Physical and electrical characteristics of Ba(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 thin films under oxygen plasma treatment for applications in nonvolatile memory devices

In this study, the effects of oxygen gas plasma treatment on the surface of Ba(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O-3 (BZT) films are investigated. The influence of oxygen plasma treatment on the crystal structure is developed by X-ray diffraction patterns and on the electrical characteristics are measured by the Al/BZT/Pt capacitor (metal-dielectric-metal) structure. Experimental results show that the capacitance increases and the leakage current density decreases as the oxygen plasma is treated on the BZT films. These results clearly indicate that the electrical characteristics of BZT films have effectively improved by means of the oxygen plasma surface treatment process.