The influence of SiO2 formed on a Si wafer during Ta2O5 deposition on the dielectric characteristics of Ta2O5 capacitors is investigated. Two types of capacitor were investigated and compared: W/Ta2O5 (27 nm)/W and Al/Ta2O5 (27 nm)/Si capacitors. The thickness of the SiO2 at the interface of Ta2O5/Si is estimated to be 2.4 nm. The W/Ta2O5 (27 nm)/W capacitor is shown to have a dielectric constant of 22 if we assume it is an ‘‘ideal’’ single layer dielectric. On the other hand, for the Al/Ta2O5/Si capacitor if we assume that an SiO2 layer is formed during Ta2O5 deposition we can account for the variation in apparent dielectric constant with thickness and the leakage current as a function of voltage with a model which assumes that when electrons are injected from the SiO2/Si interface, electron charge accumulates at the Ta2O5/SiO2 interface; this reduces the electric field in SiO2 before catastrophic breakdown of the SiO2 film occurs. This results in a relatively small voltage drop (less than 1 V) across the SiO2 film at the interface. Taking into account the voltage drop across SiO2 layer, the current-voltage characteristics of Al/Ta2O5 (27 nm)/SiO2 (2.4 nm)/Si and W/Ta2O5 (27 nm)/W show good agreement by assuming steady-state conduction and the existence of interface charge between Ta2O5 and SiO2.

Nishioka, Y., Shinriki, H., & Mukai, K. (1987). Influence of SiO2 at the Ta2O5/Si interface on dielectric characteristics of Ta2O5 capacitors. Journal of Applied Physics, 61(6), 2335–2338.