Gate Oxides Beyond SiO2

This year marks a major materials milestone in the makeup of silicon-based field-effect transistors: in the microprocessors produced by leading manufacturers, the SiO2 gate dielectric is being replaced by a hafnium-based dielectric. The incredible electronic properties of the SiO 2/silicon interface are the reason that silicon has dominated the semiconductor industry and helped it grow to over $250 billion in annual sales, as reported by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), San Jose, CA. The shrinkage of transistor dimensions (Moore's law) has led to tremendous improvements in circuit speed and computer performance. At the same time, however, it has also led to exponential growth in the static power consumption of transistors due to quantum mechanical tunneling through an ever-thinner SiO2 gate dielectric. This has spurred an intensive effort to find an alternative to SiO2 with a higher dielectric constant (K) to temper this exploding power consumption. This article reviews the high-K materials revolution that is enabling Moore's law to continue beyond SiO2.