Mode1Iing of t hin-fiIm HTS/f er roelectric inter digitaI

capacitors

S.Gevorgian
E.Carlsson
S . Rudner
L.- D. We r n Iu nd
X.Wang
U. Helmersson

Indexing terms: Electrically tunable microwave device, Ferroelectricfilm, Interdigital capacitors, Superconducting FETs

mal mapping and partial capacitance techniques [101 to

Abstract: A simple analytical model is proposed develop a simple closed-form solution for the IDC
for interdigital capacitors incorporating thin structure shown in Fig. 1.
ferroelectric films.

1 Introduction

Structural and processing compatibility of high-temper- I

ature superconductors (HTS), e.g. YBa2Cu307-x Fig. 1 Thin STO film interdigital capacitor
(YBCO) and SrTi03 (STO), is a promising ground for
the development of a wide variety of electrically tune-
able small microwave devices [l]. Thin film HTSiferro- It is assumed that the dimensions of the IDC are
electric coplanar waveguides (CPW) [2, 31, resonators much less than the wavelength in the microwave
[4], gaps in microstrip [5], and interdigital capacitors devices and there is no capacitance contribution from
(IDC) [6] have been reported. Possible integration of nonadjacent fingers. The capacitance of this two lay-
these and YBa2Cu30,,/SrTi03 based active devices ered substrate IDC is assumed to be a sum of partial
such as weak link grain boundary junctions [7], and capacitances owing to air, substrate with an equivallent
superconducting field effect transistors (SuFET) [8] dielectric constant ( E ~- l), and a superstrate with a die-
may lead to the development of complex integrated lectric constant ( E -
~ E ~ ) .Further, the capacitance of an
HTS/ferroelectric devices for microwave and high- IDC with finger number n 2 3 is presented as a sum of
speed electronic subsystems. In this work a simple ana- the capacitances Cn of the periodic (n - 3) structures
lytical model is proposed for the capacitance of an IDC enclosed between the magnetic walls AA‘ and BB’,
based on thin ferroelectric films. The model of ferro- Fig. 1, a three-finger capacitor C,, and a correction
electric IDC is used for evaluation and analysis of the term for the fringing fields at the ends of the strips,
IDC assisted measurements of the dielectric properties Cend
of thin ferroelectric films and assessment of their qual-
ity. It is also a useful tool for device optimisation. c = c,+ cn + C e n d (1)
These capacitances are given as follows:
2 Capacitance model of thin ferroelectric film
I DC
Widely used analytic approximations [9] for IDC are where ko = s/(s + g) and kto = d[l - k$] are the moduli
limited to a single-layer substrate with low dielectric of the elliptic integrals, and
constant and equal finger width 2s and finger spacing
2g, Fig. 1. Approximations for thin ferroelectric film
(3)
IDC [6] give large errors. In this work we use confor-
0IEE, 1996
IEE Proceedings online no. 19960595 (4)
Paper frst received 13th November 1995 and in revised form 7th May
1996
S. Gevorgian and E. Carlsson are with the Department of Microwave
Technology, Chahners University of Technology, Goteburg, Sweden
S. Rudner and L.-D. Wernlund are with the Department of Sensor Tech-
nology, National Defence Research Establishment, Linkoping, Sweden
X. Wang and U. Helmersson are with the Department of Physics, 2 = 1,2
Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden (5)
IEE Psoc-Microw. Antennas Propag.. Vol. 143, No. 5. Octobes 1996 391
For a thin ferroelectric film, slh, >> 1, the last expres- taken into account: temperature, electric field, and
sion can be simplified to mechanical strain. The model of the dielectric constant
is based on a dynamic theory of the soft ferroelectric
mode [12]:
& ( ET, ) = E O O / @ ( E > T )
and k’,= d[l - e].
It is assumed that the condition hl 2
hz is fulfilled. The contribution from the other three
where
(17)

