Highly Reliable 0.15 µm/14 F2 Cell Ferroelectric Random Access Memory Capacitor Using SrRuO3 Buffer Layer

We investigated a novel technique of modifying the interface between a Pb(Zr x Ti 1- x )O 3 (PZT) thin film and electrodes for high density 64 Mbit ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) device. Using a SrRuO 3 buffer layer, we successfully developed highly reliable 0.15 µm/14 F 2 cell FRAM capacitors with 75-nm-thick polycrystalline PZT thin films. The SrRuO 3 buffer layer greatly enhanced ferroelectric characteristics due to the decrease in interfacial defect density. In PZT capacitors with a total thickness of 180 nm for whole capacitor stack, a remnant polarization of approximately 42 µC/cm 2 was measured with a 1.4 V operation. In addition, an opposite state remnant polarization loss of less than 15% was observed after baking at 150 °C for 100 h. In particular, we found that the SrRuO 3 buffer layer also played a key role in inhibiting the diffusion of Pb and O from the PZT thin films.