Stress-Compensated Film Bulk Acoustic Wave

Resonators (FBAR) Based on BST/ZnO Bilayer

Thin Films
Vinita and Jitendra Singh

BST/ZnO bilayer combination in FBAR. Experimentally it is

Abstract—In this study, we have realized a stress-compensated established that BST films have tensile stress and ZnO films
Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonator (FBAR) based on bilayer have compressive stress in nature [14-15]. Here in present
piezoelectric thin films of Barium strontium titanate Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 investigation, we nullify film stress by a combination of
(BST) and Zinc oxide (ZnO). The FBAR stack opposite stress layers which is not yet investigated as per our
(Si/SiO2/Pt/BST/ZnO/Pt) has an effective area of 100 μm × 100 μm
knowledge. The 1-D Mason model [16-18] is used to estimate
and resonates at 1.001 GHz frequency. The residual stress of the
FBAR stack is estimated using the wafer curvature method with the residual stress of the device theoretically. Fig. 1. shows the
Stoney's equation, resulting in a minimal stress value of +18.16 schematic sketch of BST/ZnO bilayer based FBAR which is
MPa. A modified Butterworth-Van Dyke (mBVD) circuit realized using a standard micro-fabrication process. The device
modeling is employed to extract the electrical performance layer stack consists of Si/SiO2/Pt/BST/ZnO/Pt multilayers thin
parameters of the FBAR as quality factor (Q) ~ 1001, figure of films. Each layer in the device shown with the individual colour
merit (FOM) ~3.5 and effective coupling coefficient (𝒌𝟐𝒆𝒇𝒇 ) ~0.73%. sign as shown respectively as shown in Quality factor (Q) and
2
This method introduces a new approach to realize more stable and effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (𝑘𝑒𝑓𝑓 ) are
reliable FBAR devices, particularly suitable for RF filters, estimated from simulated results.
oscillators, and in sensing applications.
Index Terms— BAW, BST, Bulk Acoustic Wave, FBAR, mBVD,
Residual Stress, ZnO

I. INTRODUCTION
T hin film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) have tested the
outer edges of what conventional technology can do without
compromise in their performance in terms of miniaturization,
high quality factor, room temperature operability and high
operating frequency (up to 10 GHz) range [1-4]. FBAR consists Fig. 1. Schematic cross-section of BST/ZnO bilayer thin film based FBAR.
of a piezoelectric material sandwiched with two top and bottom
electrodes. The operating mechanism relies on the bulk acoustic II. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
wave propagation inside the piezoelectric material by actuating The fabrication process is encapsulated by five levels of
a high-frequency RF signal across the metal electrodes. The masking process steps, as illustrated in fig. 2. On a 3-inch
bulk acoustic wave resonates at a particular frequency decided double side polished Si (100) wafer is cleaned using a standard
by the thickness of piezoelectric layer [5,6]. The fundamental process (step 1). Approximately ~1.0 μm thick silicon dioxide
resonance is established when the thickness of the resonator (SiO2) is grown in the thermal oxidation furnace using a dry-
stack is equivalent to half of the signal wavelength. Barium wet-dry process (step 2). SiO2 layer is patterned using buffered
Strontium Titanate (Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 or BST) is an electrostrictive oxide etch (BOE) process and etching is done at the back side
material has high permittivity, electrical tunability and lower of wafer (step 3). By using double-sided mask aligner
losses at microwave frequencies [7, 8, 9]. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is (BA6/MA6), back side alignment (BSA) on SiO2 bottom
promising candidate for acoustic wave resonators as it has high electrode Pt is deposited and patterned using a lift-off procedure
electro-mechanical coupling coefficient [10]. (step 4). A ferroelectric BST layer (Ba/Sr 60/40) (300 nm) and
Bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator consists of multilayer a piezoelectric layer of ZnO (1.2 µm) are deposited using a RF
thin films and each layer has residual stress associated with it sputter deposition process and patterned (step 5). A top
[8], [11]. Stress originates in the layers due to mismatch in electrode Pt (200nm) is deposited and patterned using a lift-off
thermal expansion coefficients of successive thin films. process for device actuation (step 6). At final stage, underlying
Therefore, stress control in multilayer stack is very important to bulk silicon is removed using tetra-methyl-ammonium
develop a high performance in terms of long term reliability, hydroxide (TMAH) etching with customised special wafer
stable response, robustness and drift-free performance [12]. protection jigs and resonator was released (step 7). Scanning
Residual stress of thin films can be measured by several electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6930LV model) is employed
techniques such as wafer curvature method, micromachined for FBAR micro-fabricated structure analysis. In the fig. 3 (a).,
structures or X-ray diffraction technique [13]. Each method has the top view of the patterned multilayer resonator stack layers
benefits and drawbacks associated with measurement. In is clearly visible. Fig. 3(b). shows the impedance versus
present investigation, wafer curvature method is utilized for frequency response and in the fig. 3 (c), the phase versus
wafer level stress measurement. Here, we attempt to integrate frequency response is shown.
 A modified Butterworth-Van Dyke (mBVD) was developed
using Agilent’s Advanced Design System (ADS to extract
electrical parameters of the FBAR and the equivalent circuit is
shown in figure 5(b) [5,27]. Obtained resonator parameters
such as resonant frequency (fs) ~ 1.001, anti-resonant frequency
(fp) ~1.004, quality factor (Q) ~ 1001, figure of merit (FOM)
~3.5 and effective coupling coefficient (𝒌𝟐𝒆𝒇𝒇 ) ~0.73%.
Measured results are in good agreement with mBVD circuit
model as shown by goodness of fitting curve in fig. 5 (a).

Fig. 2. Fabrication process sequence of bilayer FBAR.

Fig. 4. X-ray diffraction measurement of BST/ZnO bilayer thin films. (a) AFM
image of BST thin films, and (b) ZnO thin film.

mBVD Fitted
54
(a) Impedance (Ohm)
measured
48
42
36
Fig. 3. SEM images of fabricated bi-layer FBAR (top views) (a) FBAR with
stack layers’ representation. Measured (b) impedance (c) phase of fabricated 30
FBAR.
24
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The crystalline structure and phase of BST/ZnO thin film as a
composite bilayer are investigated using X-ray diffractometer. (b)
Monochromatic x-ray of Cu Kα radiation (λ= 1.5418 Å) is
utilized for diffraction measurement with scan angle 2θ (20° -
80°) as shown in the fig. 4. Diffraction pattern have BST and
ZnO both phases present. Peaks indexing was done using Fig. 5. (a) Measured impedance of fabricated FBAR (scatter represents mBVD
model and solid line represents measured impedance amplitude) (b) electrical
JCPDS card no. 00-036-1451. Polycrystalline ZnO phase is equivalent model of FBAR
observed and peak is observed for (002), (103) and (112) phase
of zinc oxide films. Observed peak at 34.4° is corresponding to In-plane ZnO film stress 𝜎𝑓 is measured using wafer curvature
polar phase of ZnO films and this results to high piezoelectricity method (FSM 128 series) from frontier semiconductors with
[25]. Diffraction peaks are observed corresponding to (110), scan line length 70 mm and it is smaller than wafer diameter
(111), (200) and (210) phases of BST films. BST films has (76.2 mm) as shown in Figure 5. This is a non-contact method
lower intensity compared to ZnO due to smaller thickness of and based on dual laser switching technology. Initially, bare
films due to smaller crystals of BST than ZnO. wafer is scanned and curvature is -23.54 m and average bow
Atomic force microscope (AFM) (Bruker’s Innova model) is height is 32.41 µm. In succession, piezo layer of ZnO thin film
used in order to investigate the grain size and surface is deposited and curvature is measured. The device residual film
morphology of BST and ZnO thin films in the scan image area stress is approximated from difference in wafer curvature as
(2µm×2µm) as shown in fig. 4 (a) and (b) shows the AFM Stoney’s equation describes [17-19, 20].
image of BST and ZnO films respectively. For BST films Stress in the films is measured using a wafer curvature method
average grain size is ~40.53 nm and roughness is 0.217 nm. using Stoney’s equation which is given as follows [26].
ZnO films have regular grain structure average grain size was 𝐸𝑠 𝐷𝑠2 1 1
𝜎𝑡 = . . ∑5𝑖=1 (1)
large ~128 nm and higher roughness 4.3 nm. 6(1−𝜈𝑠 ) ∑5
𝑖=1 𝑑𝑖 𝑅𝑖
𝜎𝑡 = 𝜎1 + 𝜎2 + 𝜎3 + 𝜎4 + 𝜎5 (2)
 𝐸𝑠 𝐷𝑠2 1 1 1 1 1 1
𝜎𝑡 = . .( + + + + ) (3)
6(1−𝜈𝑠 ) (𝑑1 +𝑑2 +𝑑3 +𝑑4 +𝑑5 ) 𝑅1 𝑅2 𝑅3 𝑅4 𝑅5

