title: Plasma processing for crystallization and densification of atomic layer deposition BaTiO3 thin films.
abstract: High-k, low leakage thin films are crucial components for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) capacitors with high storage density and a long storage lifetime. In this work, we demonstrate a method to increase the dielectric constant and decrease the leakage current density of atomic layer deposited BaTiO3 thin films at low process temperature (250 °C) using postdeposition remote oxygen plasma treatment. The dielectric constant increased from 51 (as-deposited) to 122 (plasma-treated), and the leakage current density decreased by 1 order of magnitude. We ascribe such improvements to the crystallization and densification of the film induced by high-energy ion bombardments on the film surface during the plasma treatment. Plasma-induced crystallization presented in this work may have an immediate impact on fabricating and manufacturing DRAM capacitors due to its simplicity and compatibility with industrial standard thin film processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, ‡Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and §Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States.
authors.forename: Jihwan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Takane
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Manca
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Logar
authors.forename: Joonsuk
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dickson
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thian
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kihyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Fritz B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Prinz