AVS 47th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Friday Sessions
       Session PS-FrM

Paper PS-FrM3
Simulation and Dielectric Characterization of Reactive DC Magnetron Co-sputtered (Ta@sub 2@O@sub 5@)@sub 1-x@(TiO@sub 2@)@sub x@ Thin Films

Friday, October 6, 2000, 9:00 am, Room 310

Session: Dielectrics II
Presenter: J. Westlinder, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Authors: J. Westlinder, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Y. Zhang, University of Uppsala, Sweden
F. Engelmark, University of Uppsala, Sweden
H.-O. Blom, University of Uppsala, Sweden
G. Possnert, University of Uppsala, Sweden
S. Berg, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Correspondent: Click to Email
New capacitor material with high dielectric constant is needed for future integrated capacitor structures. Tantalum pentoxide (Ta@sub 2@O@sub 5@) is considered as one of the most promising candidates. By incorporating titanium into the Ta@sub 2@O@sub 5@ thin film, the already excellent electric and dielectric properties are believed to improve even further. In this work, thin films of (Ta@sub 2@O@sub 5@)@sub 1-x@(TiO@sub 2@)@sub x@ have been grown utilizing reactive DC magnetron co-sputtering of tantalum and titanium in an argon/oxygen atmosphere. By varying the input power to the targets, the composition of the thin film can be controlled. The composition of the films was analyzed with Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) revealing the titanium oxide content (x ranging from 0 to 0.40). The dielectric constant, leakage current and breakdown voltage as well as the refractive index has been measured for different compositions and will be presented. The films are amorphous as-deposited, showing some degree of short range order. To be able to further investigate what influence that has on the dielectric properties of the material, films have been annealed at different temperatures. Data from both simulations and experiments of the dual-target reactive sputtering system will be presented.