Leakage Mechanism of Ferroelectric Al0.7Sc0.3N Ultra-thin Film

The remarkable ferroelectric properties discovered in scandium-doped aluminum nitride (AlScN) has generated tremendous research interest. Preliminary investigations indicate that the Al
1-x
Sc
x
N could encounter substantial leakage current when scales down the thickness, potentially limiting its practical implementation on memory applications. In this work, taking the 50 nm and 30 nm ultra-thin Al
0.7
Sc
0.3
N films as vehicle, we systematically analyzed the key factor contributing the leakage current via Poole-Frenkel (P-F) emission fitting. The result shows that it is the defect concentration leading to the large leakage instead of the trap energy level (Φ
T
).