Oxide Dielectric Films Research Articles

Structural control in atomic layer deposited hafnium oxide thin films through vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)-Based ultra-rapid heating

HfO2 thin films were formed by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using TDMAHf precursor as a Hf source and oxygen plasma as an oxygen source. Rapid annealing assisted by a 980 nm wavelength vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) was employed to assess the dielectric properties of the HfO2 thin films, compared to furnace annealing. Operational power and time of VCSEL was precisely controlled by computational simulation. In addition to decreased thickness of the interfacial layer, rapid annealing enabled reduced leakage current density as annealing temperature increased due to suppression of crystallization, resulting from the extremely short time duration of 0.98 s–8.14 s. Cross-sectional microstructures exhibited incomplete grain boundary formation of the rapidly annealed HfO2 thin film. VCSEL-based rapid annealing was verified to be an efficient process to enhance the dielectric characteristics of high-k dielectric oxide films.

Ultrahigh Energy Storage Performance of BiFeO3-BaTiO3 Flexible Film Capacitor with High-Temperature Stability via Defect Design.

Nanoengineering polar oxide films have attracted great attention in energy storage due to their high energy density. However, most of them are deposited on thick and rigid substrates, which is not conducive to the integration of capacitors and applications in flexible electronics. Here, an alternative strategy using van der Waals epitaxial oxide dielectrics on ultra-thin flexible mica substrates is developed and increased the disorder within the system through high laser flux. The introduction of defects can efficiently weaken or destroy the long-range ferroelectric ordering, ultimately leading to the emergence of a large numbers of weak-coupling regions. Such polarization configuration ensures fast polarization response and significantly improves energy storage characteristics. A flexible BiFeO3-BaTiO3 (BF-BT) capacitor exhibits a total energy density of 43.5 J cm-3 and an efficiency of 66.7% and maintains good energy storage performance over a wide temperature range (20-200 °C) and under large bending deformation (bending radii ≈ 2mm). This study provides a feasible approach to improve the energy storage characteristics of dielectric oxide films and paves the way for their practical application in high-energy density capacitors.

Efficient gradient heating-up approach for rapid growth of high-quality amorphous ZrO2 dielectric films

High-k oxide dielectric films are indispensable for low-power-consumption oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) applied in advanced and portable electronics. However, high-quality oxide dielectric films prepared by solution process typically require sophisticated processes and long thermal annealing time, severely limiting both the throughput manufacturing and cost-effectiveness. In this study, the influence of different heating-up methods on the surface morphology and dielectric properties was systematically investigated. Gradient heating-up method could not only substantially improve the surface morphology and quality of high-k ZrO2 films but also efficiently shorten the annealing time. The gradient heating-up process was further designed on the basis of thermal behavior of the xerogel-like precursor, which successfully realize the preparation of high-quality ZrO2 films with an annealing time of 5 min (i.e. the efficiency of thermal treatment increased by about 89%). The ZrO2 film presented excellent dielectric properties, including a low leakage current density of ∼10−8 A cm−2 (at 2 MV cm−1 ), a large areal capacitance of 169 nF cm−2 and a high dielectric constant of 20.41 (1 MHz). Furthermore, InSnZnO TFT based on the ZrO2 gate dielectrics shows an acceptable device performances, such as a high carrier mobility of 2.82 cm2 V−1 s, a high on/off current ratio of ∼105 and a low subthreshold swing of 0.19 V decade −1 at a low operation voltage of 5 V. This work provide a highly promising approach to fabricate high-quality solution-processed high-k oxide dielectric films employed for large-scale and low-power-consumption electronics.

Functionalized EGaIn Electrodes with Tunable Reduced‐Graphene‐Oxide Assembled EGaIn Core–Shell Particles for Soft and Deformable Electrochemical Biosensors

AbstractGallium‐based liquid metal, eutectic gallium–indium alloy (EGaIn), is becoming a leading innovation in soft electronic devices due to its exceptional electronic conductivity and deformability. However, the formation of insulating oxide films on EGaIn surfaces poses a significant impediment to translating electrochemical reactions, thereby limiting its use as an electrochemical biosensor. Here, functionalized EGaIn electrodes with reduced‐graphene‐oxide assembled EGaIn core–shell particles (REGs) for soft and deformable electrochemical biosensors are presented. Exploiting EGaIn's capability as a reducing agent, REGs can undergo further modification with metal nanoparticles through additional galvanic replacement reactions. The REGs and metal‐coated REGs (M‐REGs) provide strong interfacial adhesion with the EGaIn current collector, exhibiting no exfoliation during and after the mechanical deformation. Moreover, RIDE and metal‐decorated RIDE (M‐RIDE) show excellent electrochemical sensing performances by taking advantage of the facile surface tunability of REGs, allowing simultaneous detection of ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid, and enzymatic detection of glucose. The developed RIDE/M‐RIDE paves the way for utilizing EGaIn in the development of soft and deformable electrochemical biosensors.

