Spectroscopic Studies of O-Vacancy Defects in Transition Metal Oxides

Dielectrics comprised of nano-crystalline HfO{sub 2} in gate stacks with thin SiO{sub 2}/SiON interfacial transition regions display significant asymmetries with respect to trapping of Si substrate injected holes and electrons. Based on spectroscopic studies, and guided by ab initio theory, electron and hole traps in HfO{sub 2} and other transition metal elemental oxides are assigned to O-atom divacancies clustered at internal grain boundaries of nano-crystalline films. Engineering solutions in which grain boundary defects are suppressed include: (i) ultra-thin,