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Stoichiometric SrTiO3 (STO) films doped with Fe or Cr were prepared by r.f. magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of Fe or Cr doping in the SrTiO3 films were studied on the leakage current property which was discussed by defect chemistry. The experimental results can be explained by a model in which oxygen vacancies are the key defects responsible for the leakage current. Acceptor doping, with a small concentration of Fe or Cr, has led to a substantial improvement to 10−9 order in the leakage current density. Above the concentration of 0.01∼0.02 mol% Fe2O3, Cr2O3, however, as the concentration increased, the leakage current increased. These acceptors in Ti4+ site are expected to electrically compensate for donor species such as oxygen vacancies, thereby reducing the concentration of mobile carriers that contribute to electrical conduction. Consequently, acceptor doped STO films have been shown to be superior to undoped films for applications requiring high leakage resistance, such as dynamic random access memory capacitors. © 1998 Chapman & Hall

SrTiO3 thin films were deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering under various sputtering conditions followed by conventional furnace annealing at 600 and 700 °C. The amorphous SrTiO3 thin films crystallized into polycrystals at 600 °C. The leakage current of the SrTiO3 thin films decreased with increasing oxygen partial pressure in the sputtering gas. On the contrary, the dielectric constant increased with increasing the oxygen content in the sputtering gas. The leakage current and dielectric constant increased with increasing substrate temperature and post-annealing temperature. The ratio of Sr∶Ti approached 1∶1 with increasing oxygen content in the sputtering gas and substrate temperature during deposition. The oxygen content in the film decreased with increasing the substrate temperature. The capacitance-voltage (C-V) curves showed that the capacitance was nearly independent of the applied voltage. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showed that interdiffusion between the bottom electrode (Pt) and the buffer layer (Ti) occurred during post-annealing, but that the interface between SrTiO3 and Pt was stable.