PNNL

Abstract

We present structural and electrical characterization of SrZrO3 that has been epitaxially grown on Ge(001) by oxide molecular beam epitaxy. Single crystalline SrZrO3 can be nucleated on Ge via deposition at low temperatures followed by annealing at 550 ºC in ultra-high vacuum. Photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal that SrZrO3 exhibits a type-I band arrangement with respect to Ge, with conduction and valence band offsets of 1.4 eV and 3.65 eV, respectively. As a standalone film, SrZrO3 exhibits several characteristics that are ideal for applications as a gate dielectric on Ge. We find that 4 nm thick films exhibit low leakage current densities, and a dielectric constant of ? ~ 25 that corresponds to an equivalent oxide thickness of 0.70 nm.