Effects of Metal Layer Insertion on EOT scaling in TiN/Metal/La2O3/Si High-k Gate Stacks

Effects of a thin metal layer (W, Ta, or Mo) inserted at the interface between La2O3 high-k gate dielectric and TiN gate metal were studied. It was found that the inserted metal layer plays crucial role in determining the electrical characteristics of the TiN/Metal/La2O3/Si gate stack. Our results show that EOT can be scaled to 0.5nm and below by inserting a W layer with optimum thickness at the interface between La2O3 high-k gate dielectric and the TiN gate metal.