The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 01, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 01, 1998
Joseph D. Cuchiaro, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Akira Furuya, Tokyo, JP;
Carlos A. Paz de Araujo, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Yoichi Miyasaka, Tokyo, JP;
Other;
Abstract
A protective layer in a ferroelectric integrated circuit contains small amounts of oxygen to protect ferroelectric oxide material against hydrogen degradation during the fabrication process. Typically, the protective layer is a hydrogen diffusion barrier layer formed to cover a thin film of ferroelectric oxide material. In one method, a small amount of oxygen is included in the sputter atmosphere during deposition of a hydrogen diffusion barrier or a metallized wiring layer. The oxygen forms oxides that inhibit diffusion of hydrogen towards the ferroelectric oxide material. The oxygen forms a concentration gradient so that the oxygen concentration in the interior of the protective layer is zero, and the oxygen concentration near the surfaces of the layer is about two weight percent.