Enhanced Dielectric Constant of HfO2 and Al2O3 Thin-Films with Silver Nanoparticles

Through an electron beam evaporation process, silver nanoparticles (Ag-nps) were introduced into dielectric thin-films. Silver incorporation into the oxide films resulted in a distribution of insulating Ag-nps at a density of ~10^12 particles/cm^2. For these samples, an enhancement of about two fold in dielectric constant was observed in both Al2O3 and HfO2. We attribute the dielectric constant enhancement to the polarizability of metallic nanoparticles. The dipole moment of the Ag-nps increased the stack dielectric constant in a frequency dependent manner. Because of the inherent relaxation frequency of the Ag-np dipoles and space-charge polarization, the dielectric constant was more strongly enhanced at lower frequencies (down to 100 Hz) relative to higher frequencies (up to 1 MHz). Gate leakage currents remained comparable between the control and nanocomposite samples. The Ag-nps also produced a memory effect. Potential applications of these Ag-np based films in CMOS devices are discussed.