Passivation Schemes for Ge High-K Metal Gate MOSFETs on Si for VLSI Production

We report progress on surface passivation and functionalization of Ge channel surfaces, as well as high-k dielectric layer growth by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and the resulting electrical properties measured in transistor (MOSFET) and metal oxide semiconducting capacitor (MOSCAP) structures. Epitaxial Si and Al2O3 passivation of Ge show improved performance with 3 times reduction in interface states density (Dit), higher conductance, reduced hysteresis and sub-1nm EOT as opposed to non-passivated interface. A 3 times drive current improvement to Si MOSFET was achieved with thin Al2O3 passivation layer