external fingers (one and a half on each side, Fig. 1) is

taken into account as a capacitance of a three-strip
coplanar waveguide:
t = [ ( E / E N Y + t2?.]”2 (19)
(7)
7 = (@/To)[1/16 + (T/0)2]1’2 1 - (20)
where
EN is a scaling field and is a measure of anharmonic
interactions in the lattice. For lower EN the sensitivity
of the crystal to the applied electric field is higher. 0 is
the Debye temperature of the crystal sublattice that
(9) results in ferroelectricity [14]. In this model the strain in
the crystal is presented by a parameter E,, = EdlEN,in
other words the strain is taken into account through
the electric field associated with point defects and dislo-
cations. The modal parameter sO0represents the dielec-
tric constant associated with the ferroelectric ‘soft’
phonons. It also follows from eqn. 17 and Curie-Weiss
law [ l l ] that = U T o ,where C is the Curie constant
and To is the ferroelectric transition temperature. In
actual ferroelectric films all modal parameters, includ-
ing the transition temperature To, depend on the film
quality, processing, annealing, etc. In this work they
are regarded as parameters to fit the dielectric constant
given by eqn. 17 with the experimentally observed tem-
and Idz3= d[1 IC?,], i = 1, 2. In the formulas s1 = s
-
perature and field dependencies.
should be used where the widths of external and middle Modelling of the dielectric losses in thin ferroelectric
fingers are the same. For long fingers, 11s >> 1, the films is a more complex problem. Experimental loss
results can be used for IDC computations without tak- tangent measurement in single crystalline bulk STO
ing into account the correction for the fringing fields at show increased losses at higher applied fields [12, 151,
the ends of the fingers. In this case the accuracy of the while in experiments with thin epitaxial films [4-61, and
computed capacitance is limited to 5-10%. Neverthe- ceramic films with large defect density [12] loss tangent
less, the capacitance of the finger end can be approxi- of STO decreases with increased electric field. Moreo-
mated by ver, in the experiments with BaSrTiO thin films [16] the
losses increased for one polarity of the bias field while
for a reversed bias they decreased. Low-frequency
(100kHz) temperature dependence of tans is even more
complex [6]. This qualitative discrepancy indicates that
loss mechanisms must be carefully studied and mod-
elled for each individual case. Some of the mechanisms
associated with soft-mode scattering are summarised in
[12, 171. In this work we use a simple analytical
approximation for the loss tangent [12]:
X
kOend =
f 2gend

sinh (E) @(E, r ) is given by eqn. 18, OI is the frequency of

kt e n d ( -i(z~~;-d! i = 1,2 (16) microwave signals, mM = kBWh is maximum frequency
of the sublattice mode, and the frequency woo is related
to the frequency of the polarisation mode oT by o $ =
Parameter x takes into account the fringing of the field oiq [14]. In eqn. 21 only mechanical stresses and four
near the finger end. The most reasonable value of x is phonon scattering are taken into account.
x = 0.5s [lo].
4 Experimental results and ~ ~ s c u s s ~ ~ n s

The STO films are prepared by RF sputtering in an

It has been shown that the dielectric constant of STO Ar+02+N20 gas mixture at temperatures up to 850°C
does not depend on frequency up to several hundred on 0.5mm thick LaA10, substrates [18]. In situ low
GHz [l11. Simple closed-form analytical expressions for temperature ( T = 600°C) and high temperature ( T >
the dielectric constant are given in [12-141. The depend- 1000°C) post annealing has been carried out in flowing
ence of the dielectric property on three basic factors is oxygen at 400 Torr, Table 1.
398 IEE pro^ -Microw Antennas Pvopag , Vol 143, No 5, October 1996
Table 1: Annealing conditions dependence to the experiment, Fig. 2. This fitting pro-
~~

