METHOD FOR PREPARING A FERROELECTRIC MULTILAYER DEVICE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a ferroelectric multilayer device, in particular an ultrathin device, comprising an alternation of at least one layer of a first type and at least one layer of a second type. (no figure)

Description

Title of the invention: METHOD FOR PREPARING A FERROELECTRIC MULTILAYER DEVICE

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for preparing a ferroelectric multilayer device, in particular an ultra-thin device, comprising an alternation of at least one layer of a first type and at least one layer of a second type.

[0002] Ferroelectric memories, although less well known than their non-ferroelectric counterparts, particularly magnetic memories, are attracting increasing interest in the field of memory technology, particularly mass storage devices.

[0003] These ferroelectric materials, characterized by their ability to maintain a remanent electrical polarization, have quickly attracted the attention of scientists and engineers due to their unique properties. Their use in memory devices offers significant advantages: they are non-volatile, have short read-write times, use voltages compatible with silicon-based electronics and consume little energy.

[0004] In recent years, research on ferroelectric memories has been limited due to their dimensional scalability and incompatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Nevertheless, since the discovery of ferroelectricity in 10 nm thick HfO2 films in 2011, ferroelectric memories have attracted increasing interest from researchers and semiconductor manufacturers.

[0005] Several factors stabilize the non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic phase, which would be at the origin of this ferroelectric behavior of hafnium oxide, such as the thermal budget, the dopant concentration and the film thickness.

[0006] Despite the above-mentioned properties, HfO2-based materials present crucial challenges that must be overcome to meet the requirements of ferroelectric memories. One challenge is to reduce their operating voltage while meeting the thermal budget requirement of so-called "Backend-of-the-line" (BEOL) processes for preparing microelectronic structures and components, whose maximum permissible temperatures are below 450°C.

[0007] However, when the aim is to grow ultrathin films down to a thickness lower than the standard thickness of 10 nm, in particular for reasons of compactness, an increase in the annealing temperature is currently necessary to obtain the ferroelectric metastable phase and maintain the application properties, exceeding the permissible limit of BEOL technology.

[0008] The aim of the invention is to enable the implementation of a method for preparing a ferroelectric device which avoids the aforementioned drawbacks.

[0009] Thus, one aim of the invention is to provide a method for preparing a ferroelectric device, in particular an ultra-thin one, while allowing the preservation of a thermal budget compatible with BEOL technology.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide a preparation method making it possible to obtain devices which can be intended for ferroelectric memory applications operating at very low voltages.

[0011] Thus, according to a first aspect, the invention relates to a method for preparing a ferroelectric multilayer device M with n layers, n being greater than or equal to 2, consisting of or comprising an alternation of at least one layer A and at least one layer B,

[0012] said at least one layer A being, independently, made of or comprising a compound chosen from hafnium oxides (HfO2), hafnium-enriched hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), aluminum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), lanthanum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), gadolinium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), yttrium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), silicon-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), and silicon-doped hafnium oxides (HSO),

[0013] said at least one layer B being, independently, made of or comprising a compound chosen from zirconium oxides (ZrO2), hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO) enriched in zirconium and perovskites,

[0014] said method comprising the following steps: i. a preparation step on a substrate or a lower metal electrode of a multilayer device M' with n' layers, n' being greater than or equal to 3, with n' > n, comprising an alternation of said layers A and B, the first of the n' layers, in contact with the lower metal electrode, being a layer A, ii. a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (i), opposite said lower metal electrode, an upper metal electrode, iii. a step of annealing the device obtained at the end of step (ii), iv. a step of removing the upper metal electrode from the obtained device at the end of step (iii), v. selective etching of the n' - n upper layers, opposite the lower metal electrode, in particular the total one, to obtain on said lower metal electrode the multilayer device M, vi. optionally, a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (v), opposite said lower metal electrode, an upper metal electrode.

