Dielectric constant and leakage of BaZrO3 films

Abstract

Dielectric properties of thin (<30 nm) BaZrO3 perovskite layers deposited onto TiN were investigated. Polycrystalline films show a dielectric constant of ∼40 and an optical band gap of ∼5.4 eV. Leakage currents of the polycrystalline BaZrO3 films are significantly higher than that of the corresponding amorphous layers. As evidenced by conductive atomic force microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and ab initio calculations, these currents may be due to hot spots and point defects related to Ti contamination of the dielectrics.