X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of ZrO2/TiO2/Si stack.

A ZrO2/TiO2/Si gate stack has been prepared by using solid phase reaction between sputtered ZrO2/Ti stack and underlying SiO2/Si substrate through in situ vacuum annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyze interfacial properties of the ZrO2/TiO2/Si stack after annealing at high temperatures. The interfacial silicate is composed of Ti silicate and ZrO2 layer does not take part in the interfacial reaction to form Zr silicate. Such a stack has the advantage of combining high dielectric constant of ZrO2 and excellent interfacial property of Ti silicate/Si interface, and will have potential applications in the advanced metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]