[0015] According to another aspect, the invention relates to a method for preparing a ferroelectric multilayer device M with n layers, n being from 2 to 100, preferably from 2 to 25, consisting of or comprising an alternation of at least one layer A and at least one layer B,

[0016] said at least one layer A being, independently, made of or comprising a compound chosen from hafnium oxides (HfO2), hafnium-enriched hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), aluminum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), lanthanum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), gadolinium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), yttrium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), silicon-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), and silicon-doped hafnium oxides (HSO),

[0017] said at least one layer B being, independently, made of or comprising a compound chosen from zirconium oxides (ZrO2), hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO) enriched in zirconium and perovskites,

[0018] said method comprising the following steps: i. a preparation step on a substrate or a lower metal electrode of a multilayer device M' with n' layers, n' being from 3 to 101, with n' > n, preferably between 3 and 26, comprising an alternation of said layers A and B, the first of the n' layers, in contact with the lower metal electrode, being a layer A, ii. a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (i), opposite said lower metal electrode, an upper metal electrode, iii. a step of annealing the device obtained at the end of step (ii), iv. a step of removing the upper metal electrode from the obtained device at the end of step (iii), v. selective etching of the n' - n upper layers, opposite the lower metal electrode, in particular the total one, to obtain on said lower metal electrode the multilayer device M, vi. optionally, a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (v), opposite said lower metal electrode, an upper metal electrode.

[0019] According to a particular embodiment, said method comprises the following steps: i. a preparation step on a substrate or a lower metal electrode of a multilayer device M' with n' layers, n' being from 3 to 101, with n' > n, preferably between 3 and 26, comprising an alternation of said layers A and B, the first of the n' layers, in contact with the lower metal electrode, being a layer A, ii. a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (i), opposite said lower metal electrode, an upper metal electrode, iii. a step of annealing the device obtained at the end of step (ii), iv. a step of removing the upper metal electrode from the obtained device at the end of step (iii), v. selective etching of the n' - n upper layers, opposite the lower metal electrode, in particular the total one, to obtain on said lower metal electrode the multilayer device M, vi. a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (v), opposite said lower metal electrode, an upper metal electrode.

[0020] By "zirconium-enriched hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising more than 50% at (atomic concentration) of ZrO2.

[0021] Among the perovskites, we can for example cite lead zirconate (PbZrO3), and lead hafniate (PbHfO3).

[0022] Examples of perovskites include lead zirconate (PbZrO3), lead hafniate (PbHfO3), PZT / PZO perovskites for Pb(Zr, Ti)O3, barium and strontium titanates (BST), and lead-free perovskites (e.g. LNO for LiNbO3, BFO for BiFeO3, NBT for Na0.5Bio.5Ti03).

[0023] By "hafnium-enriched hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising more than 50% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of HfO2.

[0024] By "aluminum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising from 0.1% to 10% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of Al2O3.

[0025] By "lanthanum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising from 0.1% to 10% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of lanthanum.

[0026] By "gadolinium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising from 0.1% to 10% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of gadolinium.

[0027] By "yttrium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising from 0.1% to 10% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of yttrium.

[0028] By "silicon-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO)" is meant in particular hafnium and zirconium oxides comprising from 0.1% to 10% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of SiO2.

[0029] By "silicon-doped hafnium oxides (HSO)" is meant in particular hafnium oxides comprising from 0.1% to 10% at, preferably approximately 1% at, of SiO2.

[0030] By "ferroelectric multilayer device M", it is meant in particular that the multilayer device is, when considered as a whole, ferroelectric. The device is thus globally ferroelectric, even if this is not necessarily the case for all the layers of said device.

[0031] Surprisingly, it has also been revealed that the multilayer device M is ferroelectric, despite the presence of layers which may be non-ferroelectric, or even anti-ferroelectric.

[0032] Without wishing to be restricted to any theory, the A layers, in particular the first, are likely to facilitate the formation of a ferroelectric material. The A layers are stable, even for thicknesses less than 10 nm.

[0033] Still without wishing to be restricted to any theory, the B layer(s) are likely to promote the transition between the tetragonal phase to the orthorhombic phase, thus stabilizing the ferroelectric phase.

[0034] This is counterintuitive because it could be considered that the B layer(s) crystallize faster than the A layers, creating a tensile stress on the upper layer, and resulting in a reduction of the activation energy to transform the tetragonal phase into the monoclinic phase. The monoclinic phases would have become dominant over the orthorhombic phase in the sample, making it impossible to form a final ferroelectric structure.

[0035] In addition, the B layer(s) are capable of reducing the annealing temperature of the structure, because they crystallize at lower temperatures.

[0036] By "ferroelectric" is meant in particular a device which has an electric polarization in the spontaneous state, polarization which can be reversed by the application of an external electric field, such as for example measured by current response to the applied voltage.

