High-throughput synthesis and characterization of Mg1-xCaxO films as a lattice and valence-matched gate dielectric for ZnO based field effect transistors
Using composition-spread technique, we have grown metastable Mg1-xCaxO solid solution films on ZnO layers by pulsed laser deposition. All the films exhibited (1 1 1) oriented cubic phase. Despite a large miscibility gap, no phase separation took place at growth temperatures up to 700 degrees C, whereas an optimal growth temperature was found at 400 degrees C in terms of the crystallinity. The composition-spread films were characterized by X-ray diffraction mapping technique. Both lattice parameters and diffraction intensity increased with increasing the CaO composition. The present isovalent heterointerfaces realized the perfect lattice-matching by properly adjusting the CaO composition, leading to particular interest for ZnO based field effect transistors.