Amorphous iridium oxide barrier layer and electrodes in ferroelectric capacitors
OwnerGlex Foxinventor
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Abstract
A method for the fabrication of a layer of amorphous iridium oxide (IrOx) in a ferroelectric capacitor is described. The amorphous iridium oxide layer may act as a top electrode of the ferroelectric capacitor, or may be deposited on a top electrode that is made from crystalline iridium oxide or some other conductive material. The amorphous iridium oxide layer protects the underlying ferroelectric dielectric layer from chemical and mechanical degradation. Specifically, the amorphous iridium oxide layer is thought to act as a barrier against hydrogen, that reacts with the ferroelectric material in the ferroelectric dielectric layer and degrades the performance of the ferroelectric capacitor.
Claims22
An integrated semiconductor device having a ferroelectric capacitor, wherein said ferroelectric capacitor comprises:
- a protective layer comprising amorphous iridium oxide;
- a top electrode that lies below the protective layer;
- a ferroelectric dielectric layer that lies below the top electrode;
- and
- a bottom electrode that lies below the ferroelectric dielectric layer.
A ferroelectric capacitor that forms an element of an integrated semiconductor device, wherein said ferroelectric capacitor comprises:
- a top electrode comprising amorphous iridium oxide that has an average grain size of 100 nm or less;
- a ferroelectric dielectric layer, comprising PZT, that lies below the top electrode;
- and
- a bottom electrode, comprising Pt, that lies below the ferroelectric dielectric layer.
A method of fabricating an integrated semiconductor device with ferroelectric capacitors comprising the steps of:
- forming bottom electode;
- forming a ferroelectric dielectric layer over the bottom electrode;
- forming a top electrode over the ferroelectric dielectric layer;
- and
- retaining an amorphous iridium oxide layer over the ferroelectric dielectric layer.
An integrated semiconductor device having a ferroelectric capacitor, wherein said ferroelectric capacitor comprises:
- a bottom electrode;
- a ferroelectric dielectric layer formed over the bottom electrode;
- and
- a top electrode formed over the ferroelectric dielectric layer,
- wherein the ferroelectric dielectric layer was protected from chemical and mechanical degradation during fabrication of the integrated semiconductor device by a layer of amorphous iridium oxide.
A method of fabricating a protective layer of a ferroelectric capacitor comprising the steps of:
- flowing a mixture of argon and oxygen gas across a metal sputtering target comprising iridium;
- bombarding the sputtering target with argon ions in order to sputter iridium off of said target;
- and
- depositing a layer of amorphous iridium oxide on top of a ferroelectric dielectric layer in order to form the protective layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.