The conductance method in a bottom-up approach applied on hafnium oxide/silicon interfaces

Starting from basic statistical properties of interface states, we demonstrate the influence of energy dependent interface state distributions and thermal emission rates including their capture cross sections on measured differential conductance data for Al/HfO2/SiOx/Si structures. Theoretical plots calculated this way reproduce experimental conductance data without correction for lateral surface potential variations. Close to the silicon conduction band edge, we find an energy dependence of the capture cross sections revealing the existence of electron states with capture processes deviating from the multiphonon mechanisms found for the deeper lying states at interfaces between high-k dielectrics and silicon.