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Tunable thin film capacitor

Assignee: Kyocera Corp
•
Filing: 2002-03-28
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Granted: 2004-10-19
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Expires: 2022-03-28
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Abstract

Abstract It is an object of the invention to provide a variable capacitor constituted such that, even when an external control voltage is applied, a stable dielectric constant of the dielectric layer can be obtained. A variable capacitor constituted such that a dielectric layer whose dielectric constant is changed by the application of an external voltage is held between an upper electrode layer and a lower electrode layer, wherein a plurality of capacitance-producing regions a, b are connected to each other.

Inventors

  • 👤 Yukihiko Yashima
  • 👤 Kazuhiro Kusabe
  • 👤 Tsuneo Mishima
  • 👤 Tetsuya Kishino

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 11:32
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10D; H10D1/00; H10D1/60; H10D1/68; H10D1/682; H01; H01G; H01G4/00; H01G4/33

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim 123 words
A tunable thin film capacitor comprising a support substrate, a lower electrode layer provided on the support substrate, a thin film dielectric layer which is provided on the lower electrode layer and whose dielectric constant is changed by application of a control voltage, and an upper electrode layer provided on the thin film dielectric layer, wherein the thin film dielectric layer is held between the lower electrode layer and the upper electrode layer so an to form a plurality of capacitance-producing regions; and the respective capacitance-producing regions are electrically connected to each other, wherein the thin film dielectric layer comprises perovskite-type oxide crystal grains containing at least Ba, Sr and Ti, and the crystal grains are orientated in a plane ( 111 ).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 123 words
A tunable thin film capacitor comprising a support substrate, a lower electrode layer provided on the support substrate, a thin film dielectric layer which is provided on the lower electrode layer and whose dielectric constant is changed by application of a control voltage, and an upper electrode layer provided on the thin film dielectric layer, wherein the thin film dielectric layer is held between the lower electrode layer and the upper electrode layer so an to form a plurality of capacitance-producing regions; and the respective capacitance-producing regions are electrically connected to each other, wherein the thin film dielectric layer comprises perovskite-type oxide crystal grains containing at least Ba, Sr and Ti, and the crystal grains are orientated in a plane ( 111 ).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 37 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 1 , wherein, in the perovskite-type oxide constituting the thin film dielectric layer, x in (Ba x Sr 1-x ) TiO 3 is in a range of 0.4 to 0.6.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 63 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the thin film dielectric layer is 1 μm or less, the dielectric crystal grains constituting the thin film dielectric layer are columnar grains that are long in the film thickness direction, and an average grain diameter in the film surface direction of the crystal grains is smaller than 0.5 μm.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 38 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 1 , wherein the lower electrode layer contacted with the thin film dielectric layer comprises Pt, Au or a solid solution thereof that is orientated in the plane ( 111 ).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 79 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 1 , wherein the thin film dielectric layer is composed of a lower thin film dielectric layer having a thickness that is ½ or less of the thickness of the thin film dielectric layer and an upper thin film dielectric layer being the remainder, wherein, after the lower thin film dielectric layer is formed by deposition, the lower thin film dielectric layer is orientated in the plane ( 111 ) by heat-treating.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 136 words
A tunable thin film capacitor comprising: a support substrate, a lower electrode layer provided on the support substrate, a thin film dielectric layer which is provided on the lower electrode layer end whose dielectric constant is changed by application of a control voltage, and an upper electrode layer provided on the thin film dielectric layer, wherein the thin film dielectric layer is held between the lower electrode layer and the upper electrode layer so as to form a plurality of capacitance-producing regions, and the respective capacitance-producing regions are electrically connected to each other, wherein the thin film dielectric layer comprises perovskite-type crystal grains containing at least Ba, Sr and Ti, and a composition thereof is represented as (BaSr) Ti x O 3 , wherein x in the composition is in a range of 0.7 to 0.9.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 136 words
A tunable thin film capacitor comprising: a support substrate, a lower electrode layer provided on the support substrate, a thin film dielectric layer which is provided on the lower electrode layer end whose dielectric constant is changed by application of a control voltage, and an upper electrode layer provided on the thin film dielectric layer, wherein the thin film dielectric layer is held between the lower electrode layer and the upper electrode layer so as to form a plurality of capacitance-producing regions, and the respective capacitance-producing regions are electrically connected to each other, wherein the thin film dielectric layer comprises perovskite-type crystal grains containing at least Ba, Sr and Ti, and a composition thereof is represented as (BaSr) Ti x O 3 , wherein x in the composition is in a range of 0.7 to 0.9.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 29 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 6 , wherein the perovskite-type oxide crystal grains constituting the thin film dielectric layer are orientated in a plane ( 110 ).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 55 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 6 , wherein the thin film dielectric layer is formed on a lower electrode layer comprising Pt, Au or a solid solution thereof orientated in the plane ( 111 ) on the support substrate, by the sputtering process at a substrate temperature of 400° C. to 600° C.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 119 words
A tunable thin film capacitor comprising: a support substrate, a lower electrode layer provided on the support substrate, a thin film dielectric layer which in provided on the lower electrode layer and whose dielectric constant is changed by application of a control voltage, and an upper electrode layer provided on the thin film dielectric layer, wherein the thin film dielectric layer is held between the lower electrode layer and the upper electrode layer so as to form a plurality of capacitance-producing regions, and the respective capacitance-producing regions are electrically connected to each other, wherein the thin film dielectric layer comprises perovskite-type oxide crystal grains containing at least Ba, Sr and Ti, and the crystal grains are orientated at random.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 119 words
A tunable thin film capacitor comprising: a support substrate, a lower electrode layer provided on the support substrate, a thin film dielectric layer which in provided on the lower electrode layer and whose dielectric constant is changed by application of a control voltage, and an upper electrode layer provided on the thin film dielectric layer, wherein the thin film dielectric layer is held between the lower electrode layer and the upper electrode layer so as to form a plurality of capacitance-producing regions, and the respective capacitance-producing regions are electrically connected to each other, wherein the thin film dielectric layer comprises perovskite-type oxide crystal grains containing at least Ba, Sr and Ti, and the crystal grains are orientated at random.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 36 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 9 , wherein x in perovskite-type oxide, (Ba x Sr 1-x ) TiO 3 , constituting the thin film dielectric layer is in a range of 0.4 to 0.6.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 51 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 9 , wherein a thickness of the thin film dielectric layer is 1 μm or less, and the dielectric crystal grains constituting the thin film dielectric layer are equiaxial grains, and an average grain diameter of the crystal grains is 0.5 μm or less.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 48 words
The tunable thin film capacitor of claim 9 , wherein the thin film dielectric layer is constituted such that, on the lower electrode layer, an amorphous dielectric layer is deposited, and then the amorphous dielectric layer is crystallized, by heat treatment to orientate the crystal grains at random.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

JPH08241830A Cited
JPH0931645A Cited
US5856242A Cited
JPH09260603A Cited
JPH113839A Cited
US6100773A Cited
JPH11260667A Cited

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