[0037] By “a layer A (or B) being, independently, made up of or comprising...”, it is meant in particular that the layers A may be different from each other, while still being made up of or comprising a compound chosen from the group defined above.

[0038] According to a particular embodiment, layers A (when there is more than one) and / or layers B (when there is more than one) are made up of or comprise the same compound as defined previously.

[0039] Thus, the device M, after step (iii) and after step (vi), when step (vi) is carried out, corresponds to an MFM device (for “Metal Ferroelectric Metal”), the preparation of which consists of depositing a ferroelectric multilayer material, in particular by ALD, between two metal electrodes.

[0040] According to a particular embodiment, n is from 2 to 25, in particular from 2 to 20, n being for example 2 or 3, in particular 3.

[0041] According to a particular embodiment, n' is from 3 to 26, in particular from 3 to 21, n' being for example 5.

[0042] According to a particular embodiment, the last layer of the multilayer device M is a layer A.

[0043] By "last layer of the multilayer device M" is meant in particular the layer furthest from the substrate or from the lower metal electrode.

[0044] According to a particular embodiment, the substrate is a substrate made of or comprising silicon.

[0045] According to a particular embodiment, the multilayer device M' is prepared by successive deposition of layers A and B, in particular by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique.

[0046] The atomic layer deposition technique is capable of developing conformal, homogeneous thin layers while controlling their thickness with a precision of less than a nanometer.

[0047] Typically, the ALD process begins by flooding the reaction chamber with a precursor that covers (or “adsorbs”) the exposed surface of the substrate. This process is called self-limiting because the precursor can only adsorb to the exposed areas; once all of these are covered, adsorption stops. A second gas is then introduced and reacts with the precursor to form the desired material. This second step is also self-limiting: once the available precursor sites are exhausted, the reaction stops. Both steps are repeated until the desired film thickness is achieved. The growth rate is usually quantified by growth per cycle (GPC). The typical ALD cycle consists of two half-cycles, sequential doses of precursor and co-reactant, which are separated by purge and pump steps, leading to self-limiting layer growth.Co-reactants and oxidants are usually sources of oxygen (H2O or oxygen plasma). To obtain the . multilayer material, different ALD monolayers are manufactured, alternating the precursor pulses.

[0048] According to a particular embodiment, the precursors of hafnium and zirconium oxides, during deposition by an atomic layer deposition technique, are halogenated precursors, in particular HfCl4 and ZrCl4rcspccti veinent.

[0049] According to another particular embodiment, organometallic precursors, such as TDMAZ (for Tetrakis-dimethylamino-zirconium-IV) can be used.

[0050] According to another embodiment, the multilayer device M' is prepared by successive deposition of layers A and B by other techniques well known to those skilled in the art, in particular by a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition), CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or PLD (Pulsed Laser Deposition) deposition technique.

[0051] According to a particular embodiment, the layers A and / or B of the multilayer device M and / or of the multilayer device M' have a thickness of from 0.5 to 5 nm, in particular approximately 2 nm.

[0052] According to a particular embodiment, the layers A have a thickness of from 0.5nm to 5nm, preferably approximately 2nm, and the layers B have a thickness of from 0.5nm to 5nm, preferably approximately 2nm.

[0053] According to a particular embodiment, the multilayer device M and / or the multilayer device M' have a thickness less than 50 nm, in particular less than or equal to 15 nm, in particular less than or equal to 10 or 6 nm.

[0054] The removal of step (iv) can be carried out using state-of-the-art techniques such as inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE), for example using halogenated gas (Cl2, BC13, CHF3) chemistry in association with other gases (Ar, N2, O2, He).

[0055] Other chemical removal techniques may be employed, for example to remove the titanium nitride layer, such as the mixture formed by the chemical elements of ammonia hydroxide (NH4OH), hydrogen peroxide H2O2 and deionized water H2O heated to 60°C.

[0056] The etching of step (v) makes it possible to reduce the thickness of the total stack.

[0057] Without wishing to be restricted to any theory, the etching of layers A and B during step (v) is selective because it exploits the difference in orientation / structure of said layers A and B. This selectivity is on the contrary not obtained for a standard, uniform and homogeneous ferroelectric material, for which the components of layers A and B would be mixed.

[0058] Experimentally, and as well known to those skilled in the art, the thicknesses of the structures can be controlled as a function of the immersion or etching time and the chemical composition of the liquids used.

