Excellent electrical characteristics of lanthanide (Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, and Dy) oxide and lanthanide-doped oxide for MOS gate dielectric applications

In this paper, we report on an investigation of the electrical characteristics of various amorphous lanthanide oxides prepared by e-beam evaporation. Excellent electrical characteristics were found for the amorphous lanthanide oxide including a high oxide capacitance, low leakage current, and high thermal stability. We also confirmed the excellent thermal stability and mobility characteristics of lanthanide silicate (PrSi/sub x/O/sub y/). In addition, lanthanide-doped HfO/sub 2/ also exhibited a significant reduction in leakage current at the same equivalent oxide thickness.