Oxygen Vacancy-Zr Content Synergy for Morphotropic Phase Boundary Towards High-Performance DRAM Applications

To advance DRAM technology, balancing high permittivity with reliability remains a critical challenge. This study achieves ultra-high permittivity (~67) and low leakage (3E-8 A/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at 0.8 V) in hafnium-based films through combined modulation of oxygen vacancy (V<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">O</inf>) and Zr content. TDDB and endurance tests confirm the superior reliability of these films. By adjusting ozone dose time during atomic layer deposition (ALD), oxygen vacancies are flexibly controlled, influencing phase ratio to induce morphotropic phase boundary and significantly enhance permittivity. The synergistic effect of Zr content further boosts permittivity while mitigating reliability issues. This co-modulation strategy overcomes traditional trade-offs between high permittivity and reliability, providing a promising approach for next-generation high-performance DRAM applications.