[0059] According to a particular embodiment, the selective etching of step (v) is a total etching of the n' - n upper layers, opposite the lower metal electrode.

[0060] According to another particular embodiment, the selective etching of step (v) is partial (it is therefore not total). In this case, part or all of the n' - n upper layers is only partially etched and remains present on the device M.

[0061] According to a particular embodiment, the selective etching of step (v) is a wet or dry etching, in particular an etching (ALE), for example by plasma (anisotropic), or thermal (isotropic).

[0062] In general, and as well known to those skilled in the art, there are mainly two classes of etching processes: wet etching where the material is dissolved when immersed in a chemical solution. And dry etching where the material is sprayed or dissolved using reactive ions or a vapor phase etchant. When said material is dissolved, and without wishing to be restricted to any theory, it is typically the reaction of the material with ions or the like that creates volatile species.

[0063] The speed at which the etching process occurs is called the etch rate. The etching process is said to be isotropic if it proceeds in all directions at the same rate. If it proceeds in only one direction and depends strongly on the crystal structure of the material, then it is anisotropic. An important consideration in any etching process is the "selectivity" of the etchant. Selectivity is achieved when two different materials have different etch rates under the same conditions or when one material etches while the other does not. Selectivity is measured as the ratio between the different etch rates of the etchant for different materials. Anisotropic etching is possible because of the distinct crystal structures and orientations of the different materials that make up the multilayer structure.Exposure to different etching rates or chemical compositions is carried out depending on the crystallinity of the material.

[0064] For example, in the case of a multilayer structure of HfO2 and ZrO2, a thermal atomic layer etching (ALE) type etching can in particular be carried out using fluorination and ligand exchange reactions. HF can for example be used for fluorination and Sn(acac)2, A1C1(CH3)2 [dimethylaluminum chloride (DMAC)] or TiCl4 used as metal precursors for ligand exchange. The so-called "Atomic layer etching" (ALE) method is a method used for remove thin films with Angstrom precision using sequential, self-limiting surface reactions.

[0065] According to a particular embodiment, the invention relates to a method as described previously, in which: - Layer A of the device M' is predominantly amorphous; - Layer A of device M is predominantly orthorhombic; - Layer B of the M' device is predominantly tetragonal; - Layer B of device M is predominantly tetragonal.

[0066] By "dominantly amorphous, orthorhombic or tetragonal" is meant in particular that the layer is more than 50% amorphous, orthorhombic or tetragonal, respectively.

[0067] According to a particular embodiment, part of the annealing step (iii) can be combined with step (ii). Indeed, and by way of example, the thermal budget of the ALD process (400°C for 15 min) typically necessary for the deposition of a 10 nm TiN upper electrode layer can be sufficient for the crystallization of the last layer A or B, in particular A.

[0068] Annealing may be carried out by any technique well known to those skilled in the art, for example rapid thermal annealing (RTA), or annealing using a furnace, a hot plate, assisted by radiation, or using a laser.

[0069] According to a particular embodiment, the annealing of step (iii) is carried out at a temperature of 300 to 600°C, in particular of 300 to 500°C, in particular at approximately 400°C.

[0070] According to a particular embodiment, step (vi) is carried out.

[0071] According to a particular embodiment, step (vi) is not followed by a step of annealed.

[0072] According to a particular embodiment, the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (ii) and / or the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (vi) are deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

[0073] According to a particular embodiment, the lower metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (i) is in contact, opposite layer A, with a substrate.

[0074] According to a particular embodiment, the substrate is a substrate made of or comprising silicon.

[0075] According to a particular embodiment, the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (i) is deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

[0076] According to a particular embodiment, the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (i), the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (ii) and / or the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (vi) are made of or comprise a metal notably chosen from titanium, gold, aluminum, platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum, copper, and tungsten, a material comprising said metal, notably a metal nitride, for example TiN, WN, TaN, or MoN, or mixtures thereof.

[0077] According to a particular embodiment, the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (i), the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (ii) and / or the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (vi) have a thickness of from 2 to 500 nm, in particular from 2, 5 or 10 to 100 nm, in particular from 2 or 5 to 20 nm.

