Dielectric Breakdown of $\hbox{Al}_{2}\hbox{O}_{3}/ \hbox{HfO}_{2}$ Bi-Layer Gate Dielectric

We investigate the dielectric breakdown of aluminum oxide (Al
₂
O
₃
) interfacial layers compared with SiO
₂
used in the high- k gate dielectric stacks. We predict the maximum operating voltage for a ten-year lifetime, using extracted values of Weibull β, voltage power law exponent (n), and breakdown voltage. We show that the Al
₂
O
₃
interface layer reliability is sufficient for it to be considered as a replacement for SiO
₂
.