Characterization of cubic phase MgZnO/Si(100) interfaces

Abstract The microstructural properties of the MgxZn1−xO/Si(1 0 0) interface were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and chemical states of the heterostructure were studied by high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). By analyzing the valence band spectra of thin MgxZn1−xO/Si(1 0 0) heterostructures, the valence band offset between such Mg0.55Zn0.45O and Si(1 0 0) was obtained to be 2.3 eV. Using the cubic ternary thin films as insulators, metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) capacitors have been fabricated. Leakage current density lower than 3 × 10−7 A/cm2 is obtained under the electrical field of 600 kV/cm by current–voltage (I–V) measurement. Frenkel-Poole conduction mechanism is the main cause of current leakage under high electrical field.