Alleviation of Charge Trapping and Flicker Noise in HfZrO2-Based Ferroelectric Capacitors by Thermal Engineering

In this article we proclaim excellent improvement in the defect densities in hafnium zirconium oxide based ferroelectric film obtained by extending the duration of post-metallization annealing up to 180s. The consequences of extending the annealing duration on the structure and surface morphology was gauged by XRD analysis, HR-TEM and AFM, which showed increase in the grain size, well defined crystallinity, lower defect densities and negligible impact on surface roughness. The electrical characterization revealed reduction in RC leakage along with a significant improvement in flicker noise and random telegraphic noise characteristics, which proves reduction of defect densities when the annealing time is increased.