Abstract

In this article, we investigate the influence of the dry etch of SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT) and Pt top electrode (TE) on the ferroelectric properties of Pt/SBT/Pt capacitors, and we discuss the effect of recovery anneals applied after TE deposition, TE etch, and SBT etch. We have determined that the TE etch step damages the capacitors through a charging effect, which is dependent on the perimeter-to-area ratio. Complete recovery of the electrical damage is provided by an anneal step after TE etch. We have also evidenced a lateral physical damaging of the SBT film after SBT dry etch, which is well correlated with the observed degradation of the remanent polarization P-r of the capacitors. A strong further degradation of P-r is found when the Pt bottom electrode is significantly etched during the SBT overetch.