Abstract
The total thickness scaling of electrodes and the (Al 0.9 Sc 0.1 )N layer is evaluated for ferroelectric memory applications. The good crystal orientation and large remanent polarization ( P r ) above 100 µC cm −2 are obtained for 160‐nm‐thick (Al 0.9 Sc 0.1 )N films even when the Pt bottom electrode is reduced to a thickness of 5 nm. The (Al 0.9 Sc 0.1 )N film integrated on a 5‐nm‐thick Pt bottom electrode maintains a saturated P r value above 100 µC cm −2 at a thickness of 30 nm. Furthermore, the (Al 0.9 Sc 0.1 )N film exhibits improved crystal orientation by the post‐heat‐treatment of the Pt bottom electrode, and a saturated large P r value above 100 µC cm −2 is obtained at a thickness of 20 nm. Moreover, a P r value of 90 µC cm −2 is obtained at a (Al 0.9 Sc 0.1 )N thickness of 10 nm. No significant degradation in the P r characteristics is detected when the thickness of the Pt top electrode is reduced to 5 nm. Finally, the total thickness is successfully scaled down to 30 nm for a Pt (top electrode, 5 nm)/(Al 0.9 Sc 0.1 )N (20 nm)/Pt (bottom electrode, 5 nm) stack. This work presents guidelines for the thickness scaling of the (Al,Sc)N‐based stacks for ferroelectric memory applications, including ferroelectric thin films and electrodes.
Funding Information
  • New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (JPNP21009)

This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit: