Grain boundary mediated leakage current in polycrystalline HfO2 films

被引：127

作者：

McKenna, K. ^{[1
,2
]}

Shluger, A. ^{[1
,2
]}

Iglesias, V. ^{[3
]}

Porti, M. ^{[3
]}

Nafria, M. ^{[3
]}

Lanza, M. ^{[3
]}

Bersuker, G. ^{[4
]}

机构：

[1] UCL, Dept Phys & Astron, London WC1E 6BT, England

[2] Tohoku Univ, Adv Inst Mat Res, World Premier Int Res Ctr, Aoba Ku, Sendai, Miyagi 9808577, Japan

[3] Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Dept Elect Engn, Bellaterra 08193, Spain

[4] SEMATECH, Austin, TX 78741 USA

来源：

MICROELECTRONIC ENGINEERING | 2011年 / 88卷 / 07期

基金：

英国工程与自然科学研究理事会;

关键词：

HfO2; Grain boundaries; Leakage current; Atomic force microscopy; Density functional theory; DEFECTS;

D O I：

10.1016/j.mee.2011.03.024

中图分类号：

TM [电工技术]; TN [电子技术、通信技术];

学科分类号：

0808 ; 0809 ;

摘要：

In this work, we combine conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) and first principles calculations to investigate leakage current in thin polycrystalline HfO2 films. A clear correlation between the presence of grain boundaries and increased leakage current through the film is demonstrated. The effect is a result of a number of related factors, including local reduction in the oxide film thickness near grain boundaries, the intrinsic electronic properties of grain boundaries which enhance direct tunnelling relative to the bulk, and segregation of oxygen vacancy defects which increase trap assisted tunnelling currents. These results highlight the important role of grain boundaries in determining the electrical properties of polycrystalline HfO2 films with relevance to applications in advanced logic and memory devices. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：1272 / 1275

页数：4

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