A series of O18 tracer in-diffusion experiments have been conducted on state-of-the-art metal organic chemical vapor deposition–grown Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) films. Prior to O18 incorporation, samples were preequilibrated in O216 at the same temperature and total pressure used for the following O218 isotope exchange anneal. The final O18 depth profiles were obtained using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), which provides a depth resolution of 3–5Å. The SIMS results indicate that the O18 tracer diffusivity varies as a function of depth from the PZT film surface in a way that is inconsistent with a combined grain boundary and lattice diffusion mechanism. Based on a previously-developed model for point defect equilibrium in metal titanate thin films, simulations of O18 tracer diffusion into PZT thin films that are consistent with the experimental results are described.

We demonstrate that large and simultaneous improvements in permittivity, tunability, and leakage current density of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 (BST)-based thin-film capacitors can be achieved by yttrium doping. We have found that, for a low deposition temperature (520 °C) sputtering process, Y-doped BST capacitors exhibit tenfold lower leakage current density (<10−9A∕cm2 at 100KV∕cm) and 70% higher permittivity than nominally undoped BST-based capacitors. Furthermore, this work suggests an intriguing correlation between dopant concentration-dependent elastic strain in the films and their enhanced dielectric properties.

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High dielectric constant, perovskite-structure materials, such as barium strontium titanate (BST), have been widely investigated for use in GHz LSI decoupling capacitor applications. In addition to modifying deposition process parameters, such as increasing deposition temperature, doping may be a viable way to increase permittivity and tunability in BST thin films without increasing the thermal budget. In this research, the effects of Y dopants on the dielectric behavior of RF-sputtered BST thin films have been systematically investigated. The BST thin films were deposited using ceramic targets with different compositions of yttrium oxide dopant. With Y-doping concentration of ∼ 1.3 at.%, the permittivity at around zero electrical fields can be increased by more than 70% compared to nominally undoped BST thin films produced under the same deposition conditions. Based on x-ray diffraction strain analysis and inductively-coupled plasma composition measurements, the correlations among the dopant composition, BST film elastic strain and dielectric behavior have been systematically studied.