cedure leads to a set of modal parameters shown in

Film (IDC) SB7b SB7c SEI SEI1 Table 2. The average electrical field in the film is esti-
Annealing temperature, "C in situ in situ post post mated using a simple conformal mapping based rela-
600 600 1150 1000 tion: E = 1//(2gK(k')) where V is the applied direct
Cooling rate, deg. C/min 3.9 3.9 4.3 4.3 voltage, K(k') is a complete elliptic integral as in eqn. 2.
A similar procedure is used to evaluate the capaci-
Interdigital capacitors are defined photolithographi- tances and modal parameters of the other films pre-
cally in 0 . 3 gold
~ films with Cr adhesive underlayer sented in Table 2.
sputter deposited on top of STO films. All capacitors
have n = 12 fingers and are I = 1.5mm long. Finger Table 2: Modal parameters of STO films
widths are 2s = 28pm, and finger separations, 2g = -
16p.The capacitance and loss tangent measurements
Parameter To,K coo 6,V/cm V/cm 0,K
are performed using a Booton capacitor bridge at Film (IDC)
1MHz. Measurements are carried out in a closed-cycle Bulk STO 40 2000 1.2 x I O 5 0 . 8 4 ~I O 5 400* 0.07
cryocooler. SB7b 50 790 0 . 6 5 ~IO5 1.1 x I O 5 300 1.69
Along with the dielectric constant and loss tangent SB7c 60 860 0.73 x I O 5 1.2 x I O 5 320 1.6~4
the quality of STO films for applications in tuneable
SEI 92 680 1.1 x I O 5 0.75 x I O 5 271 0.6!3
microwave devices is also given by the controllability
SEI 1 79 405 1.1 x I O 5 0 . 3 4 ~I O 5 280 0.31
SG18 74 570 1.3 x I O 5 0.52 x IO5 300 0.40
-
* Debye temperature of bulk STO
where &(E,7') and ~ ( 0 T, ) are the dielectric constants of
the film with and without external field. It is advisable
to distinguish between this controllability and tunabil- It follows from Fig. 3 that the dielectric constant of
ity since for the same controllability one can get differ- the film is substantially smaller compared with a bulk
ent tunabilities for different conditions (resonant modes STO. Also the slope of the experimental temperature
~91). dependence of the dielectric constant (hence the con-
trollability) is smaller than one can expect from the
~ " l ' ~ " " ~ " ' ' ~ ' ' ' '
theory. The discrepancy should be addressed to the
ov crystalline quality of film and to the interface of the
STO film with the Cr/Au electrodes.
Now we use the model of the dielectric constant
(eqn. 17) and make an assessment of the film quality.
The parameter coo represents the integral ferroelectric
properties of the film. It is related to the Curie constant
as = U T o and is smaller than the bulk value,
Table 2. The small value of the parameter 0 (is similar
to the Debye temperature [14]) indicates a low density
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
of the film. This partly may be due to the low packing
temperature, K density of the ions in the as-deposited film. The micro-
Fig.2 Capacitance dependency of SB7b sample on temperature scopic study of the films also indicates some lack of Sr
Symbols are experimental points ions in the STO film. The low dielectric constant of
these and other films in comparison with bulk STO
may be explained by possible size effects [20, 211. Tlhe
lower slope (low controllability) of the dielectric con-
stant is given both by the microscopic parameters of
the film and by the fildelectrode interface.
Although we did not detect a large hysteresis in tlhe
bias dependencies of the capacitance and dielectric con-
stant of the films it is worthwhile to think that the low
slopes are partly due to interface effects [8, 16, 221.
Owing to these effects and suppressed slope we could
not determine the transition temperature from the 1/
100 ~
~ ( 0 T),
, as it is usually done [ll].
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 In the experiments the electrodes have been etched
temperature, K away from the SB7b sample followed by a new AuJCr
Fig.3 Dielectric constant dependency of SB7b sample on temperature film deposition and IDC electrode patterning. This new
Symbols are experimental points sample is labelled as SB7c and show capacitance and
dielectric constant dependencies only slightly different
The experimental and modelled dependencies of from SB7b, Tables 1 and 2. Two other samples SE31
capacitance, dielectric constant and loss tangent of the and SG18 have been prepared to study the effects of
STO film for the sample SB7b are shown in Figs. 2-4. high temperature annealing. The new films and IDC
For the theoretical evaluation of the capacitance, the have been prepared using the same procedure and
models of the IDC (eqn. 1) and dielectric constant mask as in the case of SB7 samples. One of the sarn-
(eqn. 17) are used. The modal parameters of the STO ples, SEI, is annealed at 1150°C followed by a fast
film are chosen to fit the theoretical capacitance cooling, Table 1. The modal parameters of the film are
IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 143, No. 5, October 1996 399
given in the Table 2. After this measurement the STO scattering [12] given by eqn. 21. According to this
film was reannealed at 1150°C followed by slow cool- mechanism tans -
llT (scattering on defects) at low
ing. After repatterning of the electrodes the structure is -
temperatures, and tans T (scattering on phonons) at
labelled as SE11. The annealing and modal parameters higher temperatures. Such a performance is observed
of this sample are given in Tables 1 and 2. for SB7b, Fig. 4. For the paraelectric phase, T > To the
The annealing of the sample SE1 results in a reduc- computations based on eqn. 21 and modal parameters
tion of Ed and Estu = Ed/EN(stresses) in the STO film in from Table 2 predict loss tangent several orders of
comparison with the as-deposited films (SB7b and magnitude smaller in comparison with the experiments.
SB7c), Table 2. It follows from the physical meaning Hence we have to suggest other loss mechanisms. Since
of EN [12], that its increase is due to better ordering of the experimental temperature and field dependencies of
the ions in the lattice of the STO which results in a the tan6 agree qualitatively with the theory given above
rearrangement of the harmonic and anharmonic inter- one can conclude that the other loss mechanisms
actions between ions and reduces the effective ionic should have very weak field dependencies (Fig. 4).
charge. This structural rearrangement also results in an Losses in 0.3 pm-thick electrodes [6],size effect [21, 221,
increased transition temperature and reduced so bulk [16] and surface conductivity and stresses are
that the Curie constant C = E ~ changes~ T only~ slightly. among other possible loss mechanisms. Ferroelectric
The reannealing of the STO film and slow cooling, films are actually clamped owing to the difference in
sample SE11, leads to a further reduction of the the temperature dependencies of the linear expansion
stresses and transition temperature with small changes coefficients of the film and substrate. This clamping
in the modal parameters, Table 2. A similar perform- may affect both the losses and the dielectric constant of
ance is observed for the SG18 sample. Modal parame- the film.
ters of this sample are given in Table 2. Both SE1 and For all films tans is decreased with increasing applied
SGl8 have higher dielectric constants in comparison field as follows from eqn. 21. It also follows from eqns.
with the as-deposited SB7b and SB7c samples. Larger 16 and 21 that mechanical stresses act as the external
controllability and dielectric constants are achieved for electric field and will increase the losses where these
annealed samples. stresses decrease. In addition, and in contrast to this
24
effect it is assumed [23, 241 that the microwave losses
associated with piezoelectric transformation of micro-
22 wave power increase with increased stresses.

20
r

10
18 The model of the interdigital capacitor has been used
C
for monitoring and analysing the dielectric properties
3 16
of thin ferroelectric films. The dielectric properties of
14 the film are correlated to its crystalline structure using
a simple model of STO. The results of the analysis may
12 be used for optimisation of growth and annealing proc-
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
temperature, K esses of the films and reducing the effects of electrode/
Fig.4 Loss tangent dependency of SB7b sample on temperature ferroelectric interface. The model can be used to opti-
Symbols are experimental points mise the design of IDC in the sense of minimum losses
and maximum controllability by selecting finger width
and gapwidth of IDC. Further improvement of the
model suggests a comprehensive study of all possible
mechanisms affecting the dielectric constant and the
losses of STO films.
Acknowledgment

S. Gevorgian thanks 0. Vendik, E. Kollberg, and L.

Madsen for useful discussions. The project is supported
by NUTEK.

0 100 150 200 250 300 eferences

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IEE Proc-Microw. Antennas Propug., Vol. 143, No. 5 . flctobcu 1996 40 1