Selected Publications - 2004:

1) Silicate Layer Formation at Pr₂O₃/ Si(001) Interfaces

D. Schmeißer*, H.-J. Müssig and J. Dabrowski

IHP Microelectronics, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

* BTU Cottbus, PF 101344, 03013 Cottbus, Germany

Applied Physics Letters 85(1), 88 (2004)

We studied Pr₂O₃/Si(001) interfaces by synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy and by ab initio calculations. We show that the interface formed during molecular-beam epitaxy under the oxygen partial pressure above 1 x 10^-8 mbar consists of a mixed Si-Pr oxide, such as (Pr₂O₃)(SiO)_x(SiO₂)_y. Neither an interfacial SiO₂ nor an interfacial silicide is formed. The silicate formation is driven by a low energy of O in PrOSi bond and by the strain in the subsurface SiO_x layer. We expect that this natural interfacial Pr silicate will facilitate the integration of the high-k dielectric Pr₂O₃ into future complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technologies.

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