Studies on Electrical Properties of RF Sputtered Deposited Boron Carbon Nitride Thin Films

Boron carbon nitride (BCN) films were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering from a B 4 C target and deposited to make metal-insulator-metal (MIM) sandwich structures using aluminum as the top and bottom electrodes. BCN films were deposited at various N 2 /Ar gas flow ratios, substrate temperatures. The electrical characterization of the MIM devices includes capacitance vs. voltage (C-V), current vs voltage, and breakdown voltage characteristics. The above characterizations were performed as a function of deposition parameters. By varying the nitrogen concentration in the deposited films and substrate deposition temperatures, the electrical properties of BCN can be tuned accordingly. BCN films having dielectric constant as low as 2.13 with high dielectric breakdown strength of 3.4 MV/cm and resistivity of 3 × 10 12 Ω.cm were achieved.