Effect of hydrogen anneals on niobium-doped lead zirconate titanate capacitors with lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide/platinum electrodes

Ferroelectric capacitors, being oxide ceramics, are very sensitive to the effects of hydrogen environments at elevated temperatures [H. Ashida et al.: Integr. Ferroelectr. 21 (1998) 97]. After a capacitor has been exposed directly to a annealing hydrogen environment at low hydrogen partial pressures, the electrical properties of the device can deteriorate and leakage currents can increase. At higher hydrogen concentration gradients, such as the formidable forming gas annealing, physical failure of the inter-layer dielectric (ILD) and/or top electrode adhesion can occur. The authors have examined various structural approaches to mitigate the effects of hydrogen damage on integrated ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) capacitors. These approaches, including the use of a titanium dioxide barrier layer above the PZT to impede the reducing effect of hydrogen on the ceramic and the use of electrode layers other than platinum to eliminate the generation of free hydrogen ions by catalyst action [S. Aggarwal et al.: Appl. Phys. Lett. 73 (1998) 1973]. The authors have found that niobium-doped PZT capacitors using LSCO/platinum electrodes passivated with titanium dioxide will recover from 1% forming gas annealing within 30 minutes at 450 degrees C in nitrogen.