Trench capacitor with bottom barrier electrode

An integrated chip comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate;
• a transistor along the semiconductor substrate;
• a first conductive interconnect over and coupled to the transistor;
• a dielectric structure comprising a plurality of dielectric layers over the first conductive interconnect;
• a first electrode layer comprising a first metal compound on an upper surface of the dielectric structure, a first sidewall of the dielectric structure, a second sidewall of the dielectric structure, and an upper surface of the first conductive interconnect;
• a first insulator layer on the first metal compound;
• and
• a second electrode layer on the first insulator layer,
• wherein a work function of the first metal compound is greater than a work function of titanium nitride.

A method for forming an integrated chip, the method comprising:

• forming a semiconductor structure along a semiconductor substrate;
• forming a first conductive interconnect over and coupled to the transistor;
• depositing a plurality of dielectric layers over the first conductive interconnect to form a dielectric structure over the first conductive interconnect;
• etching the dielectric structure to form a trench in the dielectric structure, the trench formed by sidewalls of the dielectric structure and an upper surface of the first conductive interconnect;
• depositing a first metal layer on the sidewalls of the dielectric structure and the upper surface of the first conductive interconnect;
• introducing nitrogen or oxygen to the first metal layer to form a first metal compound layer from the first metal layer and from the nitrogen or the oxygen;
• depositing a first dielectric layer on the first metal compound layer;
• depositing a second metal layer over the first dielectric layer;
• and
• introducing nitrogen or oxygen to the second metal layer to form a second metal compound layer from the second metal layer and from the nitrogen or the oxygen,
• wherein the first metal compound layer forms a first electrode of a trench capacitor, the first dielectric layer forms a first insulator layer of the trench capacitor, and the second metal compound layer forms a second electrode of the trench capacitor.