Preparation and Dielectric properties of dc reactive magnetron sputtered tantalum oxide films.

As the physical dimensions of VLSI devices become smaller, the necessary scaling of capacitor structures leads to reduction in the thickness of the dielectric layer to achieve the required capacitance density. In some circuits Si0(2) films as thin as 10nm are required. Films of this thickness show poorer breakdown characteristics than comparable thicker films. The use of a higher dielectric constant film with good electrical characteristics would alleviate this problem and has led to the investigation of Ta(2)0(5) films described here.