Crystalline oxides on silicon: A high-performance electronic material

Researchers at Yale University have invented a high-performance material for future generations of transistors and devices. New oxide materials are required to make faster computer chips for the future. These new oxides will replace the oxide that has been the standard for the last 50 years, silicon dioxide. To replace silicon dioxide, these new oxides must perform better by having a large dielectric constant and a small leakage current. The oxide LaAlO3 has a dielectric constant that is six times larger than that of silicon dioxide. The thin film structure shown on the right was fabricated using an advanced vapor deposition technique called molecular beam epitaxy; the image shows an atomic-scale cross-section through the film.