A Ru-Pt alloy electrode to suppress leakage currents of dynamic random-access memory capacitors

Rutile TiO₂, a high temperature phase, has attracted interest as a capacitor dielectric in dynamic random-access memories (DRAMs). Despite its high dielectric constant of >80, large leakage currents caused by a low Schottky barrier height at the TiO₂/electrode interface have hindered the use of rutile TiO₂ as a commercial DRAM capacitor. Here, we propose a new Ru-Pt alloy electrode to increase the height of the Schottky barrier. The Ru-Pt mixed layer was grown by atomic layer deposition. The atomic ratio of Ru/Pt varied in the entire range from 100 at.% Ru to 100 at.% Pt. Rutile TiO₂ films were inductively formed only on the Ru-Pt layer containing ≤43 at.% Pt, while anatase TiO₂ films with a relatively low dielectric constant (∼40) were formed at Pt compositions > 63 at.%. The Ru-Pt (40-50 at.%) layer also attained an increase in work function of ∼0.3-0.4 eV, leading to an improvement in the leakage currents of the TiO₂/Ru-Pt capacitor. These findings suggested that a Ru-Pt layer could serve as a promising electrode for next-generation DRAM capacitors.