[0078] The substrate, or when it is absent, the lower metal electrode, may be planar or non-planar. Since the set of layers described above (the at least one layer A, the at least one layer B, and when they are present, the lower metal electrode and / or the upper metal electrode) generally has a constant thickness (typically a thickness being ±10%, in particular ±1%, of its average value), the set of layers described above has the same structural geometry as the substrate on which this set rests, or when it is absent, as the lower metal electrode on which it rests.

[0079] According to another aspect, the present invention also relates to a method for preparing three-dimensional structures comprising at least one device M as described previously, in particular a plurality of devices M, which is prepared according to the steps as described previously.

[0080] The device M according to the invention can be used in the preparation of ferroelectric MIM (Metal-Insulator-Metal) capacitances, in particular in a memory device. Definitions

[0081] As used herein, the value ranges in the form of "xy" or "from x to y" or "between x and y" include the bounds x and y, the integers between these bounds, as well as all other real numbers between these bounds. For example, "1-5", or "from 1 to 5" or "between 1 and 5" designates the integers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, as well as all other real numbers between 1 and 5. Preferred embodiments include each individual integer in the value range, as well as any subcombination of these integers and any set of real numbers between these integers. For example, preferred values ​​for "1-5" might include the integers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, etc.

[0082] As used herein, the term "about" refers to a range of values ​​within ± 10% of a specific value. For example, the expression "about 20" includes the values ​​of 20 ± 10%, or the values ​​of 18 to 22.

[0083] By layer is meant in particular a stratum of superimposed elements. This stratum generally refers to a layer whose physicochemical and structural properties are uniform and homogeneous, on the plane and over its depth.

[0084] By first layer, we mean in particular a layer in contact with a second layer and, optionally, with a substrate.

[0085] By second layer, we mean in particular a layer in contact with the first layer and with, when it exists, the third layer.

[0086] By third layer, we mean in particular a layer in contact with the second layer and with, when it exists, the fourth layer, and so on. FIGURES

[0087] [Fig.l] illustrates a device obtained according to a method according to the invention as described in example 1, step 1.

[0088] [Fig.2] illustrates a device obtained according to a method according to the invention as described in example 1, step 2.

[0089] [Fig.3] illustrates a device obtained according to a method according to the invention as described in example 1, step 3. EXAMPLES

[0090] Example 1: Preparation of a device according to a method of the invention

[0091] Step 1: Production of the ferroelectric stack

[0092] This step relates to the production of a stack of layers A and B on a substrate generally made of silicon (1) containing a lower metallic electrode (2) ([Fig.l]). Generally speaking, the MFM (Metal Ferroelectric Metal) capacitance as such is produced by techniques known in the prior art. [Fig.l] is a schematic representation of a top view of an elementary capacitance arranged on the rigid substrate. The configuration of [Fig.l] is given for information purposes in order to illustrate the principles of this invention. The stack of an elementary capacitance presented in [Fig.l] consists of lower (2) and upper (5) electrodes of metallic nature (for example titanium, gold, aluminum platinum, tungsten or any other metals used as collector) arranged on the rigid substrate (1).The lower (2) and upper (5) electrodes are made of materials with good electronic conductivity (e.g. TiN, TaN, W, etc.). In this example, titanium (TiN) electrodes with a thickness of 15 nm for the lower electrode (2) and 50 nm for the upper electrode (5) were used, obtained from vacuum deposition (PVD for Physical Vapor Deposition) or CVD (Chemical vapor deposition). The ferroelectric dielectric multilayer structure is an electronic insulator. In this example, it is a 2 nm thick layer of HfO2 (3) and 2 nm thick of ZrO2 (4) but it can be replaced by other materials as defined previously. In order to initiate the chemical reactions between the injected precursor and the sample surface, energy is needed. It is provided here in the form of thermal energy. Typical temperatures for these reactions are between 150°C and 300°C and depend on the type of precursor used. Ferroelectric thin films prepared by thermal ALD and using chlorinated precursors are deposited at 300°C, for example.In one embodiment, a HfO2 layer (3) is formed on a lower electrode (2) mounted in a reaction chamber using ALD in a repetitive sequence comprising pulsing a hafnium-containing precursor into the reaction chamber followed by pulsing a purge gas, and then pulsing a first oxygen-containing precursor into the chamber. Using ALD, a HfO2 layer is formed using HfCl4 as the hafnium-containing precursor, water vapor as the first oxygen-containing precursor, and argon as the purge gas and carrier gas. After forming the HfO2 layer (3), the ZrO2 layer (4) is formed on the HfO2 layer (3). The ZrO2 layer (4) is formed by ALD. In particular, one repetitive sequence includes the use of ZrCl4 as the zirconium-containing precursor with H2O vapor solution as the oxygen-containing precursor, and argon as the purge gas and carrier gas.The HfO2 / ZrO2 nanolaminate comprises multiple layers of the HfO2 / ZrO2 composite, the initial layer arranged on a lower electrode (2) being a layer of HfO2. (3) After this initial layer of HfO2(3), there are alternating layers of HfO2 and ZrO2, each with the desired layer thickness, by applying the appropriate number of cycles according to the GPC of each material. And the termination layer being a layer of HfO2 in this embodiment. After the ALD deposition process under these conditions, an amorphous material is generally obtained. The deposition of the upper electrode (5) is carried out and after complete integration of the MFM capacitance, the structure is subjected to thermal annealing at 400°C for Ih under nitrogen atmosphere, for example, thus obtaining a crystalline material with the orthorhombic phase and ferroelectric properties. Each unit layer will however have a different crystal orientation as shown in [Fig. 1]. .

