---
title: "New dielectric stack for CNF-MIM capacitors boost capacitance density by 230%"
canonical_url: "https://www.smoltek.com/new-dielectric-stack-for-cnf-mim-capacitors-boost-capacitance-density-by-230/7898/"
date: 2024-09-26
author: "Fredrik Liljeberg"
featured_image: "https://www.smoltek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FG-intervju-2022-07-scaled.webp"
categories:
  - name: "News"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/category/news.md"
tags:
  - name: "capacitance density"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/capacitance-density.md"
  - name: "capacitors"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/capacitors.md"
  - name: "cnf-mim"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/cnf-mim.md"
  - name: "nanotechnology"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/nanotechnology.md"
  - name: "news"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/news.md"
  - name: "semi news"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/semi-news.md"
  - name: "Smoltek Semi"
    url: "https://www.smoltek.com/topic/smoltek-semi.md"
---

# New dielectric stack for CNF-MIM capacitors boost capacitance density by 230%

The first phase of this project has now con­clud­ed suc­cess­ful­ly, demon­strat­ing sig­nif­i­cant improve­ments over the pre­vi­ous gen­er­a­tion of dielec­tric stacks. The new stack, based on zir­co­ni­um oxide, will be inte­grat­ed into future gen­er­a­tions of CNF-MIM capac­i­tors. The pri­or stack, made from hafni­um oxide, was uti­lized in the [Gen Zero capac­i­tors](https://www.smoltek.com/gen-one-next-generation-of-smolteks-carbon-nanofiber-capacitors/7445/).

> ***The new­ly devel­oped dielec­tric stack is a blend of two oxides: a high‑k oxide to boost capac­i­tance den­si­ty, and an oxide that serves as a bar­ri­er against charge move­ment, thus min­i­miz­ing cur­rent leakage.***
> 
> Farzan Gha­vani­ni, CTO at Smoltek.

Dur­ing the first phase, Smoltek Semi focused on par­al­lel plate capac­i­tors, deposit­ing the dielec­tric stack on flat sur­faces between two par­al­lel elec­trodes. Per­for­mance mea­sure­ments were car­ried out at the wafer lev­el and after the devices were trans­ferred and mount­ed onto PCBs. The results revealed an extra­or­di­nary 230% improve­ment in capac­i­tance den­si­ty com­pared to the Gen Zero dielec­tric stack, while anoth­er crit­i­cal per­for­mance met­ric, leak­age cur­rent, showed a 50% reduction.

> The results have been out­stand­ing, both in terms of per­for­mance met­rics and repro­ducibil­i­ty. I’m par­tic­u­lar­ly excit­ed about the excep­tion­al repro­ducibil­i­ty achieved dur­ing the first phase, where we reached a fab­ri­ca­tion yield of 100%.
> 
> Farzan Gha­vani­ni

The devices mount­ed on PCBs have now been sent to Yageo who is sup­port­ing Smoltek with reli­a­bil­i­ty test­ing and fur­ther characterization.