THz Thin Film Varactor Based on Integrated Ferroelectric HfZrO2

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sukhrob Abdulazhanov - , Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Author)
  • Quang Huy Le - , Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Author)
  • Dang Khoa Huynh - , Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Author)
  • Defu Wang - , Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Author)
  • David Lehninger - , Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Author)
  • Thomas Kämpfe - , Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Author)
  • Gerald Gerlach - , Institute of Solid State Electronics, Chair of Solid State Electronics, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)

Abstract

In this paper, we present a broadband microwave characterization of ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2) metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) thin film varactor from 1 kHz up to 0.11 THz. The varactor is integrated into the back-end-of-line (BEoL) of 180 nm CMOS technology as a shunting capacitor for the coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line. At low frequencies, the varactor shows a slight imprint behavior, with a maximum tunability of 15% after the wake-up. In the radio- and mmWave frequency range, the varactor’s maximum tunability decreases slightly from 13% at 30 MHz to 10% at 110 GHz. Ferroelectric varactors were known for their frequency-independent, linear tunability as well as low loss. However, this potential was never fully realized due to limitations in integration. Here, we show that ferroelectric HfO2 thin films with good back-end-of-line compatibility support very large scale integration. This opens up a broad range of possible applications in the mmWave and THz frequency range such as 6G communications, imaging radar, or THz imaging.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-195
Number of pages7
JournalACS applied electronic materials
Volume5
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 24 Jan 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

Keywords

  • BEoL, de-embedding, ferroelectric, HZO, loss tangent, tunability, varactor, VNA