The effect of boron incorporation on leakage and wake-up in ferroelectric Al_{1-x}Sc_xN

Abstract

This study explores the influence of boron incorporation on the structural and electrical properties of ferroelectric Aluminum Scandium Nitride (Al_{1-x}Sc_xN ) thin films, focusing on leakage currents, wake-up effects, and imprint behavior. Al_{1-x}Sc_xN films were incorporated with varying boron concentrations and analyzed under different deposition conditions to determine their structural integrity and ferroelectric performance. Key findings include a reduction in leakage currents, non-trivial alterations in bandgap energy as well as an increasing coercive fields with increasing boron content. Films with 6-13 at.% boron exhibited N-polar growth, while those with 16 at.% boron showed mixed polarity after deposition, which affected their ferroelectric response during the initial switching cycles - as did the addition of boron itself compared to pure Al1-xScxN . With increasing boron content, wake-up became gradually more pronounced and was strongest for pure Al_{1-x}B_xN .