Synchrotron radiation x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on the interface chemistry of high-k PrxAl2−xO3 (x=0–2) dielectrics on TiN for dynamic random access memory applications

Engineered dielectrics combined with compatible metal electrodes are important materials science approaches to scale three-dimensional trench dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cells. Highly insulating dielectrics with high dielectric constants were engineered in this study on TiN metal electrodes by partly substituting Al in the wide band gap insulator Al2O3 by Pr cations. High quality PrAlO3 metal-insulator-metal capacitors were processed with a dielectric constant of 19, three times higher than in the case of Al2O3 reference cells. As a parasitic low dielectric constant interface layer between PrAlO3 and TiN limits the total performance gain, a systematic nondestructive synchrotron x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on the interface chemistry of PrxAl2−xO3 (x=0–2) dielectrics on TiN layers was applied to unveil its chemical origin. The interface layer results from the decreasing chemical reactivity of PrxAl2−xO3 dielectrics with increasing Pr content x to reduce native Ti oxide compounds present on unprotected TiN films. Accordingly, PrAlO3 based DRAM capacitors require strict control of the surface chemistry of the TiN electrode, a parameter furthermore of importance to engineer the band offsets of PrxAl2−xO3∕TiN heterojunctions.