Impact of operation voltage and NH3 annealing on the fatigue characteristics of ferroelectric AlScN thin films grown by sputtering.

This work investigates the impact of the magnitude of cycling voltage on the fatigue characteristics of 40 nm-thick AlScN ferroelectric thin film. The fatigue rate and the rejuvenation of remanent polarization vary with the cycling voltage. The primary fatigue mechanism is identified to be the interfacial layer formation and domain wall pinning at high and low cycling voltages, respectively. Additionally, annealing the film under the NH3 atmosphere decreases the fatigue rate and improves endurance by eliminating impurities in the film. The amount of trapped charges at the interface also decreases after NH3 annealing, leading to a reduction in leakage current. Furthermore, the ferroelectric performance of the AlScN film is not degraded after the thermal annealing at 900 °C under the NH3 environment, suggesting its robustness against the severe thermal budget. It is concluded that NH3 annealing is a promising method to address the reliability issue of the AlScN film.

Polarizing and depolarizing charge injection through a thin dielectric layer in a ferroelectric-dielectric bilayer.

Charge injection from the near-by-electrode can occur during ferroelectric switching in the ferroelectric-dielectric bilayer due to the high field applied to the adjacent dielectric layers. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the charge injection by separating the amount of switched polarization and the injected charge density. A dynamic model of the injection-involved switching is developed and exploited to elucidate the mechanism. The model demonstrates that the amount of injected charges, which compensates for the bound charge of the polarization, can be larger, smaller, or identical to that of the polarization. This model further describes the analytical conditions of this compensation state. The model predictions are validated by the newly introduced ramping pulse measurements involving the serially connected TiN/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/TiN and TiN/amorphous Al2O3/TiN, which are capable of separating the injected charge from the switched polarization. The dynamic model, along with the electrical measurements, enables the quantitative prediction and estimation of the internal potential and the effective charge, which is the sum of the bound and injected charges in the bilayer. This work provides fundamental insights into field-effect devices such as the next-generation ferroelectric-field-effect-transistors with NAND architecture based on uncompensated ferroelectric charges.

A Comparative Study on the Ferroelectric Performances in Atomic Layer Deposited Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Thin Films Using Tetrakis(ethylmethylamino) and Tetrakis(dimethylamino) Precursors.

The chemical, physical, and electrical properties of the atomic layer deposited Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films using tetrakis(ethylmethylamino) (TEMA) and tetrakis(dimethylamino) (TDMA) precursors are compared. The ligand of the metal-organic precursors strongly affects the residual C concentration, grain size, and the resulting ferroelectric properties. Depositing Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films with the TDMA precursors results in lower C concentration and slightly larger grain size. These findings are beneficial to grow more ferroelectric-phase-dominant film, which mitigates its wake-up effect. From the wake-up test of the TDMA-Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 film with a 2.8 MV/cm cycling field, the adverse wake-up effect was well suppressed up to 105 cycles, with a reasonably high double remanent polarization value of ~40 µC/cm2. The film also showed reliable switching up to 109 cycles with the 2.5 MV/cm cycling field without involving the wake-up effect but with the typical fatigue behavior.

Modeling of Negative Capacitance in Ferroelectric Thin Films.

The negative capacitance (NC) effect in ferroelectric thin films has attracted a great deal of attention from the material and semiconductor device communities because it could be a possible solution to the impending problems related to field-effect transistor power consumption and dynamic random-access memory charge loss. A short discussion on the fundamental premise of the NC effect is presented. A phase-field model based on the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) formalism in conjunction with the Chensky-Tarasenko (C-T) formalism for multidomain configuration is then developed to reveal the subtle correlation between the domain wall motion and NC effect for different thicknesses of ferroelectric and dielectric films. When a ferroelectric film becomes thin enough, a stripe domain structure can be achieved through competition between the electrostatic energy and domain wall energy. This stripe domain structure is quite resilient to transition to a homogeneous polarization state, making it very useful for (quasi-)static NC operation. Finally, the physical implications of the numerical results are explored with analytical modeling. It is identified that the domain wall motion in the stripe domain structure remains dominated by the external field, even when the entire film is in the (quasi-)static NC state.

Accuracy of modified CAD/CAM generated wafer for orthognathic surgery.

The aim of this study was to investigate an accuracy of modified CAD/CAM generated wafers for orthognathic surgery. A total of 20 patients who had undergone bimaxillary orthognathic surgery were included and divided into two groups: A conventional CAD/CAM generated intermediate wafer and a modified CAD/CAM generated intermediate wafer. A series of CT images were taken to compare the virtual simulations with the actual postoperative outcomes(1 month after surgery). In conventional group, the mean difference of maxillary position between virtual simulation models and postoperative results was 0.78mm and overall average error within 1mm was observed in 66.4% of the repositioned maxilla. In modified group, the mean difference was 0.77mm and overall average error within 1mm was observed in 68.3%. There were no significant statistic differences between two groups in maxillary position. This study suggests that the CAD/CAM generated wafer provides excellent accuracy. The modified CAD/CAM wafer was only comparable to conventional design in accuracy and it cannot guarantee the superior precision. However, the modified design could be beneficial in cases with unstable condylar position or for inexperienced surgeons.

