Atomic layer deposition of gadolinium oxide film

Thin cubic Gd2O3 films are grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD), in the temperature range 300-400 degrees C, using a novel tris(2.3-dimethyl-2-butoxy)gadolinium(III) precursor, Gd[OC(CH3)(2)CH(CH3)(2)](3), and water. The films are crystalline in their as-deposited state. The films contain some residual hydrogen and carbon, and are probably oxygen-deficient in the as-deposited state, causing flat-band shifts in Gd2O3-based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor structures. On the other hand,the permittivity of Gd2O3 dielectric layers reaches 16, approximately, when calculated from the relationship between equivalent and physical oxide thicknesses, and breakdown fields as high as 8 MV cm(-1).