Performance Improvement of $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ MIM Capacitors by Using Plasma Treatment After Dielectric Formation

摘要

In this letter, we investigate the dependence of the performance of metal–insulator–metal (MIM) capacitors with $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ dielectric on plasma treatment (PT) performed before $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ deposition, after $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ deposition, or both before and after $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ deposition. By performing PT in $hbox{N}_{2}$ ambient (PTN) after $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ dielectric formation, the effective quadratic voltage coefficient of capacitance (VCC) can be reduced from 498 to 234 $hbox{ppm/V}^{2}$ and the effective linear VCC can be reduced from 742.3 to 172 ppm/V for MIM capacitor with $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ dielectric having a capacitance density of $sim!!hbox{7.5} hbox{fF}/muhbox{m}^{2}$ . The leakage current density at $+$3.3 V can be reduced from $hbox{3.44}times hbox{10}^{-7}$ to $hbox{1.60} timesbreak hbox{10}^{-8} hbox{A/cm}^{2}$ by performing PTN in both before and after $hbox{Sm}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ deposition. PTN after dielectric formation is an effective way to improve the performance of high- $kappa$ dielectric MIM capacitors for RF and analog/mixed signal IC applications.