Physical characterization of high-k gate dielectric film systems processed by RTA and spike anneal

As complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices continue to scale with the rapid performance pace of Moore's Law, gate dielectric materials with significantly higher dielectric constants (k=10-25) are being investigated as potential replacements for silicon dioxide, SiO/sub 2/ (k=3.9), and silicon oxynitride. This provides opportunities for introduction of a physically thicker film with lower leakage current and with capacitance equivalent to