Es, νs, Ds, di and Ri are substrate Young’s modulus, Poisson’s

ratio, thickness, film thickness and the radius of curvature of
wafer. The radius of curvature (Ri), i=1,2,3,4,5 corresponding
to SiO2, Pt, BST, ZnO and Pt layers, respectively. Fig. 5 (a).
shows the bow height of bare wafer which is concave in nature
and maximum bow height is found at wafer centre which is
indicated by colour distribution. Fig. 6 (b). shows that four
different scan experiments and wafer is bending in the out-ward
direction. Now, through thermal oxidation SiO 2 layer stress is
measured and shown in fig. 6 (c). It is found that stress is
compressive in nature and found to be -242 MPa as plotted in
fig. 6 (d). The result is in agreement with the reported values
and compressive in nature [18, 21, 22].
At the next step, Platinum (Pt) bottom electrode of thickness
~200nm is deposited by sputtering and stress is measured. Fig.
6 (e). shows the mapping of Pt film stress and colour
distribution shows the stress distribution at wafer level. Fig. 6
(f). indicates that stress is compressive in nature. Results are in
agreement with literature [23] and shows similar range of Pt
layer stress. Subsequently, ferroelectric BST layer stress is
measured and shown in fig. 6 (g). Stress distribution along the
scan length is shown in fig. 6 (h). It is noted that BST film stress
is converse to other films stress and very large +557 MPa.
Subsequently, ZnO film was deposited and wafer curvature was Fig. 6: Thin film residual stress mapping on a 3-inch diameter Silicon wafer
(a-b) bow height mapping and bow height plot with scan length, (c-d) SiO2 layer
measured and residual stress is shown in fig. 6 (i). that indicates stress mapping and its relation with scan length, (e-f) Pt layer stress mapping
that stress is negative and compressive in nature. Stress and its relation with scan length, (g-h) BST layer stress and its relation with
measurement with scan length is shown in fig. 6(j). It is scan length, (i-j) ZnO layer stress mapping and its relation with scan length.
observed here that BST has tensile stress and all other layers
has compressive film stress. The compressive and tensile film
stress can nullify each other through stress compensation. The
total film stress (𝜎𝑡 ) due to multilayer is given by given
equation (3) [20]. The resulting stress is estimated to be +18.16
MPa which is tensile in nature and considered as a minimal
stress due to the BST thin film stress.

TABLE I: MEASURED MATERIAL STRESS IN VARIOUS LAYERS.

Material Thickness BOW Height Stress
(μm) (m) (µm) (MPa)
Si 350 -23.54 -32.41 Bulk
SiO2 1.0 87.63 -17.31 -242
Pt 0.2 59.83 12.89 -252
BST 0.3 -33.15 -8.26 +557
ZnO 1.2 -173.99 -6.18 -143

IV. CONCLUSIONS
We have realized a stress compensated Film Bulk Acoustic
Resonators (FBAR) (100 μm ×100 μm) using a bi-layer stack
consists of Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) and Zinc Oxide
(ZnO) thin films of opposite nature stress. The stress in the films
was measured using a wafer curvature method using Stoney’s
equation. From this method we attempted to compensate the
residual stress FBAR is as minimum as possible and estimated
as +18.16 MPa with the introduction of BST thin film in FBAR
structure. The mBVD model is introduced to obtain electrical
parameters of FBAR. The FBAR resonates at 1.001 GHz with
quality factor (Q) ~ 1001, figure of merit (FOM) ~3.5 and
effective coupling coefficient (k 2eff ) ~ 0.73%.
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