Structural and compositional investigation of high k praseodymium oxide films deposited by MOCVD

Different praseodymium oxide phases have been obtained by varying oxygen partial pressure during the MOCVD process at 750°C on Si(100). Hexagonal Pr2O3 have been obtained under oxygen deficient conditions, while at oxygen partial pressure higher than 0.7 torr oxidized phases, such as Pr6O11 and/or PrO2, are dominant. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EF-TEM) analyses have been used to characterize structural, compositional and morphological features of praseodymium oxide films.