Improvement in ferroelectricity of Hf<i>_x</i>Zr₁₋<i>_x</i>O₂thin films using ZrO₂seed layer

Abstract

The effect of crystallized ZrO2 (ZrO2-seed), amorphous Hf0.43Zr0.57O2 (HZO; HZO-seed), and amorphous Al2O3 (Al2O3-seed) seed layers on the ferroelectricity of HZO films was investigated. The remanent polarization () of a TiN-electroded capacitor with a ZrO2-seed layer was much larger than that of capacitors with a HZO-seed, Al2O3-seed, or no seed layer. Furthermore, the maximum 2Pr was exhibited when the thickness of the ZrO2-seed layer was 2 nm. Large grain growth was observed, which satisfied the same lattice pattern between ZrO2 and HZO films, and indicates that the ZrO2 seed layer plays an important role in the nucleation of the HZO film.