Lanthanide doped TiOx dielectric films
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsKie Y. Ahn, Leonard Forbes
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Abstract
A dielectric film containing lanthanide doped TiOx and a method of fabricating such a dielectric film produce a reliable gate dielectric having an equivalent oxide thickness thinner than attainable using SiO2. A dielectric film is formed by ion assisted electron beam evaporation of TiO2 and electron beam evaporation of a lanthanide selected from a group consisting of Nd, Tb, and Dy. The growth rate is controlled to provide a dielectric film having a lanthanide content ranging from about ten to about thirty percent of the dielectric film. These dielectric films containing lanthanide doped TiOx are amorphous and thermodynamically stable such that the lanthanide doped TiOx will have minimal reactions with a silicon substrate or other structures during processing.
Claims53
A method of forming a dielectric film, comprising:
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate;
- and
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow a dielectric film on a substrate, the dielectric film containing TiOx doped with the lanthanide.
A method of forming a dielectric film, comprising:
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate using a first electron gun;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate using a second electron gun;
- and
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow a dielectric film on a substrate, the dielectric film containing TiOx doped with the lanthanide.
A method of forming a dielectric film, comprising:
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate using a first electron gun;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate using a second electron gun;
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow a dielectric film on a substrate;
- and
- bombarding a surface of the substrate with ions during evaporation of the TiO2, wherein the dielectric film contains TiOx doped with the lanthanide.
A method of forming a dielectric film, comprising:
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate using a first electron gun;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate using a second electron gun;
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow a dielectric film on a substrate;
- and
- supplementing with oxygen using an ionizer ring, wherein the dielectric film contains TiOx doped with the lanthanide.
A method of forming a transistor, comprising:
- forming a source region and a drain region;
- forming a body region between the source and drain regions;
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate;
- and
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow a dielectric film on the body region, the dielectric film containing TiOx doped with the lanthanide;
- and
- coupling a gate to the dielectric film containing TiOx.
A method of forming a capacitor, comprising:
- forming a first conductive layer on a substrate;
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate using a first electron gun;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate using a second electron gun;
- and
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow a dielectric film on the first conductive layer, the dielectric film containing TiOx doped with the lanthanide;
- and
- forming a second conductive layer on the dielectric film.
A method of forming a memory array, comprising:
- forming a number of access transistors, at least one access transistor including a dielectric film on a body region between a source region and a drain region, the dielectric film containing TiOx formed by a method including:
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate;
- and
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow the dielectric film on the body region, the dielectric film containing TiOx doped with the lanthanide;
- and
- forming a number of word lines coupled to a number of gates of the number of access transistors;
- forming a number of source lines coupled to a number of source regions of the number of access transistors;
- and
- forming a number of bit lines coupled to a number of drain regions of the number of access transistors.
A method of forming an electronic system, comprising:
- providing a processor;
- coupling a memory array to the processor, wherein the memory array includes at least one access transistor having a dielectric film on a body region, the dielectric film formed by a method including:
- evaporating TiO2 at a first rate;
- evaporating a lanthanide at a second rate;
- and
- controlling the first rate and the second rate to grow the dielectric film on the body region, the dielectric film containing TiOx doped with the lanthanide;
- and
- providing a system bus that couples the processor to the memory array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.