Rapid thermal oxidation of Ge-rich strained layers

In this paper, we report for the first time the electrical properties of ultrathin oxides grown using rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) on strained Ge-rich layers on relaxed-SiGe buffers. Rapid thermal oxidation on strained Ge-rich layer is employed to prevent strain relaxation. Electrical properties of MOS capacitors fabricated using RTO grown oxides directly on strained Ge-rich has been studied in detail using capacitance-voltage (C-V), conductance-voltage (G-V) and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. Interface trap density, fixed oxide charge density, the frequency dispersion and hysteresis effects of the oxide have been determined. From the I-V characteristics, the current conduction mechanism has also been studied. RTO grown oxides show good electrical properties and may find applications in the future generation Ge-CMOS as a gate dielectric.