[0093] The term "nanolaminate" refers to a composite film of ultrathin layers of two or more materials in a stack of layers, where the layers are alternating layers of materials of the composite film. Typically, nanolaminates have thicknesses in the nanometer order of magnitude. Each individual material layer of the nanolaminate can have thicknesses as low as one monolayer of material. A nanolaminate of HfO2 and ZrO2 comprises at least one thin layer of HfO2 and one thin layer of ZrO2, and is usually written as an HfO2 / ZrO2 nanolaminate.

[0094] Step 2: Carrying out the selective etching of the multilayer structure

[0095] This is the step for reducing the final thickness of the ferroelectric multilayer structure after complete integration of the MFM capacitance. This operation is carried out by selective etching, wet or dry, of the material. The upper electrode layer, titanium nitride for example, is normally etched using a gas source comprising chlorine and a fluorocarbon. After removal of the upper electrode, the multilayer structure becomes accessible for selective etching, due to the different phases and crystalline orientations of the materials obtained after annealing.

[0096] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the selective etching of the structure is carried out, using the respective etching rates R1 and R2, for the layers composed of material A and material B, respectively. The etching rates can be suitably selected based on known factors, such as time, temperature, type of acid, fluoride and oxide to be etched, and the selectivity obtained for the specific type of materials surrounding the oxide to be etched, and other known or easily determined factors. As indicated, the objective of the present invention is to etch oxides, for example hafnium or zirconium oxides such as those defined above, selectively with respect to materials which generally surround or exist in adjacent or nearby structures, and which could be etched by the same etching composition in the absence of such selectivity.Thus, the etching composition must exhibit a high etch rate of these oxides, while exhibiting a relatively low etch rate of those materials which are not intended to be etched, such as nitrides, metals, silicon, and photoresist materials (photosensitive resins).

[0097] As examples, a selective wet etching composition for HfO2 comprising hydrofluoric acid (HF) may be provided. Since crystalline HfO2 is not etched in a dilute HF solution at room temperature, removal can be achieved by controlling the etching rate as a function of temperature. An etching rate of about 500 nm / min is achieved in a 20% concentrated HF solution by heating the solution to 80°C. In addition, amorphous HfO2 can be removed by HF in wet HF etching at room temperature. In addition, good properties of Cl2 and BC13-based plasmas for etching ZrO2 and HfO2 can be achieved. Generally, the same behaviors are observed for HfO2 and ZrO2 with however a higher etching rate for ZrO2, favoring higher selectivity. Moreover, atomic layer etching (ALE) of HfO2 and ZrO2 can be achieved using sequential exposures with hydrogen fluoride (HF) as the fluorination reagent and dimethylaluminum chloride (DMAC, A1C1(CH3)2) as the metal reagent for ligand exchange. DMAC could provide CH3 or Cl ligands for the ligand exchange reaction. The presence of the Cl ligand on DMAC led to efficient etching of HfO2 and ZrO2 attributed to the formation of stable and volatile chloride species. The etching rates and mass changes during individual HF and DMAC reactions are distinct for different layers of HfO2 and ZrO2 and can be achieved by thermal ALE at different temperatures, thus leading to selective etching of each layer.Etch rates of 0.98 Å / cycle and 1.33 Å / cycle for HfO2 and ZrO2 respectively, at 200, 225, 250, 275 and 300°C can be used.

