Band alignment between (100) Si and amorphous LaAlO3,LaScO3, and Sc2O3: Atomically abrupt versus interlayer-containing interfaces

Incorporation of a similar to 1-nm-thick SiOx interlayer is found to have little effect on the band alignment between a (100) Si substrate and amorphous LaAlO3, LaScO2, and Sc2O3 insulators. All of these materials are found to give the same band offsets irrespective of differences in their composition, even when contacting Si directly. This suggests that the bulk electron states and properties of the semiconductor and insulator layer play a much more important role in determining the band lineup at the interface than any dipoles related to particular bonding configurations encountered in the transition region between Si and these oxides. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics