Oxygen Doping in Ferroelectric Wurtzite-type Al0.73Sc0.27N: Improved Leakage and Polarity Control

被引：0

作者：

Islam, Md Redwanul ^{[1
]}

Wolff, Niklas ^{[1
]}

Schoenweger, Georg ^{[1
,2
]}

Kreutzer, Tom-Niklas ^{[2
]}

Brown, Margaret ^{[3
]}

Gremmel, Maike ^{[1
]}

Ollanescu-Orendi, Eric S. ^{[1
]}

Stranak, Patrik ^{[4
]}

Kirste, Lutz ^{[4
]}

Brennecka, Geoff L. ^{[3
]}

Fichtner, Simon ^{[1
,2
]}

Kienle, Lorenz ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Kiel, Dept Mat Sci, Kaiserstr 2, D-24143 Kiel, Germany

[2] Fraunhofer Inst Silicon Technol ISIT, Fraunhoferstr 1, D-25524 Itzehoe, Germany

[3] Colorado Sch Mines, Dept Met & Mat Engn, Golden, CO 80401 USA

[4] Fraunhofer Inst Appl Solid State Phys IAF, Tullastr 72, D-79108 Freiburg, Germany

来源：

ADVANCED ELECTRONIC MATERIALS | 2025年

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

AlScN; leakage; oxygen doping; thin-films; wurtzite-type ferroelectric;

D O I：

10.1002/aelm.202400874

中图分类号：

TB3 [工程材料学];

学科分类号：

0805 ; 080502 ;

摘要：

This study examines systematic oxygen (O)-incorporation to reduce total leakage currents in sputtered wurtzite-type ferroelectric Al0.73Sc0.27N thin films, along with its impact on the material structure and the polarity of the as-grown films. The O in the bulk Al0.73Sc0.27N was introduced through an external gas source during the reactive sputter process. In comparison to samples without doping, O-doped films showed almost a fourfold reduction of the overall leakage current near the coercive field. In addition, doping resulted in the reduction of the steady-state leakage currents by roughly one order of magnitude at sub-coercive fields. The microstructure analysis through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) indicated no notable structural degradation in the bulk Al0.73Sc0.27N. The maximum O-doped film exhibited a c-axis out-of-plane texture increase of only 20%, rising from 1.8 degrees, while chemical mapping indicated a consistent distribution of O throughout the bulk. Our results further demonstrate the ability to control the as-deposited polarity of Al0.73Sc0.27N via the O-concentration, changing from nitrogen (N)- to metal (M)-polar orientation. Thus, this article presents a promising approach to mitigate the leakage current in wurtzite-type Al0.73Sc0.27N without incurring any significant structural degradation of the bulk thin film, thereby making ferroelectric nitrides more suitable for microelectronic applications.

引用

页数：9