Co-sputtering yttrium into hafnium oxide thin films to produce ferroelectric properties

Thin film capacitors were fabricated by sputtering TiN-Y doped HfO2-TiN stacks on silicon substrates. Yttrium was incorporated into the HfO2 layers by simultaneously sputtering from Y2O3 and HfO2 sources. Electric polarization and relative permittivity measurements yield distinct ferroelectric properties as a result of low yttrium dopant concentrations in the range of 0.9-1.9 mol. %. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction measurements show the formation of an orthorhombic phase in this range. Compared to atomic layer deposition films, the highest remanent polarization and the highest relative permittivity were obtained at significantly lower doping concentrations in these sputtered films. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4747209]