[0098] The operation of etching the layers can be repeated many times until the desired final thickness of the structure is reached as in [Fig.2].

[0099] It should further be noted that the depth of the ablations and the quantity of etched layers can be obtained by varying the time of the chemical attack or by the concentration of the reagents used, as well as by the etching speed and the number of times the sequence will be repeated. Step 3#: Device integration

[0100] After selective etching of the multilayer structure and reduction of the thickness of the ferroelectric dielectric layer, the last technical step concerns the integration of the upper electrode and the non-necessity of annealing. [Fig.3] represents the stack formed by the substrate, the MFM capacitor, with its lower (2) and upper (5) electrodes and its ultra-thin ferroelectric multilayer.

[0101] The upper metal electrode (5) is again deposited, titanium, gold, aluminum, platinum, tungsten, for example, obtained by PVD or CVD (Chemical vapor deposition) deposition, and this time without subsequent annealing while retaining the specificities of BEOL technology and the ferroelectric dielectric properties of the material.

Claims

1. Claims Method for preparing a ferroelectric multilayer device M with n layers, n being from 2 to 100, preferably from 2 to 25, consisting of or comprising an alternation of at least one layer A and at least one layer B, said at least one layer A being, independently, consisting of or comprising a compound chosen from hafnium oxides (HfO2), hafnium-enriched hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), aluminum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), lanthanum-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), gadolinium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), yttrium-doped hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO), silicon, and silicon-doped hafnium oxides (HSO), said at least one layer B being, independently, made of or comprising a compound chosen from zirconium oxides (ZrO2),zirconium-enriched hafnium and zirconium oxides (HZO) and perovskites, said method comprising the following steps:, i. a preparation step on a substrate or a lower metal electrode of a multilayer device M' with n' layers, n' being from 3 to 101, with n' > n, preferably between 3 and 26, with n' > n, comprising an alternation of said layers A and B, the first of the n' layers, in contact with the lower metal electrode (2), being a layer A, ii. a step of depositing on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (i), opposite said lower metal electrode (2), an upper metal electrode (5), iii. a step of annealing the device obtained at the end of step (ü), iv. a step of removing the upper metal electrode (5) from the device obtained at the end of step (iii), v. selective etching of the upper n' - n layers, opposite the lower metal electrode (2), in particular total, to obtain on said lower metal electrode (2) the multilayer device M, vi. optionally, a step of deposition on said multilayer device M' obtained at the end of step (v), opposite said lower metal electrode (2), of an upper metal electrode (5).

2. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the last layer of the multilayer device M is a layer A.

3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the multilayer device M' is prepared by successive deposition of the layers A and B, in particular by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, in which the precursors of the hafnium and zirconium oxides are in particular halogenated precursors, in particular HfClj and ZrCl4respectively.

4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the layers A and / or B of the multilayer device M and / or of the multilayer device M' have a thickness of from 0.5 to 5 nm, in particular approximately 2 nm.

5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the layers A have a thickness of from 0.5nm to 5nm, preferably of approximately 2nm, and the layers B have a thickness of from 0.5nm to 5nm, preferably of approximately 2nm.

6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the multilayer device M and / or the multilayer device M' have a thickness of less than 50 nm, in particular less than or equal to 15 nm, in particular less than or equal to 10 or 6 nm.

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the selective etching of step (v) is a wet or dry etching, in particular an etching (ALE), for example by plasma (anisotropic), or thermal (isotropic).

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which: - The layer A of the device M' is predominantly amorphous; - The layer A of the device M is predominantly orthorhombic; - Layer B of device M' is predominantly tetragonal; - Layer B of device M is predominantly tetragonal.

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the annealing of step (iii) is carried out at a temperature of 300 to 600°C, in particular 300 to 500°C, in particular at approximately 400°C.

10. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (ii) and / or the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (vi) are deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

11. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (i), the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (ii) and / or the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (vi) are made of or comprise a metal notably chosen from titanium, gold, aluminum platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum, copper, and tungsten, a material comprising said metal, notably a metal nitride, for example TiN, WN, TaN, or MoN, or mixtures thereof.

12. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (i), the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (ii) and / or the metal electrode mentioned in relation to step (vi) have a thickness of from 2 to 500nm, particularly from 10 to 100nm.

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