Methods of manufacturing integrated circuit capacitors having ruthenium upper electrodes and capacitors formed thereby

摘要

Methods of manufacturing integrated circuit capacitors having low equivalent oxide thickness (Toxeq) and excellent leakage current characteristics include forming a lower capacitor electrode on a semiconductor substrate and then forming a capacitor dielectric layer on the lower capacitor electrode. An upper capacitor electrode, comprising ruthenium (Ru), is then formed on the capacitor dielectric layer. The step of forming an upper capacitor electrode is preceded by the step of heat treating the metal oxide dielectric layer in an oxygen containing ambient at a temperature in a range between about 100° C. and about 600° C. This heat treatment step is preferably performed in order to incorporate additional quantities of oxygen into the metal oxide dielectric layer, so that the metal oxide dielectric layer is enriched with oxygen.