Na0.5K0.5NbO3/SiO2/Si Thin Film Varactor

Journal article, 2000

Perfectly c-axis oriented micrometer thickNa 0.5 K 0.5 NbO 3 (NKN) films have been prepared on a thermally grown ultrathinSiO 2 template layer onto a Si(001) wafer by the pulsed laser deposition technique. A x-ray diffraction θ–2θ scan reveals multiple-cell structuring of single phase NKN film along the polar axis, while filmsgrown onto amorphous ceramic (Corning) glass show a mixture of slightly c-axis oriented NKN and pyrochlore phases. This implies a small amount ofSiO 2 crystallites distributed in an amorphous matrix inherit Si(001) orientation and promotes highly oriented NKN film growth. NKN filmdielectric permittivityε ′ was found to vary from 114.0 to 107.2 in the frequency range 1 kHz–1 MHz, while the resistivity was on the order of2.6×10 10  Ω cm @ 20 kV/cm. The planar interdigital variable reactance device (varactor) based on theNKN/SiO 2 /Si thin film structure possesses a dissipation factor of 0.8% at 1 MHz and zero bias, electrical tunability of 3.1%, and nA order leakage current at 20 V bias at room temperature.