Electrical Characterization of Advanced MIM Capacitors With ZrO₂ Insulator for High-Density Packaging and RF Applications

This paper deals with the electrical and wideband frequency characterizations of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors integrating the medium-k material ZrO2. First, the in situ material electrical properties are characterized in a frequency range from dc up to 5 GHz by using a microstrip waveguide method. The loss tangent and the permittivity are extracted with frequencies up to 5 GHz. We then investigate the evolution with frequency of the electrical parameters, such as capacitance density, quality factor, temperature coefficient of capacitance, voltage coefficient of capacitance, and cut-off frequency for MIM capacitors which incorporate ZrO2dielectric layers with thickness from 10 to 45 nm.