Dispersion in Ferroelectric Switching Performance of Polycrystalline Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Thin Films.

Interests in nanoscale integrated ferroelectric devices using doped HfO2-based thin films are actively reviving in academia and industry. The main driving force for the formation of the metastable non-centrosymmetric ferroelectric phase is considered to be the interface/grain boundary energy effect of the small grains in polycrystalline configuration. These small grains, however, can invoke unfavorable material properties, such as nonuniform switching performance. This study provides an in-depth understanding of such aspects of this material through careful measurement and modeling of the ferroelectric switching kinetics. Various previous switching models developed for conventional ferroelectric thin-film capacitors cannot fully account for the observed time- and voltage-dependent switching current evolution. The accurate fitting of the experimental results required careful consideration of the inhomogeneous field distribution across the electrode area, which could be acquired by an appropriate mathematical formulation of polarization as a function of electric field and time. Compared with the conventional polycrystalline Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 film, the statistical distribution of the local field was found to be three times wider. The activation field and characteristic time for domain switching were larger by more than 1 order of magnitude. It indicates that doped HfO2 is inhomogeneous and "hard" ferroelectric material compared with conventional perovskite-based ferroelectrics.

Voltage Drop in a Ferroelectric Single Layer Capacitor by Retarded Domain Nucleation.

Ferroelectric (FE) capacitor is a critical electric component in microelectronic devices. Among many of its intriguing properties, the recent finding of voltage drop (V-drop) across the FE capacitor while the positive charges flow in is especially eye-catching. This finding was claimed to be direct evidence that the FE capacitor is in negative capacitance (NC) state, which must be useful for (infinitely) high capacitance and ultralow voltage operation of field-effect transistors. Nonetheless, the NC state corresponds to the maximum energy state of the FE material, so it has been widely accepted in the community that the material alleviates that state by forming ferroelectric domains. This work reports a similar V-drop effect from the 150 nm thick epitaxial BaTiO3 ferroelectric thin film, but the interpretation was completely disparate; the V-drop can be precisely simulated by the reverse domain nucleation and propagation of which charge effect cannot be fully compensated for by the supplied charge from the external charge source. The disappearance of the V-drop effect was also observed by repeated FE switching only up to 10 cycles, which can hardly be explained by the involvement of the NC effect. The retained reverse domain nuclei even after the subsequent poling can explain such behavior.

Preparation and characterization of ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films grown by reactive sputtering.

HfO2-ZrO2 solid-solution films were prepared by radio frequency sputtering, and the subsequent annealing process was optimized to render enhanced ferroelectric behavior. The target power, working pressure and O2 partial pressure ratios were varied, along with the annealing gas, time and temperature. Then, the film's structural and electrical properties were carefully scrutinized. Oxygen-deficient conditions were necessary during the sputter deposition to suppress grain growth, while annealing by O2 gas was critical to avoid defects and leakage problems. It is expected that the grain size difference under various deposition conditions combined with the degree of TiN top and bottom electrode oxidation by O2 gas will result in different ferroelectric behaviors. As a result, Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 prepared by radio frequency sputtering showed optimized ferroelectricity at 0% of O2 reactive gas, with a doubled remnant polarization value of ∼20 µC cm-2 at a thickness of 11 nm. Film growth conditions with a high growth rate (4-5 nm min-1) were favorable for achieving the ferroelectric phase film, which feasibly suppressed both the grain growth and accompanying monoclinic phase formation.

Low-grade osteosarcoma arising from cemento-ossifying fibroma: a case report.

Cemento-ossifying fibromas are benign tumors, and, although cases of an aggressive type have been reported, no cases of cemento-ossifying fibroma transforming into osteosarcoma have been documented previously. Low-grade osteosarcoma is a rare type of primary bone tumor, representing 1%-2% of all osteosarcomas. A 45-year-old female patient was diagnosed with cemento-ossifying fibroma, treated with mass excision several times over a period of two years and eight months, and followed up. After biopsy gathered because of signs of recurrence, she was diagnosed with low-grade osteosarcoma. The patient underwent wide excision, segmental mandibulectomy, and reconstruction with fibula free flap. The aim of this report is to raise awareness of the possibility that cemento-ossifying fibroma can transform into osteosarcoma and of the consequent necessity for careful diagnosis and treatment planning.