Influence of substrate temperature on the chemical and microstructural properties of MO-CVD ZrTiO4 thin films

In the last few years, intensive research activity has been focused on the development of suitable synthesis methods for high-permittivity materials, used for the realization of next-generation microdevices able to fulfil the previsions of the Technology Roadmap of Semiconductors. The use of high-permittivity materials can overcome the difficulties concerning the production of SiO₂-based ultra-thin dielectrics, such as the generation of pinholes and the non-uniformity of the film, which may result in a malfunction in high-density systems. Recently, zirconium titanate thin films were discovered to have very interesting dielectric properties, which suggests a use for them in microwave integrated systems, such as receivers or DRAMs, since they are monophasic, have little dissipation and show a good thermal stability and a high value for the dielectric constant, independent of frequency in the range from kilohertz to a few gigahertz. Real application is possible only in strict connection with the development of a suitable preparation method which allows production with controlled and reproducible characteristics. In this work, the synthesis and characterization of Zr_xTi_1-xO₄ (ZT) thin films grown via MO-CVD is described, studying the influence of growth parameters on their structural, chemical and physical properties. Received: 17 June 2002 / Accepted: 24 June 2002 / Published online: 4 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +39-06/9067-2445, E-mail: Pad@mlib.cnr.it