Abstract: An electronic component is provided on a substrate. A thin-film capacitor is attached to the substrate, the thin-film capacitor includes a pyrochlore or perovskite dielectric layer between a plurality of electrode layers, the electrode layers being formed from a conductive thin-film material. A reactive barrier layer is deposited over the thin-film capacitor. The reactive barrier layer includes an oxide having an element with more than one valence state, wherein the element with more than one valence state has a molar ratio of the molar amount of the element that is in its highest valence state to its total molar amount in the barrier of 50% to 100%. Optionally layers of other materials may intervene between the capacitor and reactive barrier layer. The reactive barrier layer may be paraelectric and the electronic component may be a tunable capacitor.

Abstract: An electronic component is provided on a substrate. A thin-film capacitor is attached to the substrate, the thin-film capacitor includes a pyrochlore or perovskite dielectric layer between a plurality of electrode layers, the electrode layers being formed from a conductive thin-film material. A reactive barrier layer is deposited over the thin-film capacitor. The reactive barrier layer includes an oxide having an element with more than one valence state, wherein the element with more than one valence state has a molar ratio of the molar amount of the element that is in its highest valence state to its total molar amount in the barrier of 50% to 100%. Optionally layers of other materials may intervene between the capacitor and reactive barrier layer. The reactive barrier layer may be paraelectric and the electronic component may be a tunable capacitor.

Abstract: A thin-film capacitor structure fabricated on a substrate is provided. The thin-film capacitor includes a pyrochlore or perovskite alkali earth dielectric layer between a plurality of electrode layers. A pyrochlore or perovskite hydrogen-gettering barrier layer is deposited over the thin-film capacitor. A hermetic seal layer is deposited over the barrier layer by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), or some other hydrogen-producing method. The hydrogen-gettering barrier layer prevents hydrogen from reacting with and degrading the properties of the dielectric material, thereby enhancing the durability and other features of the capacitor.