PART I: BOND STRAIN AND DEFECTS AT Si-SiO2 AND DIELECTRIC INTERFACES IN HIGH-k GATE STACKS

The performance and reliability of aggressively-scaled field effect transistors that include deposited high-k dielectrics and interfacial SiO 2 buffer layers are determined in large part by electronically-active defects and defect precursors at the Si - SiO 2, and internal SiO 2-high-k dielectric interfaces. A crucial aspect of reducing interfacial defects and defect precursors is associated with bond-strain driven bonding self-organizations that take place during high temperature annealing in inert ambients. These interfacial self-organizations, and intrinsic interface defects are addressed through an extension of bond constraint theory from bulk glasses to interfaces between non-crystalline SiO 2, and i) crystalline Si , and ii) non-crystalline and crystalline alternative gate dielectric materials.