Probing local coordination environments in high-k materials for gate stack applications

Using electron energy-loss spectroscopy, the oxygen K-edge excitation in a range of crystalline standards relevant to candidate high-k materials has been examined. The spectra have been modeled using electronic structure calculations in order to understand the influence of the local coordination environment on the data. The knowledge obtained is used to probe the local atomic structure in thin amorphous films of "HfSiO." (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.