Advanced Gate Dielectrics for Silicon Technology

CRISP collaborates with leading chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to develop new gate insulator materials for next generation processors.

Further miniaturization of transistors for use in processors and memory applications necessitates the replacement of the traditional SiO2 gate insulator in these devices with so-called high-k materials. These materials can greatly reduce unwanted leakage currents in transistors. Candidate materials include complex oxide materials, such as strontium titanate (SrTiO3). Yale has the capability to deposit single crystalline strontium titanate directly onto silicon wafers.

Fig.1 Atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of epitaxial SrTiO3 on Si.	Fig.2 Custom-built oxide molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system at Yale.