Interface characterization of high-quality SrTiO thin films on 3 Si 100/ substrates grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Single-crystal SrTiO3 has been grown on Si 100. using molecular beam epitaxy MBE.. The growth conditions, especially at the initial stage of nucleation, have a great impact on the SrTiO3rSi interface. A regrowth of an amorphous interfacial layer as thick as 23 A° has been observed and identified as a form of SiO . This is a direct result of an internal x oxidation during the growth of the STO film due to the oxygen diffusion and reaction with the silicon substrate at the interface. The optimization of the deposition process in terms of growth temperature and oxygen partial pressure has led to an interfacial layer as thin as 11 A° . Metal oxide semiconductor MOS.capacitors with an equivalent oxide thickness tox of 12 A° and a leakage current of 2=10y4Arcm2 have been obtained for a 50 A° SrTiO3. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.