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The dielectric and structural properties of LaAlO3 make it an attractive epitaxial gate oxide for nanometer-scale field effect transistors. However, the growth of epitaxial LaAlO3 directly on Si has not been possible to date. In order to achieve LaAlO3 epitaxy, we use a SrTiO3 template layer whose thickness minimizes elastic strain and atomic-level buckling at the interface. We find that LaAlO3 grown on this template layer is crystalline and initially strained, but relaxes to its bulk lattice constant within 7 unit cells. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy studies of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3/Si structure show no evidence of an amorphous SiO2 layer. Capacitance-voltage measurements on thin films of epitaxial LaAlO3/SrTiO3/Si with LaAlO3 thicknesses between 13 and 110 nm show a dielectric constant for the LaAlO3 layer of 24, the same value as for the bulk. After a post-deposition low temperature anneal, these oxide heterostructures show no Fermi level pinning and an interface state density of ∼8×1010 cm-2 eV-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For thin film devices based on coupling ferroelectric polarization to charge carriers in semiconductors, the role of the interface is critical. To elucidate this role, we use synchrotron x-ray diffraction to determine the interface structure of epitaxial SrTiO3 grown on the (001) surface of Si. The average displacement of the O octahedral sublattice relative to the Sr sublattice determines the film polarization and is measured to be about 0.05 nm toward the Si, with Ti off-center displacements 0.009 nm away from the substrate. Measurements of films with different boundary conditions on the top of the SrTiO3 show that the polarization at the SrTiO3/Si interface is dominated by oxide-Si chemical interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin films of epitaxial SrTiO3 grown on silicon exhibit compressive in-plane strain that may stabilize ferroelectricity in this normally non-ferroelectric material. We investigate this possibility by using an ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscope to measure the local force response of coherently strained SrTiO3 films on silicon to an applied ac electric field. The observed cantilever response is different in regions that were previously written with positive and negative voltages, but the frequency dependence of this response indicates that the dominant forces are related to electrostatic charging rather than ferroelectricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large scale features of epitaxial films, such as terrace structure, strain distribution, and grain shape, can have a substantial effect on device properties. The diffraction spot shape captures the average large scale structure. In epitaxial SrTiO3/Si (001), the spot shows a L-dependent splitting along two axes. Analysis of this feature traces its origin to a jagged step edge formation, and determines the length scale of terrace length and step meandering. Such a structure was previously observed in dimerized Si (001) using real-space imaging. Si diffusion that occurs during the first stages of growth gives rise to this morphology. This morphology may play a key role in explaining the small critical thickness for relaxation in these films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]