HIGH-K DIELECTRIC MATERIALS BY METALORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION: GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION R. Thomas, S. Regnery, P. Ehrhart, R. Waser IFF-Institut für Festkörperforchung and CNI-Center for Nanoelectronic Systems for Information Technlogy, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425, Jülich, Germany. U. Patil, R. Bhakta and A. Devi Inorganic Materials Chemistry Group, Lehrstuhl für Anorganische Chemie II, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr.150, D-44780, Bochum, Germany. Two novel mononuclear mixed alkoxide compounds of Ti and Zr, [Ti(OPr i ) 2 (tbaoac) 2 ] and [Zr(OPr i ) 2 (tbaoac) 2 ], were synthesised and characterised. These complexes are highly soluble and possess superior thermal properties showing promising characteristics as precursors for MOCVD of oxide thin films. Results are presented for thin films, which were deposited in a liquid injection metal-organic chemical vapour deposition production tool. Special emphasis is given to the properties of ZrO 2 thin films within MIS structures as proposed for gate oxide applications and to the compatibility of the new Ti precursor with a standard Sr(thd) 2 precursor for low temperature deposition of SrTiO 3 . Keywords: MOCVD; precursors; TiO 2 ; ZrO 2 ; SrTiO 3 ; high-k dielectrics. 1. INTRODUCTION The continual scaling of integrated circuits was possible due to the ‘natural gift’ to silicon in the form of SiO 2 as a perfect insulator and its compatibility with the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process flow. Despite the extra-ordinary properties of Si-SiO 2 system, further scaling demands for materials with higher k values and this is true for gate oxide applications [1,2], MIS structures, as well as for DRAM(dynamic random access memory) or decoupling capacitors [1,3], MIM structures. For example, scaling of the MOSFET down to a SiO 2 thickness below 1.5 nm yields excessive tunnelling currents above 1A/cm 2 at normal device operating condition. In order to maintain the high gate oxide capacitance in the future MOSFET an alternate insulator with high dielectric constant is a must, and Ferroelectrics 327 (2005) 111-119