Understanding the EOT-Jg degradation in Ru/SrTiOx/Ru metal-insulator-metal capacitors formed with Ru atomic layer deposition

Display Omitted Ru/SrTiOx/Ru capacitors were made with different Ru top electrodes.SrRuTiOx inter-layer formation degraded the electrical properties of the capacitors.Oxygen during ALD and increased deposition temperature had a detrimental impact. The impact of different Ru precursors and/or deposition methods on the electrical characteristics of Ru/SrTiOx/Ru capacitors has been investigated. The observed increase of the leakage current density (Jg) and the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) for ALD (atomic layer deposition) deposited Ru layers compared to PVD (physical vapor deposition) deposited ones was found to be caused by a SrRuTiOx layer formation at the SrTiOx/Ru interface aided by the presence of the oxygen co-reactant used during the ALD, regardless of the precursor used.