Zirconium oxide has received considerable attention as a dielectric component for microelectronic applications. However, crystallization at relatively low temperatures results in the formation of grain boundaries and high leakage current densities. Doping ZrO y with Al is known to suppress crystallization, but the effects of Al incorporation on dielectric properties has not been investigated over the complete range of Zr : Al compositions in Zr x Al 1Àx O y (ZAO). Herein, we report an aqueous, all-inorganic route to amorphous high-k ZAO thin film dielectrics with varying Zr : Al composition. ZAO thin films were spincast and annealed at temperatures between 200 and 600 C to produce dense, uniform, and smooth films with sub-nm roughness. In general, Zr-rich films had higher dielectric constants, ranging from 18.6 for pure ZrO y to 5.4 for pure AlO y (1 kHz), while Al-rich films had lower leakage current densities. Of the compositions studied, Zr 0.75 Al 0.25 O y films displayed the optimal balance of dielectric properties and low leakage current densities, making them promising candidates for microelectronic devices. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, X-ray reectivity (XRR) data and best t models, lm thicknesses and densities from XRR best t models, dielectric constant dispersion data. See

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