A high-throughput search for electronic materials—thin-film dielectrics

✍ Scribed by R. B. van Dover; L. F. Schneemeyer; R. M. Fleming; H. A. Huggins

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 309 KB
• Volume: 61
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-3592
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(1998)61:4<217::aid-cc4>3.0.co;2-l

✦ Synopsis

Parallel synthesis together with highthroughput screening was used to identify candidate materials for integrated circuit applications that demand a superior high permittivity dielectric thin film. Specifically, we developed a "continuouscomposition spread" (CCS) technique to synthesize much of a pseudoternary oxide system in a single deposition and used this in conjunction with a high-throughput measurement protocol, thereby allowing each chemical system to be deposited and evaluated in about 24 h. This approach led to the identification of compositions in the Zr-Sn-Ti-O system with promising properties. The same technique was used to determine the optimum compositions as a function of processing parameters. Films with the composition Zr .2 Sn .2 Ti .6 O 2 were then prepared using a conventional synthetic technique (on-axis sputtering) and were verified to have excellent properties. Thus, the CCS technique has demonstrated utility in rapidly identifying and developing a useful new material.