO(x) is deposited on H-terminated silicon surface. We demonstrate that interfacial SiN(x) has some advantages over SiO(x) used in this work: its permittivity is higher and it presents better interface quality. It also avoids Si oxidation. An improvement of one order of magnitude in the minimum of interface trap density is found for SiN(x) with respect to the SiO(x), reaching values below 2 x 10(11) cm(-2) eV(-1). HPS deposited ScO(x) films are polycrystalline with no preferential growth direction for the used deposition conditions and their properties do not depend on the substrate. This material could be a candidate for high-k material in flash memory applications.