An epitaxial AlN gate insulator for Si integrated circuits

We have grown an epitaxial AlN gate insulator using a laser MBE with a single crystalline AlN target and characterized it with various techniques such as TEM, in-situ XPS, RHEED, GIXR, and synchrotron radiation surface X-ray diffraction. We have confirmed that the AlN/Si hetero-interface formed by this technique is atomically abrupt and free from a Si/sub x/N/sub y/ interfacial layer, which makes a striking contrast to that formed by conventional techniques. We have also found that the leakage currents through the AlN films are dramatically reduced by the use of the single crystalline target. CV characteristics of the MIS structure with a 6.0 nm AlN film was satisfactory, which indicates that misfit dislocations at the AlN/Si interface do not act as interface states.