Open AccessEffects of TiN Top Electrode Texturing on Ferroelectricity in Hf1–xZrxO2
Author(s) -
Robin Athle,
Anton E. O. Persson,
Austin Irish,
Heera Me,
Rainer Timm,
Bertil Borg
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acs applied materials and interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.535
H-Index - 228
eISSN - 1944-8252
pISSN - 1944-8244
DOI - 10.1021/acsami.1c01734
Subject(s) - tin , materials science , ferroelectricity , electrode , polarization (electrochemistry) , stack (abstract data type) , optoelectronics , sputtering , thin film , nanotechnology , metallurgy , dielectric , computer science , chemistry , programming language
Ferroelectric memories based on hafnium oxide are an attractive alternative to conventional memory technologies due to their scalability and energy efficiency. However, there are still many open questions regarding the optimal material stack and processing conditions for reliable device performance. Here, we report on the impact of the sputtering process conditions of the commonly used TiN top electrode on the ferroelectric properties of Hf 1– x Zr x O 2 . By manipulating the deposition pressure and chemistry, we control the preferential orientation of the TiN grains between (111) and (002). We observe that (111) textured TiN is superior to (002) texturing for achieving high remanent polarization ( P r ). Furthermore, we find that additional nitrogen supply during TiN deposition leads to >5× greater endurance, possibly by limiting the scavenging of oxygen from the Hf 1– x Zr x O 2 film. These results help explain the large P r variation reported in the literature for Hf 1– x Zr x O 2 /TiN and highlights the necessity of tuning the top electrode of the ferroelectric stack for successful device implementation.