PECVD OF BATIO3

THE USE OF PEROVSKITES SUCH AS BATIO3 AS THIN FILM FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS IN MICROELECTRONICS AND PHOTONICS HAS BEEN LIMITED BY MATERIALS PROCESSING AND COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS. HIGH QUALITY FERROELECTRIC THIN FILMS HAVE NOT BEEN GROWN AT TEMPERATURES COMPATIBLE WITH STANDARD SI OR GAAS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY. CONSIDERING THE SUPERB ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE MATERIALS AS WELLAS THEIR POTENTIAL FOR USE IN THE PRODUCTION OF LOW COST DRAMS AND NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICES, THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THIN FILM DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH QUALITY FERROELECTRIC THIN FILMS AT LOW TEMPERATURES ISESPECIALLY IMPORTANT. UTILIZING TECHNIQUES RECENTLY DEVELOPED AT ATM FOR THE DEPOSITION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS BY METALORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (MOCVD), A NOVEL PLASMA-ENHANCED MOCVD PROCESS FOR THE DEPOSITION OF BATIO3 AT TEMPERATURES COMPATIBLE WITH SILICONPROCESSING IS PROPOSED. THE SPECIFIC GOAL OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO DEPOSIT A-AXIS ORIENTED BATIO3 THIN FILMS ON SI(100) AT TEMPERATURES BELOW 650 DEGREES CENTIGRADE BY PLASMA ENHANCED MOCVD. PROTOTYPE RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY DEVICES BASED ON BATIO3 FERROELECTRIC CAPACITOR STORAGE CELLS WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED IN PHASE II. LIFETIMES IN EXCESS OF 10(12) WRITE/READ/INVERT ACCESSES AND POWER-OFFMEMORY RETENTION OVER ONE YEAR, WHICH REPRESENT A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OVER STATE-OF-THE-ART FERROELECTRIC MEMORY CELLS, ARE TARGETED.