Ferroelectric behavior of sputter deposited Al0.72Sc0.28N approaching 5 nm thickness

Zheng, Jeffrey X.; Fiagbenu, Merrilyn Adzo; Esteves, Giovanni; Musavigharavi, Pariasadat; Gunda, Akhil; Jariwala, Deep; Stach, Eric A.; Olsson, Roy H.

doi:10.1063/5.0147224

Ferroelectric behavior of sputter deposited Al_0.72Sc_0.28N approaching 5 nm thickness

Journal Article · Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0147224· OSTI ID:2311607

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Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Ferroelectric Al_1-xSc_xN has raised much interest in recent years due to its unique ferroelectric properties and complementary metal oxide semiconductor back-end-of-line compatible processing temperatures. Potential applications in embedded nonvolatile memory, however, require ferroelectric materials to switch at relatively low voltages. One approach to achieving a lower switching voltage is to significantly reduce the Al_1-xSc_xN thickness. In this work, ferroelectric behavior in 5-27 nm films of sputter deposited Al_0.72Sc_0.28N has been studied. We find that the 10 kHz normalized coercive field increases from 4.4 to 7.3 MV/cm when reducing the film thickness from 27.1 to 5.4 nm, while over the same thickness range, the characteristic breakdown field of a 12.5 μm radius capacitor increases from 8.3 to 12.1 MV/cm. In conclusion, the 5.4 nm film demonstrates ferroelectric switching at 5.5 V when excited with a 500 ns pulse and a switching speed of 60 ns.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF); Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2311607

Report Number(s):: SAND--2023-09003J

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 122; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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