Effect of processing temperature on characteristics of metal-ferroelectric (BiFeO₃)-insulator (HfLaO)-silicon capacitors

The effect of temperature in rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process on the physical and electrical properties of bismuth ferrite ceramic thin films on HfLaO/p-Si substrates has been investigated. In metal-ferroelectric-insulator- silicon (MFIS) capacitors, the high-k HfLaO dielectric layer was prepared as the insulator layer. On HfLaO/Si substrates the bismuth ferrite thin film was fabricated via sputtering process with a BiFeO₃ (BFO) target at room temperature followed by RTA. The RTA temperature ranged from 500 to 700 °C. It is found that the root mean square roughness of ceramic films increases for high-temperature process. The maximum ferroelectric memory window is 1.6 V obtained from a sweep voltage of ± 4 V at the lowest RTA temperature of 500 °C. This good ferroelectric memory performance can be attributed to the low leakage current as a result of smooth surface of nanocrystalline ferroelectric BFO and Bi₂Fe₄O₉ thin films.