Impact of varying wet oxidation temperature in the presence of nitrogen flow on hafnium tantalum oxide films

Wet oxidation has been undergone at dissimilar temperatures from 400 until 1000 °C for deposition of high dielectric constant ternary hafnium tantalum oxide films on silicon (Si) substrates. Amorphous to polycrystalline phase transformation happened as a function of temperature. An increase in the oxygen vacancy formation was observed and the calculated k values ranged from 16.5 to 31.1. However, interfacial layer formation happened exaggeratedly at 1000 °C, which could be associated with the reduction in nitrogen accumulation at the interface between the oxide and Si at this temperature, and thus resulting in the lowest total interface trap density (Dtotal). Conductance-voltage measurement showed the location of interface states that were closer to conduction band of the oxide. The findings were in coordination with structural, morphological, and optical characteristics of the samples. A simple mechanism illustrating formation of the ternary film was also proposed.

P-channel NiO thin film transistors grown with high k ZrO2 gate oxide for low voltage operation

A low voltage operative and optically transparent p- type Nickel oxide thin film transistor (TFT) was realized. We have systematically investigated the structural and transport properties of both NiO and ZrO2 thin films grown by dc magnetron sputtering. It is shown that a 30 nm thickness of ZrO2 thin film act as gate oxide dielectric for the TFTs. The Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) study revealed a high dielectric constant (k) of 28 and the leakage current density significantly persisted at ∼1 nA cm−2 at an applied field of 7 MV cm−1. Further, active layer of p-NiO film was deposited on ZrO2 gate oxide dielectric film and were processed at different post annealing temperatures. The TFTs electrical characteristics with the staggered bottom gate configuration of ITO/ZrO2/NiO/Ag exhibits a stable 104 of Ion/Ioff ratio with a field effect mobility of 15.8 cm2V−1s−1 and recorded sub-threshold swing slope of 512 mV/dec. Moreover, the trap density of 1.82 × 1012 cm−3 was estimated from the Levinson’s plot. Overall, the post annealing temperature seems to improve the transport characteristics of the fabricated TFTs.

P‐7.10: Facile low‐temperature solution‐processed ZrO2 films as high‐k dielectrics for flexible low ‐ power thin‐film transistors

Wearable electronics represented by flexible displays and flexible sensors have been attracting enormous attention due to portability, miniaturization and low power consumption. Due to the dramatic increase in the number of display and sensing units, the power consumption and accuracy of the devices are facing great challenges. Active‐matrix thin‐film transistor (TFT) backplanes can effectively reduce signal crosstalk and power consumption of wearable electronics. For TFT devices, the gate insulation layer is one of key factors affecting the device performance such as device mobility, operating voltage, and bias stability, etc. High quality of solution‐processed oxide dielectric films usually are obtained at a high temperature (>400 °C), being a challenge for compatibility with flexible plastic substrates. In this work, low‐temperature annealing processes (the electric oven (EO) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) processing) of high‐k zirconia dielectric films was investigated. Compared to the thermal annealing process, the EO or DUV processing‐annealing process could obtain an approximate dielectric properties with that of thermal annealing process. The EO and DUV processing could effectively promoted the MO framework and the elimination of oxygen defects in the spin‐coating films. DUV processing ZrO2 film annealed at 150 °C exhibited an excellent properties including a large capacitance of 220 nF/cm2 and low leakage current of ~10‐7 A/cm2. These data suggest that combining low‐temperature annealing with EO and DUV irradiation holds great promise for the rapid, low‐temperature production of high‐quality and flexible oxide electronic devices.

