Understanding ferroelectricity in sputtered aluminum nitride thin films on silicon

We report ferroelectric switching at room temperature in sub-100 nm aluminum nitride thin films deposited using radio frequency magnetron sputtering in a metal–insulator–metal configuration. The film microstructures were investigated using transmission electron microscopy. Ferroelectric characterist...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vamshi Kiran Gogi, Christopher Chae, Abhijeet Barua, Jinwoo Hwang, Rashmi Jha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2025-05-01
Series:APL Materials
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0246797
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Summary:We report ferroelectric switching at room temperature in sub-100 nm aluminum nitride thin films deposited using radio frequency magnetron sputtering in a metal–insulator–metal configuration. The film microstructures were investigated using transmission electron microscopy. Ferroelectric characteristics have been investigated through dynamic hysteresis mode and positive-up-negative-down techniques that underscore contributions from leakage current showing the overestimated remnant polarization (Pr > 100 μC/cm2) values. True ferroelectric switching characterization shows a complete polarization reversal with a Pr of ∼90 μC/cm2. The interface trap density (Dit) at the AlN/Si interface in the metal–insulator–semiconductor configuration is estimated to be 6.91 × 1013 cm−2 eV−1 using conductance spectroscopy, indicating flatband voltage (∆Vfb) shifts dominated by charge trapping.
ISSN:2166-532X