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The deposition of alternating (sub)monolayers of lanthanum oxide (La2O3) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) by atomic layer deposition has been carried out to create uniform LayZr1-yOx mixed oxide films. However, spontaneous nucleation of ZrO2 nanocrystals occurs during deposition within an amorphous La2O3 matrix. Such ZrO2 embedded La2O3 films exhibit low leakage currents in combination with higher electric breakdown fields and higher dielectric permittivities than the pure lanthanum and zirconium oxide films. The possible scenarios that account for this enhanced electric performance of these nanocluster-embedded dielectric thin films are explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maxwell–Wagner effect, the enhanced charge migration to the interface of a stack of two dielectrics with different conductances, is shown to cause asymmetric leakage current and electrical breakdown behavior for different electrode polarities. For this purpose, metal-insulator-silicon capacitors were fabricated consisting of bilayered silicon dioxide–lanthanum zirconate dielectric stacks. Maxwell–Wagner instability and Debye polarization can be distinguished upon comparing electron injection from both sides of the stack. The Maxwell–Wagner charges have relaxation times that are nearly five orders of magnitude larger than the Debye polarization, suggesting the long-lasting influence of these trapped charges in nanolaminated dielectric systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers analyses on few technology options in 3D passive integration, as well as the in through-silicon via (TSV) technology. Si-integrated trench capacitors was created through a passive integration in order to composed a triple metal"insulator"metal (MIM) layer stacks. As a result, the use of TSB technology shows a very fine and high aspect of ratio, which can be wet-etched thru a conventional reactive ion etching (RIE).

The use of aluminum as an electrode in metal-insulator-semiconductor devices containing lanthanum oxide is impaired by unacceptable leakage current levels. Time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy depth profiling shows a significant amount of silicon out-diffusion from the substrate and aluminum in-diffusion towards the oxide. By using titanium nitride as the electrode, the silicon out-diffusion is suppressed, which improves the device performance. This indicates that, despite the larger coordination number of the lanthanum ions in the oxide, aluminum acts as a sink for silicon, thus driving the out-diffusion of silicon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During atomic layer deposition of homogeneous LayZr1-yOx thin films spontaneous segregation of ZrO2 nanocrystals that are embedded in an amorphous La2O3 matrix takes place. This occurs if the Zr content in the LayZr1-yOx film rises above 30%, i.e., if the pulse ratio between the lanthanum precursor and the zirconium precursor is larger than four. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the ZrO2 nanocrystals are in the tetragonal phase, which is the most stable configuration of this material with the highest dielectric permittivity. These nanocrystal-embedded thin films exhibit higher dielectric constants as the Zr content increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]