This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a novel process for depositing and patterning contacts for use in ferroelectric thin film memory devices such as non-volatile and ultra-high density dynamic random access memories. Materials such as Ru, Ir, and their oxides are used with PbZrlxTixO3 and Bal-xSrxTiO3 dielectric films owing to resultant improved device performance as well as their ability to protect underlying plugs from oxygen diffusion during processing. The current lack of a convenient processing technology has limited the implementation of these electrode materials in devices. In collaboration with another firm , TPL proposes to develop a process to pattern the desired film using standard techniques. This will be accomplished through incorporation of photo-sensitive ligands into a precursor solution which also contains the desired cation. This obviates the need for separate photoresist, thereby eliminating process steps, and enables easy, low-cost patterning of otherwise difficult to pattern materials. Objectives are to demonstrate that electrode films can be patterned to high resolution, to characterize fully the resultant electrode films and to assess the feasibility of incorporating the technology into the device integration process. Commercial applications for the proposed technology include non-volatile memories for smart cards, and high-density (gigabit) DRAMs for computer applications.
