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Reducing the leakage current through the gate oxide is becoming increasingly important for power consumption reduction as well as reliability in integrated circuits as the semiconducting devices continue to scale down. Here, this work reports on the high‐k dielectric SrHfO3 (SHO) based devices with ultralow leakage current density via pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The ultralow current density is achieved by optimizing the growth conditions and the associated structural properties. In the optimized conditions, the dielectric properties of the 50‐nm‐thick SHO capacitors are measured: high dielectric constant (κ = 32), low leakage current density (<10−8 A cm−2 at 2 MV cm−1), and large breakdown field (EBD > 4 MV cm−1). The surprisingly low leakage current density of SHO is ascribed to the large bandgap (≈6 eV), the large conduction band offset (CB offset > 3 eV) with respect to the semiconductor, and the low density of defect states inside the bandgap. The optimized SHO dielectric with high dielectric constant and ultralow leakage current density is proposed for future low‐power consumption devices based on Si as well as perovskite oxide semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of substituting the B cation in A3BO7 ceramics on their thermal physical properties were investigated by applying a large mass difference. Y3(Nb1‐xTax)O7 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) ceramics were synthesized, and their structural characteristics were determined. All the fabricated Y3(Nb1‐xTax)O7 ceramics showed defective fluorite structures and glass‐like low thermal conductivity (1.18−2.04 W/m∙K at 25°C) because of the highly distorted crystal structure and significant mass difference. Substitution with Ta5+ enhanced the sintering resistance, leading to superior thermal‐insulating performance via grain boundary scattering. Furthermore, the ceramics exhibited excellent coefficients of thermal expansion, implying the promising applicability of Y3(Nb1‐xTax)O7 as new thermal barrier materials. The effect of mass difference on the thermomechanical properties of the ceramics was examined, suggesting a simple strategy for engineering the chemical composition of new thermal barrier materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]