Electrical characteristics of a Dy-doped HfO2 gate dielectric

This letter describes a process for the preparation of high-quality Dy-doped HfO2 for use in gate dielectric applications. Compared with conventional undoped HfO2, the HfO2 gate dielectric which contains an optimum concentration of Dy exhibits the lowest leakage current and minimum effective oxide thickness. The lower electronegativity and larger atomic radii of Dy contribute to the improvement in leakage current for Dy-doped HfO2. The Dy-doped HfO2 is a promising gate dielectric layer for use in future high-k gate dielectric applications.