Metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors on GaAs with high-k gate oxide and amorphous silicon interface passivation layer

We demonstrate the electrical properties of metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors on molecular beam epitaxial GaAs in situ passivated with ultrathin amorphous Si (a-Si) layer and with ex situ deposited HfO2 gate oxide and TaN metal gate. Minimum thickness of the Si interface passivation layer of 1.5 nm is needed to prevent the Fermi level pinning and provide good capacitance-voltage characteristics with equivalent oxide thickness of 2.1 nm and leakage current of ⩽1.0mA∕cm2. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the Si layer was oxidized up to 1.4 nm during ex situ processing while the interface between the GaAs and a-Si remained atomically sharp without any sign of interfacial reaction.