Thermal stability of epitaxial Pt films on Y2O3 in a metal-oxide-Si structure

High-quality epitaxial Pt films were grown by a sputtering deposition method using epitaxial Y2O3 as a dielectric buffer layer. A high degree of crystallinity was achieved with an ion-beam minimum channeling yield (chi(min)) of similar to11%, and a high degree of coherence between the film surface and interface was obtained for the Pt(111)/Y2O3(111)/Si, with a large lattice mismatch. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy results showed that the atomic arrangement at the interface between the Pt and the oxide was well ordered, and no perceptible interdiffusion was observed, even at an annealing temperature of up to 700 degreesC under an oxygen atmosphere. The atomic arrangement at the Pt/Y2O3 interface was drastically degraded after a high-temperature annealing at 900degreesC due to the deformation of Y2O3. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.