20.1: Invited Paper: Research on Oxide Thin Film Transistors for Wearable Sensors

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, sensors as an important foundation in the era of smart interconnection, have a significant potential in the emerging fields of smart home, wearable devices, and smart mobile terminals. Flexible sensor has been attracting a great attention due to its portability, miniaturization and long endurance. The high consumption and signal crosstalk are urgent issues for the high‐integration sensing array. These issues could be effectively addressed by active‐matrix thin film transistors (TFT) backplane. In this work, the feasibility of oxide TFT for flexible sensor was discussed, in which high‐quality oxi de semiconductor films, oxide dielectric films, and printing Ag electrodes and wires were investigated, respectively. The device performance of flexible Si‐doped SnO2 TFT was optimized by modulating oxygen partial pressure, which could achieve a relative good electrical properties at room temperature. To implement low‐consumption application, high quality of high‐k ZrO2 dielectric film was investigated by solution‐processed method. The dielectric properties of ZrO2 film with the mircowave‐as sisted or deep ultraviolet irradiation‐assisted annealing process was similar to that of the thermal ann ealing process. The morphology and conductivity of Ag electrodes and wires printed by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printing technology were studied. High conductivity of Ag electrodes and wires was achieved at a low curing temperature. These results imply that oxide TFT has a significant potential in the application of flexible sensor array.

Performance enhancement of solution-processed amorphous WZTO TFT with HAO gate dielectric via power ultrasound technology

In this paper, power ultrasound technology (PUT) is employed to prepare the high-k hafnium-aluminum oxide (HAO) dielectric and thin film transistor (TFT). The continuous propagation of high-intensity ultrasonic waves in the metal oxide precursor solution can improve the dissolution efficiency of the solute and speed up the formation of the HAO precursor solution. The prepared HAO films have a smooth surface roughness of 0.36 nm and high optical transmittance of 85 %. Moreover, HAO films obtain excellent electrical properties with a relative permittivity of 15.9 and a leakage current density of 9.1 × 10−8 A/cm2 at 2 MV/cm as well. Finally, we successfully fabricate TFT with HAO dielectric using PUT, these TFTs exhibit switch characteristics with field effect mobility of 18.7 cm2v−1s−1, threshold voltage (Vth) of −0.47 V, and Vth shift of 0.35 V under positive gate bias stress. The results show that the PUT is a promising method that can remarkably decrease the preparation time of the precursor solution and improve the TFT performance.

Van der Waals Epitaxy Enables Rollable Dielectric Superlattice for Record High Overall Energy Density

AbstractNanoengineered polar oxide films have attracted much attention for electric energy storage thanks to their high energy density, though they are all deposited on thick and rigid substrates, resulting in inferior overall energy density and poor manufacturability. Herein, an alternative strategy is developed for oxide dielectrics utilizing van der Waals epitaxy on ultrathin and flexible mica substrate, with a dielectric superlattice of Pb0.92La0.08(Zr0.95Ti0.05)O3‐SrTiO3 carefully engineered to break its long‐range antiferroelectric polar order. An ultrathin flexible capacitor is obtained as a result, with a record high overall energy density of 12.19 J cm−3 and an efficiency of 90.98%, and there is much room for further improvement since mica substrate can approach 2D limit. The superlattice can be easily rolled for large‐scale manufacturing, and the energy storage performances are well maintained under large bending deformation as well as extended bending cycling. The study thus establishes a viable route for dielectric oxide films, paving way for their practical applications in high‐energy density capacitors.

Optimizing Photonic Annealing Technique for High-k Dielectric of Full-Solution-Processed Oxide Thin Film Transistor

In this article, it is demonstrated that the photonic annealing process of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation or rapid thermal annealing (RTA)-assisted LA technique can effectively enhance the bias and illumination stability of full-solution-processed oxide thin film transistor (TFT). Although both post-annealing treatments have comparable effects, UV irradiation has relatively less heat loss and time consumption of only 3 min, compared to the RTA process that heats at a temperature of 400 °C and holds 10 min. Depending on the laser annealing (LA)/UV technique, the amorphous hafnium-aluminum oxide (HAO) dielectric thin film exhibits a smooth surface with an rms value of 0.293 nm, a high optical bandgap of 6.19 eV, and good dielectric performance with high dielectric constants of 12.9, low leakage current densities, and high breakdown field of about 4 MV/cm. Moreover, full-solution-processed indium-tin-oxide (ITO)–HAO–tungsten-zinc-tin-oxide (WZTO) TFT shows excellent overall properties with the mobility ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) of 10.65 cm <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{{2}}\cdot \text{V}^{-{1}}\cdot \text{s}^{-{1}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , subthreshold swing (SS) of 198 mV/dec. And the device has good bias and illumination stability, especially the threshold voltage ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{T}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) shifts are all less than 3 V under positive bias illumination stress (PBIS) and negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) testing for 10000 s. These indicate the potential for the photonic annealing process of the UV-assisted LA technique on improving the stability of the full-solution-processed TFTs, which is attributed to high-throughput fabrication for large-area, transparent, and flexible electronics.

(Digital Presentation) Electrodeposition and Characterization of a Selective Coating on Aluminum for Scale-up in Thermo-Solar Applications

Flat-plate solar collector systems are devices used to convert solar energy to thermal energy. These devices require a selective coating that absorbs all sunlight but does not emit energy in the near IR; hence, a multilayer system of metal/IR-reflector/metal oxide is often used. Many substrates are used, including metals such as copper, stainless steel, and aluminum. Aluminum is an interesting substrate for its lower cost and good optical properties. Electrodeposited materials have gained importance in the industry for the easy handling and good results in scale-up. However, in general it is difficult to electrodeposit onto aluminum due to the ever-present thin insulating oxide film. In this work, we propose an adherent interlayer film based on copper, which is electrodeposited onto aluminum, and serves as a basis for the subsequent electrodeposition of a selective coating consisting of bright nickel and the absorber film of electrodeposited black nickel. Solar collectors based on aluminum substrates and this electrodeposited selective coating are specifically useful for thermo-solar applications at low to medium temperature.Electrochemistry studies including cyclic voltammetry, rotating disk cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic curves are carried out for all the different layers. The properties of the coatings are subsequently characterized by reflectance spectra using UV-Vis, NIR and IR spectrophotometers equipped with integrating spheres. The solar absorptance is calculated by weighting the reflectance spectrum against the solar radiation spectrum ASTM G173-03. The thermal emittance is calculated weighting the reflectance spectra against the black body radiation function at 100 °C. The morphology and homogeneity of the film are evaluated with scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry is used to determine the film composition. The crystalline structure of the films is studied by X-ray diffraction and Raman measurements. The second and third layer, bright nickel, and black nickel, respectively, are electrodeposited on top of the Cu layer using a previously reported method. We characterize the selective coating electrodeposited onto aluminum/Cu/bright nickel and show that this is a viable technology for the fabrication of low-cost and high efficiency flat plate solar collectors. In addition, we demonstrate the scale-up of the electrodeposition process, and characterize the performance of a complete flat-plate solar collector device of 1.8 m2 gross area.AcknowledgementsThe authors gratefully acknowledge CONACYT, Módulo Solar S.A. de C.V. and IER-UNAM for funding through the Mexican Center for Innovation in Solar Energy (CeMIE-Sol), Project P-81.

Alumina and Silicone Oxide Dielectric Films for Focal Plane Arrays Based on InSb

Alumina and Silicone Oxide Dielectric Films for Focal Plane Arrays Based on InSb

Fabrication of High-κ Dielectric Metal Oxide Films on Topographically Patterned Substrates: Polymer Brush-Mediated Depositions.

Fabrication of ultrathin films of dielectric (with particular reference to materials with high dielectric constants) materials has significance in many advanced technological applications including hard protective coatings, sensors, and next-generation logic devices. Current state-of-the-art in microelectronics for fabricating these thin films is a combination of atomic layer deposition and photolithography. As feature size decreases and aspect ratios increase, conformality of the films becomes paramount. Here, we show a polymer brush template-assisted deposition of highly conformal, ultrathin (sub 5 nm) high-κ dielectric metal oxide films (hafnium oxide and zirconium oxide) on topographically patterned silicon nitride substrates. This technique, using hydroxyl terminated poly-4-vinyl pyridine (P4VP-OH) as the polymer brush, allows for conformal deposition with uniform thickness along the trenches and sidewalls of the substrate. Metal salts are infiltrated into the grafted monolayer polymer brush films via solution deposition. Tailoring specific polymer interfacial chemistries for ion infiltration combined with subsequent oxygen plasma treatment enabled the fabrication of high-quality sub 5 nm metal oxide films.

