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Ferroelectricity and reliability performance of HfZrO films by N-plasma treatment on TiN electrode

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Abstract

The instability of TiN/HfZrO/TiN ferroelectric capacitors becomes a dominant obstacle in its practical application. To improve this problem, the effects of N-plasma treatment at both top and bottom TiN interfaces are investigated on the ferroelectricity behaviors and reliability characteristics of TiN/HfZrO/TiN ferroelectric capacitors. The results show that the high remanent polarization and large dielectric constant in the capacitors can be obtained by treating at the both top and bottom TiN interfaces. The wake-up and fatigue effects can be effectively suppressed and the lower leakage current can be acquired with extending the treatment time. The XPS analyses show that the oxygen vacancies in HfZrO film can be reduced efficiently by extending treatment time. The cycling test confirms that the better ferroelectricity characteristics can be measured by treating at two interfaces than that of single interface. The N-plasma treatment at both top and bottom TiN interfaces provides a new approach for the realization of highly reliable TiN/HfZrO/TiN ferroelectric capacitors.

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Data availability

All datasets generated for this study are included in the article material. I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that this manuscript has not been published or presented elsewhere in part or entirety and is not under consideration by another journal.

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Funding

This work was supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61874036, 62174041 and 51802032), Guangxi Innovation Research Team Project (Grant No. 2018GXNSFGA281004), Guangxi Science and Technology Planning Project (Grant Nos. AA19254015, AD19245066 and 2021AC19201), Opening Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Electronic Components (Grant No. FHR-JS-201909007), Guilin University of Electronic Technology (Grant Nos. DH2020013 and DH201906), GUET Excellent Graduate Thesis (Grant No. YXYJRX01), and State Key Laboratory of ASIC & System (Grant No. KVH1233021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Precision Navigation Technology and Application, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, 541004, China

    Yue Li, Tianyang Feng, Tangyou Sun, Yonghe Chen, Fabi Zhang, Tao Fu, Peihua Wangyang, Haiou Li & Xingpeng Liu

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  1. Yue Li
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  2. Tianyang Feng
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Contributions

YL was the leader of the work and responsible for the main of experiment and paper writing. XL, TS, and PW were responsible for single step of the fabrication process. YC and FZ were responsible for device testing. TF and TF were mainly engaged in picture editing and related data processing. HL contributed to the modification and suggestion in this paper.

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Correspondence to Haiou Li or Xingpeng Liu.

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Li, Y., Feng, T., Sun, T. et al. Ferroelectricity and reliability performance of HfZrO films by N-plasma treatment on TiN electrode. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 23341–23350 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09096-7

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