Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition of Zirconium Titanate thin films: study of their structural, chemical and electrical properties

Metalorganic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) appears to be one of the leading techniques for the preparation of a large variety of films and coatings of metals, semiconductors and compounds in either crystalline or vitreous form, possessing high purity and many desirable properties. In particular, for integrated applications of electroceramic materials, MOCVD is expected to have some distinct advantages over other deposition techniques, such as the possibility to produce films widely varying their stoichiometry, as well as low cost of the equipment and operating expenses, film thickness control, good deposition uniformity, possibility of treating large-area substrates and an acceptable compatibility with silicon technology. Even though several deposition techniques have been used in the latest years for the synthesis of high permittivity Zirconium titanate based materials (ZT), the real application of such materials is still connected to the development of a suitable deposition method which will allow to produce them maintaining the characteristics of high permittivity (?r = ~38), good thermal stability and low dielectric losses, required to fulfil the previsions of the Technology Roadmap of Semiconductors for the realization of next generation microdevices. In this work we describe the synthesis and characterization of ZrxTi1-xO4 (ZT) thin films grown via a non conventional home-built MOCVD apparatus, pointing out the relationship between the deposition parameters and the structural, chemical and physical properties of the materials.