• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.257-257
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• 2007

고밀도 FeRAM (Ferroe!ectric Random Access Memory) 소자를 개발하기 위해서는 강유전체 물질을 이용한 안정적인 스텍형의 커패시터 개발이 필수적이다. 특히 $(Bi,La)_4Ti_3O_{12}$ (BLT) 강유전체 물질을 이용하는 경우에는 낮은 열처리 온도에서도 균질하고 높은 값의 잔류 분극 값을 확보하는 것이 가장 중요한 과제 중의 하나이다. 불행히도, BLT 물질은 a-축으로는 약 $50\;{\mu}C/cm^2$ 정도의 높은 잔류 분극 값을 갖지만, c-축 방향으로는 $4\;{\mu}C/cm^2$ 정도의 낮은 잔류 분극 값을 나타내는 동의 강한 비등방성 특성을 보인다. 따라서 BLT 박막에서 각각 입자들의 크기 및 결정 방향성을 세밀하게 제어하는 것은 무엇보다 중요하다. 본 연구에서는 16 Mb의 1T/1C (1-transistor/1-capacitor) 형의 FeRAM 소자를 BLT 박막을 적용하여 제작하였다. 솔-젤 (sol-gel) 용액을 이용하여 스핀코팅법으로 BLT 박막을 증착하고, 후속 열처리 공정을 RTP (rapid thermal process) 공정을 이용하여 수행하였다. 커패시터의 하부 전극 및 상부 전극은 각각 Pt/IrOx/lr 및 Pt을 적용하였다. 반응성 이온 에칭 (RIE: reactive ion etching) 공정을 이용하여 커패시터를 형성시킨 후, 32k-array (unit capacitor: $0.68\;{\mu}m$) 패턴에서 측정한 스위칭 분극 (dP=P*-P^) 값은 약 $16\;{\mu}C/cm^2$ 정도이고, 웨이퍼 내에서의 균일도도 2.8% 정도로 매우 우수한 특성을 보였다. 그러나 단위 셀들의 특성을 평가하기 위하여 bit-line의 전압을 측정한 결과, 약 10% 정도의 커패시터에서 불량이 발생하였다. 그리고 이러한 불량 젤들은 매우 불규칙적으로 분포함을 확인할 수 있었다. 이러한 불량 원인을 파악하기 위하여 양호한 젤과 불량이 발생한 셀에서의 BLT 박막의 미세구조를 분석하였다. 양호한 셀의 BLT 박막 입자들은 불량한 셀에 비하여 작고 비교적 균일한 크기를 갖고 있었다. 이에 비하여 불량한 셀에서의 BLT 박막에는 과대 성장한 입자들이 존재하고 이에 따라서 입자 크기가 매우 불균질한 것으로 확인되었다. 또 이러한 과대 성장한 입자들은 거의 모두 c-축 배향성을 나타내었다. 이상의 실험 결과들로부터, BLT 박막을 이용하여 제작한 FeRAM 소자에서 발생하는 불규칙한 셀 불량의 주된 원인은 c-축 배향성을 갖는 과대 성장한 입자의 생성임을 알 수 있었다. 즉 BLT 박막을 이용하여 FeRAM 소자를 제작하는 경우, 균일한 크기의 입자 및 c-축 배향성의 입자 억제가 매우 중요한 기술적 요소임을 알 수 있었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07b
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• pp.624-627
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• 2003

The BLT thin-films were one of the promising ferroelectric materials with a good leakage current and degradation behavior on Pt electrode. The BLT target was sintered at $1100^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours at the air ambient. $Bi_{3.25}La_{0.75}Ti_3O_{12}$ (BLT) thin-film deposited on $Pt/Ti/SIO_2/Si$ wafer by rf magnetron sputtering method. At annealed $700^{\circ}C$, (117) and (006) peaks appeared the high intensity. The hysteresis loop of the BLT thin films showed that the remanent polarization ($2Pr=Pr^+-Pr^-$) was $16uC/cm^2$ and leakage current density was $1.8{\times}10^{-9}A/cm^2$ at 50 kV/cm with coersive electric field when BLT thin-films were annealed at $700^{\circ}C$. Also, the thin film showed fatigue property at least up to $10^{10}$ switching bipolar pulse cycles under 7 V. Therefore, we induce access to optimum fabrication condition of memory device application by rf-magnetron sputtering method in this report.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2001

Current status and prospects of FET-type FeRAMs (ferroelectric random access memories) are reviewed. First, it is described that the most important issue for realizing FET-type FeRAMs is to improve the data retention characteristics of ferroelectric-gate FETs. Then, necessary conditions to prolong the retention time are discussed from viewpoints of materials, device structure, and circuit configuration. Finally, recent experimental results related to the FET-type memories are introduced, which include optimization of a buffer layer that is inserted between the ferroelectric film and a Si substrate, development of a new ferroelectric film with a small remnant polarization value, proposal and fabrication of a 1T2C-type memory cell with good retention characteristics, and so on.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.287-287
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• 2007

