In recent years, the semiconductor industry has investigated many high dielectric constant, or "high-k," materials for use as the gate insulator in future generations of integrated circuits. Hafnium oxide is one of the most promising of these novel materials. As today's silicon dioxide layers are made thinner to support higher switching speeds for enhanced IC performance, they are becoming more prone to electron leakage - causing increased power consumption and ultimately compromising transistor operation. Gate insulators based on high-k materials can be made thicker to block electron leakage without reducing switching speeds.
|
News