Metal?organic chemical vapor deposition of ferroelectric aluminum scandium nitride

Alloys of aluminum nitride (AlN) with scandium nitride ScN – aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) are of significant technological interest due to the piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and nonlinear optical properties. AlScN can be utilized for the fabrication of the high-performance acoustic microelectromechanical (MEMS) filters. AlScN provides a promising platform for photonic integration and facilitate the seamless integration of passive and active functional devices. AlScN films can also boost the performance of nitride-based electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), and can be used to fabricate ferroelectric memory devices. Importantly, epitaxial integration of AlScN with AlN HEMTs provides distinct opportunities for the incorporation of ferroelectric functionality into nitride devices. HEMTs with ferroelectric gates (FerroHEMTs) represent a new material platform for combining memory and logic functionalities in digital electronics.The industrial implementation of AlScN will benefit from the ability to grow this material using Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) – the technique that boasts high growth rate and scalability. Unfortunately, due to the low volatility of scandium precursor, growth cannot be performed using the commercial MOCVD systems. To overcome this challenge, RMD will design and assemble the special system for MOCVD of AlScN. High crystalline quality fully epitaxial ferroelectric AlScN films will be demonstrated at 1-inch wafers during the Phase I. In Phase II, the growth will be scaled to 4-inch wafers.