Materials Fundamentals of Gate Dielectrics

This book presents materials fundamentals of novel gate dielectrics that are being introduced into semiconductor manufacturing to ensure the continuous scalling of the CMOS devices. This is a very fast evolving field of research so we choose to focus on the basic understanding of the structure, thermodunamics, and electronic properties of these materials that determine their performance in device applications. Most of these materials are transition metal oxides. Ironically, the d-orbitals responsible for the high dielectric constant cause sever integration difficulties thus intrinsically limiting high-k dielectrics. Though new in the electronics industry many of these materials are wel known in the field of ceramics, and we describe this unique connection. The complexity of the structure-property relations in TM oxides makes the use of the state of the art first-principles calculations necessary. Several chapters give a detailed description of the modern theory of polarization, and heterojunction band discontinuity within the framework of the density functional theory. Experimental methods include oxide melt solution calorimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, Raman scattering and other optical characterization techniques, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Many of the problems encounterd in the world of CMOS are also relvant for other semiconductors such as GaAs. A comprehensive review of recent developments in this field is thus also given. The book should be of interest to those actively engaged in the gate dielectric research, and to graduate students in Materials Science, Materials Physics, Materials Chemistry, and Electrical Engineering.

Alexander Demkov received his Ph.D. in Physics at Arizona State University in 1995 secializing in electronic structure theory. His postdoctoral research was focused on electronic properties of zeolites. Het joined Motorola R&D in 1997, and has been working on materials problems of advanced CMOS gate stack, and quantum transport. He has authored over 60 papers, and has two issued patents. He has organized several national and international meetings, serves as an associate editor ofg the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, and is a member of the ITRS working group on Emerging Research Materials. He is adjunct professor of Physics at Arizona State University.

Alexandra Navrotsky was educated at the Bronx High School of Science and the University of Chicago (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in physical chemistry). After postdoctoral work in Germany and at Penn State University, she joined the faculty in Chemistry at Arizona State University, where she remained till her move to the Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences at Princeton University in 1985. She chaired that department from 1988 to 1991 and has been active in the Princeton Materials Institute. On July 1, 1997, she became an interdisciplinary professor of Ceramic, Earth and Environmental Materials Chemistry at the University of California  at Davis and is now Edward Roessler Chair in Mathematical and Physical Sciences. She directs the NEAT (Nanomaterials in the Environment, Agriculture and Technology) activities at Davis, including a faculty hiring initiative, an NSF-IGERT, and a new Organized Research Unit.