Current transport by defects in Pr2O3 high k films

The conduction mechanism in Si/SiO2/PrxSiyOz/Pr2O3 stack deposited by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) has been investigated and correlated to the electrical defects by performing current density-voltage (J-V) measurements at several temperatures (from 100 degrees C to 200 degrees C). The Hill's diagram indicated that at high electric fields the conduction follows the Poole-Frenkel mechanism. Nanoscopic and microscopic properties have been correlated by comparison between capacitance voltage (C-V) measurements on large area MOS devices and measurements carried out at nanometer scale by scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM). A trap density of 4.77 x 10(11) cm(-2) was measured independently of the scale dimension. Finally, the energy levels contributing to the conduction phenomena were determined to be located at the midgap.