# US 9,437,420 B2 · Capacitors including amorphous dielectric layers and methods of forming the same

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- Number: US 9,437,420 B2
- Document ID: US9437420B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/688,564
- Filed: 2015-04-16
- Published: 2015-12-10
- Granted: 2016-09-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-06-05
- Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; NaMLab gGmbH
- Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; NaMLab gGmbH
- Inventors: Kyu-Ho Cho; Youn-Soo Kim; Han-Jin Lim; Steve Knebel; Uwe Schroeder
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9437420B2

## CPC

- H10P 14/69396: {the material containing at least one rare earth metal element, e.g. oxides of lanthanides, scandium or yttrium}
- H10B 12/0335: {Making a connection between the transistor and the capacitor, e.g. plug}
- H10B 12/09: {with simultaneous manufacture of the peripheral circuit region and memory cells}
- H10B 12/315: {with the capacitor higher than a bit line}
- H10B 12/318: {the storage electrode having multiple segments}
- H10B 12/482: {Bit lines}
- H10D 1/68: Capacitors having no potential barriers
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H10B: ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

## Abstract

A capacitor can include a crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer having a first dielectric constant and an amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer, on the crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer, where the amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer has a second dielectric constant that is less than the first dielectric constant and is greater than a dielectric constant of aluminum oxide.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A capacitor, comprising:
a lower electrode on a substrate;
a dielectric layer structure, including:
a first dielectric layer on the lower electrode, the first dielectric layer including a first crystalline metal oxide; and
a second dielectric layer on the first dielectric layer, the second dielectric layer including an amorphous metal oxide having a dielectric constant less than that of the first dielectric layer and greater than that of aluminum oxide; and
an upper electrode on the dielectric layer structure.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The capacitor of claim 1, further comprising a third dielectric layer on the second dielectric layer, the third dielectric layer including a second crystalline metal oxide,
wherein the second dielectric layer has a dielectric constant less than that of the third dielectric layer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The capacitor of claim 2, wherein the first and second crystalline metal oxides include any one selected from the group consisting of titanium oxide, tantalum oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide and zirconium oxide.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The capacitor of claim 2, wherein the second dielectric layer has a thickness less than respective thicknesses of the first and third dielectric layers.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The capacitor of claim 4, wherein each of the first and third dielectric layers has a thickness of about 5 Å to about 150 Å, and the second dielectric layer has a thickness of about 3 Å to about 30 Å.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The capacitor of claim 1, wherein the amorphous metal oxide includes lanthanum oxide or scandium oxide.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The capacitor of claim 1, wherein each of the lower and upper electrodes includes any one selected from the group consisting of titanium, tungsten, tantalum, platinum, ruthenium, iridium, and an oxide thereof.

### Claim 8

A method of forming a capacitor, the method comprising:
forming a lower electrode on a substrate;
forming a dielectric layer structure on the lower electrode, the dielectric layer structure including a first dielectric layer and a second dielectric layer sequentially stacked, the first dielectric layer containing a first metal oxide, and the second dielectric layer containing a second metal oxide having a dielectric constant less than that of the first metal oxide in a crystallized state and greater than that of aluminum oxide; and
forming an upper electrode on the dielectric layer structure.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein forming the dielectric layer structure further includes forming a third dielectric layer on the second dielectric layer using a third metal oxide.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the third metal oxide includes a material substantially the same as the first metal oxide.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the second dielectric layer is formed to have a thickness that is less than respective thicknesses of the first and third dielectric layers.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The capacitor of claim 11, wherein each of the first and third dielectric layers is formed to have a thickness of about 5 Å to about 150 Å, and the thickness of the second dielectric layer is formed to about 3 Å to about 30 Å.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising, after forming the upper electrode, performing a heat treatment or a plasma treatment on the dielectric layer structure to crystallize the first and third metal oxides.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the amorphous metal oxide includes lanthanum oxide or scandium oxide.

### Claim 15 (depends on 8)

The capacitor of claim 8, wherein each of the lower and upper electrodes is formed to include any one selected from the group consisting of titanium, tungsten, tantalum, platinum, ruthenium, iridium, an oxide thereof, and a nitride thereof.

### Claim 16

A capacitor, comprising:
a crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer having a first dielectric constant; and
an amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer on the crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer, the amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer having a second dielectric constant that is less the first dielectric constant and is greater than a dielectric constant of aluminum oxide.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The capacitor of claim 16 wherein the crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer comprises a first crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer, the capacitor further comprising:
a second crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer on the amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer opposite the first crystallized metal oxide dielectric layer.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The capacitor of claim 17 wherein the first and second crystallized metal oxide dielectric layers each have a respective thickness of about 5 Å to about 150 Å, and wherein the amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer has a thickness of about 3 Å to about 30 Å.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The capacitor of claim 16 wherein the first dielectric constant is greater than a dielectric constant of SiN.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The capacitor of claim 16 wherein the amorphous metal oxide dielectric layer comprises lanthanum oxide or scandium oxide.