Electronic properties of sol-gel-derived oxides on silicon

Sol-gel-derived SiO₂, borosilicate, and aluminosilicate thin films deposited on silicon and heated for 5 min at temperatures of 1000°C or lower exhibit dielectric strength as great as 5 MV/cm and interface state densities as low as ∼1×10¹¹/cm² eV. These values represent significant improvements over previous sol-gel-derived oxides on semiconductors and indicate that sol-gel processing can provide device quality oxides in situations where native oxides are unavailable or exhibit poor dielectric behavior, e.g., amorphous, hydrogenated silicon or III-V compound semiconductors.