Electrical characterization of amorphous lanthanum aluminate thin films grown by molecular-beam deposition on silicon

Amorphous LaAlO3 thin films were deposited at room temperature directly on n-type and p-type Si (001) by molecular beam deposition. The dielectric properties of the stoichiometric amorphous LaAlO3 thin films deposited on silicon were determined through capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements. The electrical measurements indicate that the amorphous LaAlO3 thin films have a dielectric constant (K) of K=16 +/- 2. This is significantly lower than the K=24 of crystalline LaAlO3. The equivalent oxide thickness values range between 9.8 and 15.5 A for films deposited on n-type silicon with physical thicknesses of 45-75 A. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.