Study of interfaces and band offsets in TiN/amorphous LaLu=3 gate stacks

TiN/LaLuO3 (LLO) gate stacks formed by molecular beam deposition have been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, medium energy ion scattering, spectroscopic ellipsometry, scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results indicate an amorphous structure for deposited LLO films. The band offset between the Fermi level of TiN and valence band of LLO is estimated to be 2.65 +/- 0.05 eV. A weaker La-O-Lu bond and a prominent Ti2p sub-peak which relates to Ti bond to interstitial oxygen have been identified for an ultra-thin 1.7 nm TiN/3 nm LLO gate stack. The angle-dependent XPS analysis of Si2s spectra as well as shifts of La4d, La3d and Lu4d core levels suggests a silicate-type with Si-rich SiOx LLO/Si interface. Symmetrical valence and conduction band offsets for LLO to Si of 2.2 eV and the bandgap of 5.5 +/- 0.1 eV have been derived from the measurements. The band alignment for ultra-thin TiN/LLO gate stack is affected by structural changes. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved