Techniques are disclosed for forming an integrated circuit including a capacitor having a multilayer dielectric stack. For example, the capacitor may be a metal-insulator-metal capacitor (MIMcap), where the stack of dielectric layers is used for the insulator or ‘I’ portion of the MIM structure. In some cases, the composite or multilayer stack for the insulator portion of the MIM structure may include a first oxide layer, a dielectric layer, a second oxide layer, and a high-k dielectric layer, as will be apparent in light of this disclosure. Further, the multilayer dielectric stack may include an additional high-k dielectric layer, for example. Use of such multilayer dielectric stacks can enable increases in capacitance density and/or breakdown voltage for a MIMcap device. Further, use of a multilayer dielectric stack can enable tuning of the breakdown and capacitance characteristics as desired. Other embodiments may be described and/or disclosed.

Ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) capacitors and methods of forming FRAM capacitors are provided. An FRAM capacitor may be formed between adjacent metal interconnect layers or between a silicided active layer (e.g., including MOSFET devices) and a first metal interconnect layer. The FRAM capacitor may be formed by a damascene process including forming a tub opening in a dielectric region, forming a cup-shaped bottom electrode, forming a cup-shaped ferroelectric element in an interior opening defined by the cup-shaped bottom electrode, and forming a top electrode in an interior opening defined by the cup-shaped ferroelectric element. The FRAM capacitor may form a component of an FRAM memory cell. For example, an FRAM memory cell may include one FRAM capacitor and one transistor (1T1C configuration) or two FRAM capacitors and two transistor (2T2C configuration).

A metal-insulator-metal capacitor includes a first electrode disposed in a first region of an upper surface of a substrate, a second electrode covering the first electrode and extending to a second region surrounding an outer periphery of the first region, a third electrode covering the second electrode and extending to a third region surrounding an outer periphery of the second region, a first dielectric layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode to cover an upper surface and a side surface of the first electrode and extending to the second region, and a second dielectric layer disposed between the second electrode and the third electrode to cover an upper surface and a side surface of the second electrode and extending to the third region and in contact with the first dielectric layer.

Some embodiments include ferroelectric assemblies. Some embodiments include a capacitor which has ferroelectric insulative material between a first electrode and a second electrode. The capacitor also has a metal oxide between the second electrode and the ferroelectric insulative material. The metal oxide has a thickness of less than or equal to about 30 Å. Some embodiments include a method of forming an assembly. A first capacitor electrode is formed over a semiconductor-containing base. Ferroelectric insulative material is formed over the first electrode. A metal-containing material is formed over the ferroelectric insulative material. The metal-containing material is oxidized to form a metal oxide from the metal-containing material. A second electrode is formed over the metal oxide.

The disclosed technology generally relates to ferroelectric materials and semiconductor devices, and more particularly to semiconductor memory devices incorporating doped polar materials. In one aspect, a semiconductor device comprises a capacitor, which in turn comprises a polar layer comprising a crystalline base polar material doped with a dopant. The base polar material includes one or more metal elements and one or both of oxygen or nitrogen, wherein the dopant comprises a metal element that is different from the one or more metal elements and is present at a concentration such that a ferroelectric switching voltage of the capacitor is different from that of the capacitor having the base polar material without being doped with the dopant by more than about 100 mV. The capacitor additionally comprises first and second crystalline conductive or semiconductive oxide electrodes on opposing sides of the polar layer, wherein the polar layer has a lattice constant that is matched within about 20% of a lattice constant of one or both of the first and second crystalline conductive or semiconductive oxide electrodes. The first crystalline conductive or semiconductive oxide electrode serves as a template for growing the polar layer thereon, such that at least a portion of the polar layer is pseudomorphically formed on the first crystalline conductive or semiconductive oxide electrode.

The present disclosure is directed to a method for the fabrication of MiM capacitor structures with metallic electrodes having nitrogen-rich metal nitride layers. The method includes depositing a first electrode bilayer on a first interconnect disposed on a substrate, where the first electrode includes a first layer and a second layer with a different nitrogen concentration. The method also includes depositing a dielectric layer on the first electrode bilayer and depositing a second electrode bilayer on the first interconnect where the second electrode includes a third layer and a fourth layer with a different nitrogen concentration. The method further includes patterning the first electrode bilayer, the dielectric layer, and the second electrode bilayer to form a capacitor structure on the first interconnect layer.

An adder uses with first and second majority gates. For a 1-bit adder, output from a 3-input majority gate is inverted and input two times to a 5-input majority gate. Other inputs to the 5-input majority gate are the same as those of the 3-input majority gate. The output of the 5-input majority gate is a sum while the output of the 3-input majority gate is the carry. Multiple 1-bit adders are concatenated to form an N-bit adder. The input signals to the majority gates can be analog, digital, or a combination of them, which are driven to first terminals of non-ferroelectric capacitors. The second terminals of the non-ferroelectric capacitors are coupled to form a majority node. Majority function of the input signals occurs on this node. The majority node is then coupled to a first terminal of a non-linear polar capacitor. The second terminal of the capacitor provides the output of the logic gate.

A semiconductor device includes: a substrate; a first dielectric layer over the substrate; a memory cell over the substrate in a first region of the semiconductor device, where the memory cell includes a first ferroelectric structure in the first dielectric layer, where the first ferroelectric structure includes a first bottom electrode, a first top electrode, and a first ferroelectric layer in between; and a tunable capacitor over the substrate in a second region of the semiconductor device, where the tunable capacitor includes a second ferroelectric structure, where the second ferroelectric structure includes a second bottom electrode, a second top electrode, and a second ferroelectric layer in between, where at least a portion of the second ferroelectric structure is in the first dielectric layer.

Some embodiments include ferroelectric assemblies. Some embodiments include a capacitor which has ferroelectric insulative material between a first electrode and a second electrode. The capacitor also has a metal oxide between the second electrode and the ferroelectric insulative material. The metal oxide has a thickness of less than or equal to about 30 Å. Some embodiments include a method of forming an assembly. A first capacitor electrode is formed over a semiconductor-containing base. Ferroelectric insulative material is formed over the first electrode. A metal-containing material is formed over the ferroelectric insulative material. The metal-containing material is oxidized to form a metal oxide from the metal-containing material. A second electrode is formed over the metal oxide.

A capacitor includes: a substrate; a first trench entering the substrate downward from the upper surface of the substrate; a laminated structure provided in the first trench and including m dielectric layers and n conductive layers, the m dielectric layers and the n conductive layers forming a structure that a conductive layer and a dielectric layer are adjacent to each other, each dielectric layer of the m dielectric layers including at least one high-k insulating material with a relative dielectric constant k greater than a first threshold value, and each conductive layer of the n conductive layers including at least one high work function conductive material with a work function greater than a second threshold value, where m and n are positive integers; and a first electrode electrically connected to all odd-numbered conductive layers, and a second electrode electrically connected to all even-numbered conductive layers.