The ferroelectric and electric properties of UV-irradiated bismuth lanthanum titanate (BLT) films prepared using photosensitive starting precursors were characterized. The effects of lanthanum doping on ferroelectric and electric properties were investigated by polarization-electric field hysteresis loops and leakage current-voltage measurements. X-ray diffractometer and ellipsometry were served to provide the information about the crystalline structure and thickness of the films after annealing. The images of the surface microstructure and direct-patterned BLT films were observed by using scanning electron microscopy. The effects of lanthanum doping on the electric properties of direct-pattern able BLT films and their direct-patterning were studied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.305-309
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• 2002

We have successfully fabricated a Metal-Ferroelectric-Insulator-Semiconductor (MFIS) structure using Bi$\sub$4-x/La$\sub$x/Ti$_3$O$\sub$12/ (BLT) ferroelectric thin film and SiO$_2$/Nitride/SiO$_2$ (ONO) stacked buffer layers for single transistor type ferroelectric nonvolatile memory applications. BLT films were deposited on 15 nm-thick ONO buffer layer by sol-gel spin-coating. The dielectric constant and the leakage current density of prepared ONO film were measured to be 5.6 and 1.0 x 10$\^$-8/ A/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 2MV/cm, respectively, It was interesting to note that the crystallographic orientations of BLT thin films were strongly effected by pre-bake temperatures. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that (117) crystallites were mainly detected in the BLT film if pre-baked below 400$^{\circ}C$. Whereas, for the films pre-baked above 500$^{\circ}C$, the crystallites with preferred c-axis orientation were mainly detected. From the C-V measurement of the MFIS capacitor with c-axis oriented BLT films, the memory window of 0.6 V was obtained at a voltage sweep of ${\pm}$8 V, which evidently reflects the ferroelectric memory effect of a BLT/ONO/Si structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.73-74
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• 2006

Ferroelectric thin films have been widely investigated for future nonvolatile memory application. We fabricated the BLT ($(Bi,La)_4Ti_3O_{12}$) films on Si using a STA ($SrTa_2O_6$) buffer layer BLT and STA film were prepared by sol-gel method. Measurement data by XRD and AFM, showed that BLT film and STA films were well crystallized and a good surface morphology. From C-V measurement reward that the Au/BLT/STA/Si structure showed a clockwise hysteresis loop with a memory window of 1.5 V for the bias voltage sweep of ${\pm}5$ V. From results, the Au/BLT/STA/Si structure is useful for FeFETs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.236-236
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• 2008

(Bi,La)$Ti_3O_{12}$(BLT) thin film is one of the most attractive materials for ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) applications due to its some excellent properties such as high fatigue endurance, low processing temperature, and large remanent polarization [1-2]. The authors firstly investigated and reported the damascene process of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) for BLT thin film capacitor on behalf of plasma etching process for fabrication of FRAM [3]. CMP process could prepare the BLT capacitors with the superior process efficiency to the plasma etching process without the well-known problems such as plasma damages and sloped sidewall, which was enough to apply to the fabrication of FRAM [2]. BLT-CMP characteristics showed the typical oxide-CMP characteristics which were related in both pressure and velocity according to Preston's equation and Hernandez's power law [2-4]. Good surface roughness was also obtained for the densification of multilevel memory structure by CMP process [3]. The well prepared BLT capacitors fabricated by CMP process should have the sufficient ferroelectric properties for FRAM; therefore, in this study the electrical properties of the BLT capacitor fabricated by CMP process were analyzed with the process parameters. Especially, the effects of CMP pressure, which had mainly affected the removal rate of BLT thin films [2], on the electrical properties were investigated. In order to check the influences of the pressure in eMP process on the ferroelectric properties of BLT thin films, the electrical test of the BLT capacitors was performed. The polarization-voltage (P-V) characteristics show a decreased the remanent polarization (Pr) value when CMP process was performed with the high pressure. The shape of the hysteresis loop is close to typical loop of BLT thin films in case of the specimen after CMP process with the pressures of 4.9 kPa; however, the shape of the hysteresis loop is not saturated due to high leakage current caused by structural and/or chemical damages in case of the specimen after CMP process with the pressures of 29.4 kPa. The leakage current density obtained with positive bias is one order lower than that with negative bias in case of 29.4 kPa, which was one or two order higher than in case of 4.9 kPa. The high pressure condition was not suitable for the damascene process of BLT thin films due to the defects in electrical properties although the better efficiency of process. by higher removal rate of BLT thin films was obtained with the high pressure of 29.4 kPa in the previous study [2].