Formation of vacancies and metallic-like domains in photochromic rare-earth oxyhydride thin films studied by in-situ illumination positron annihilation spectroscopy

Rare-earth (RE) oxyhydride thin films show a color-neutral, reversible photochromic effect at ambient conditions. The origin of the photochromism is the topic of current investigations. Here, we investigated the lattice defects, electronic structure, and crystal structure of photochromic ${\mathrm{YH}}_{x}{\mathrm{O}}_{y}$ and $\mathrm{Gd}{\mathrm{H}}_{x}{\mathrm{O}}_{y}$ thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering using positron annihilation techniques and x-ray diffraction, in comparison with Y, ${\mathrm{YH}}_{\ensuremath{\sim}1.9}$, ${\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, Gd, $\mathrm{Gd}{\mathrm{H}}_{\ensuremath{\sim}1.8}$, and ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ films. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) reveals the presence of cation monovacancies in the as-deposited Y and ${\mathrm{YH}}_{\ensuremath{\sim}1.9}$ films at concentrations of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$ per cation. In addition, vacancy clusters and nanopores are found in the as-prepared ${\mathrm{YH}}_{x}{\mathrm{O}}_{y}$ and ${\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ films. Doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy (DB-PAS) of the Y- and Gd-based films reflects the transition from a metallic to an insulating nature of the RE metal, metal hydride, semiconducting oxyhydride and insulating oxide films. In-situ illumination DB-PAS shows the irreversible formation predominantly of di-vacancies, as PALS showed that cation mono-vacancies are already abundantly present in the as-prepared films. The formation of di-vacancies supports conjectures that ${\mathrm{H}}^{\text{--}}$ (and/or ${\mathrm{O}}^{2\text{--}}$) ions become mobile upon illumination, as these will leave anion vacancies behind, some of which may subsequently cluster with cation vacancies present. In addition, in RE oxyhydride films, partially reversible shifts in the Doppler parameters are observed that correlate with the photochromic effect and point to the formation of metallic domains in the semiconducting films. Two processes are discussed that may explain the formation of these metallic domains and the changes in optical properties associated with the photochromic effect. The first process considers the reversible formation of metallic nanodomains with reduced O : H composition by transport of light-induced mobile hydrogen and local oxygen displacements. The second process considers metallic nanodomains resulting from the trapping of photoexcited electrons in an ${e}_{g}$ orbital at the yttrium ions surrounding positively charged hydrogen vacancies that are formed by light-induced removal of hydrogen atoms from octahedral sites. When a sufficiently large concentration, on the order of \ensuremath{\sim}10%, is reached in a certain domain of the film, band formation of the ${e}_{g}$ electrons may occur, leading to an Anderson-Mott insulator-metal transition like the case of yttrium trihydride in these domains.

Viable strategy to minimize trap states of patterned oxide thin films for both exceptional electrical performance and uniformity in sol–gel processed transistors

A sustainable water etchant-based photopatterning method is proposed to achieve simultaneous oxide film patterning and remarkably minimize trap states of dielectric and semiconductor oxide films. By exquisitely controlling each processing parameter, well-defined aluminum oxide (AlOx) dielectric and indium oxide (InOx) semiconductor patterns are formed, despite using acid-free pure water etchant. The water etchant not only dissolves the nonultraviolet-irradiated regions but also promotes an effective hydrolysis reaction of irradiated regions, thereby forming low-defect oxide patterns. As a result, frequency-stable AlOx capacitors with low leakage current and high-performance bias-stable InOx TFTs with low activation energy are fabricated. In particular, photopatterned enhancement-mode InOx TFTs exhibit remarkably improved electrical properties, stability, and uniformity—15-fold higher saturation mobility and remarkably low coefficient of variation of 12.04 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 25.26%, respectively— compared with nonpatterned TFTs. With the proposed method, 3-V operating high-performance InOx/AlOx TFTs are successfully fabricated at a low processing temperature of 250 °C.

Study of a complex of physical, crystallographic and mechanical properties of aluminum foil for electrolytic capacitors

The results of studies of the complex of physical, crystallographic and mechanical properties of aluminum foil for low-voltage and high-voltage electrolytic capacitors made of high-purity aluminum (99.99% Al) are presented. A comparative analysis of technological schemes for the production of foil for lowvoltage and high-voltage applications is given, the main differences in the schemes are shown, and the results are presented for the physical parameter: the value of specific capacitance, crystallographic characteristics (structure and predominant texture), mechanical properties (tensile strength and relative elongation). Low-voltage foil after electrochemical etching has a fine etching relief, which can cause the danger of its smoothing after the next operation of the electronic processing of molding &mdash; the creation of an oxide film of the dielectric. The required surface topography can be achieved at high total degrees of cold deformation, amounting to 98.8%, without intermediate annealing, obtaining a structure that is fibrous along the rolling direction with a predominant deformation texture {011} and pole density according to the results obtained (5.2). On the contrary, high-voltage foil after electrochemical etching has a rougher relief, and here the risk of surface smoothing after the molding operation is minimal, since the dielectric oxide film being formed is actually superimposed and duplicated along the trajectory of the resulting relief. The latter can be achieved by using a foil after recrystallization (intermediate) and final annealing to obtain an average grain size of about 72 microns, a predominantly near-cubic texture of the {420} foil, and a pole density of 2.4 obtained results. At the same time, high values of specific capacitance can be observed in the studied range: at forming voltages of 30 and 450 V, the value of specific capacitance is 1750 and 29 &mu;F/dm2 for low-voltage and high-voltage foils, respectively.

Imaging Dielectric Breakdown in Valence Change Memory (Adv. Funct. Mater. 2/2022)

Dielectric Breakdown Transistors, capacitors, and resistive random-access memory (RRAM) elements have an oxide film at their heart. In article number 2102313, Brian C. Regan and co-workers apply scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) electron beam-induced current (EBIC) imaging to RRAM elements cycling in situ. STEM EBIC imaging clearly visualizes otherwise-invisible dielectric breakdown processes occurring in the nominally insulating oxide film.

The characteristics of microplasma discharge propagation over &#x0D; the titanium surface covered with a thin oxide film

The propagation and structure of a microplasma discharge initiated in vacuum by a pulsed plasma flow with a density of 1013 cm–3 on the surface of a titanium sample covered with a &#x0D; thin continuous dielectric titanium oxide film with a shickness of 2–6 nm were studied experimentally when the electric current of the discharge changes from 50 A to 400 A. &#x0D; It was found that the microplasma discharge glow visually at the macroscale has a branched structure of the dendrite type, which at the microscale consists of a large number &#x0D; of brightly glowing “point” formations – cathode spots localized on the metal surface. The resulting erosion structure on the titanium surface is visually “identical” to the structure of &#x0D; the discharge glow and consists of a large number of separate non-overlapping microcraters with characteristic sizes from 0.1–3 μm, which are formed at the sites of localization of &#x0D; cathode spots at distances of up to 20 μm from each other. It was found that the propagation of a single microplasma discharge over the titanium surface covered with a thin oxide film a &#x0D; thickness of 2–6 nm occurs at an average velocity of 15–70 m/s when the amplitude of the discharge electric current changes in the range of 50–400 A. In this case, the microplasma &#x0D; discharge propagation on the microscale has a “jumping” character: the plasma of “motionless” burning cathode spots, during their lifetime 1 μs, initiates the excitation of new &#x0D; microdischarges, which create new cathode spots at localization distances of 1–20 μm from the primary cathode spots. This process repeated many times during a microplasma dis-&#x0D; charge pulse with a duration from 0.1 ms to 20 ms.

Electrical Characteristics and Reliability of SiCN/Porous SiOCH Stacked Dielectric: Effects of Deposition Temperature of SiCN Film

Silicon carbonitride (SiCN) films deposited using silazane singe-precursor with different temperatures were capped onto porous carbon-doped silicon oxide (p-SiOCH) dielectric films. Effects on the electrical and reliability characteristics of the fabricated SiCN/p-SiOCH stacked dielectrics were investigated. Experimental results indicated that increasing the deposition temperature of the SiCN film increased barrier capacity against Cu migration under thermal and electrical stress and time-dependence-dielectric-breakdown reliability for the SiCN/p-SiOCH stacked dielectric. Therefore, this study provides a promising processing to deposit a SiCN barrier by elevating the deposition temperature and using N-methyl-aza-2,2,4-trimethylsilacyclopentane singe-precursor, which can be applied to back-end-of-line interconnects for advanced technological nodes in the semiconductor industry. A larger capacitance, however, is the main issue due to a larger intrinsic dielectric constant of the SiCN film and stronger plasma-induced damage on the p-SiOCH film. As a result, the related actions will be taken in the future research to improve this issue.