Ferroelectric-like behavior in HfO2/Al2O3/AlN metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor through AlN thermal stress

By modulating the thermal stress during film growth, the strained aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films with ferroelectric-like behavior were successfully grown by metal organic chemical vapor phase deposition (MOCVD) on silicon (Si) (111) substrate. The capacitors with strained AlN were fabricated and experimentally demonstrated, the linear to ferroelectric-like behavior on the fabricated AlN capacitors was observed, and the behavior was explained in terms of residual strains in the film. This work reports the ferroelectric-like properties of AlN film grown under specific deposition conditions for the first time.