Crystallization behaviors of ultrathin Al-doped HfO2 amorphous films grown by atomic layer deposition

In this work, ultrathin pure HfO_2 and Al-doped HfO_2films（about 4-nm thick） are prepared by atomic layer deposition and the crystallinities of these films before and after annealing at temperatures ranging from 550℃ to 750℃ are analyzed by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The as-deposited pure HfO_2 and Al-doped HfO_2 films are both amorphous. After550-℃ annealing, a multiphase consisting of a few orthorhombic, monoclinic and tetragonal phases can be observed in the pure HfO_2 film while the Al-doped HfO_2 film remains amorphous. After annealing at 650℃ and above, a great number of HfO_2 tetragonal phases, a high-temperature phase with higher dielectric constant, can be stabilized in the Al-doped HfO_2 film. As a result, the dielectric constant is enhanced up to about 35. The physical mechanism of the phase transition behavior is discussed from the viewpoint of thermodynamics and kinetics.

Insight into influence of thermodynamic coefficients on transient negative capacitance in Zr-doped HfO_(2) ferroelectric capacitors

We study the influence of the thermodynamic coefficients on transient negative capacitance for the Zr-doped HfO_(2)(HZO)ferroelectric capacitors by the theoretical simulation based on the Landau-Khalatnikov(L-K)theory and experimental measurement of electrical properties in the resistor-ferroelectric capacitor(R-FEC)circuit.Our results show that the thermodynamic coefficientsα,βandγalso play a key role for the transient NC effect besides the viscosity coefficient and series resistor.Moreover,the smaller coefficientsαandβ,the more significant the transient NC effect.In addition,we also find that the thermodynamic process of transient NC does not obey the generally accepted viewpoint of Gibbs free energy minimization.

Improved Operation Characteristics for Nonvolatile Charge-Trapping Memory Capacitors with High-κ Dielectrics and SiGe Epitaxial Substrates

A novel high-κ~ A1203/HfO2/AI203 nanolaminate charge trapping memory capacitor structure based on SiGe substrates with low interface densities is successfully fabricated and investigated. The memory capacitor exhibits excellent program-erasable characteristics. A large memory window of ~4 V, a small leakage current density of ~2 ×10-6 Acre-2 at a gate voltage of 7V, a high charge trapping density of 1.42 × 1013 cm-2 at a working vo]tage of 4-10 V and good retention characteristics are observed. Furthermore, the programming （△ VFB = 2.8 V at 10 V for 10μs） and erasing speeds （△VFB =-1.7 V at -10 V for 10μs） of the fabricated capacitor based on SiGe substrates are significantly improved as compared with counterparts reported earlier. It is concluded that the high-κ Al2O3/HfO2/Al2O3 nanolaminate charge trapping capacitor structure based on SiGe substrates is a promising candidate for future nano-scaled nonvolatile flash memory applications.