The rapidly increasing global demand for energy combined with the environmental impact of fossil fuels has spurred the search for alternative sources of clean energy. One promising approach is to convert solar energy into hydrogen fuel using photoelectrochemical cells. However, the semiconducting photoelectrodes used in these cells typically have low efficiencies and/or stabilities. Here we show that a silicon-based photocathode with a capping epitaxial oxide layer can provide efficient and stable hydrogen production from water. In particular, a thin epitaxial layer of strontium titanate (SrTiO3) was grown directly on Si(001) by molecular beam epitaxy. Photogenerated electrons can be transported easily through this layer because of the conduction-band alignment and lattice match between single-crystalline SrTiO3 and silicon. The approach was used to create a metal-insulator-semiconductor photocathode that, under a broad-spectrum illumination at 100 mW cm(-2), exhibits a maximum photocurrent density of 35 mA cm(-2) and an open circuit potential of 450 mV; there was no observable decrease in performance after 35 hours of operation in 0.5 M H2SO4. The performance of the photocathode was also found to be highly dependent on the size and spacing of the structured metal catalyst. Therefore, mesh-like Ti/Pt nanostructured catalysts were created using a nanosphere lithography lift-off process and an applied-bias photon-to-current efficiency of 4.9% was achieved.

TiO2 is being widely explored as an active resistive switching (RS) material for resistive random access memory. We report a detailed analysis of the RS characteristics of single-crystal anatase-TiO2 thin films epitaxially grown on silicon by atomic layer deposition. We demonstrate that although the valence change mechanism is responsible for the observed RS, single-crystal anatase-TiO2 thin films show electrical characteristics that are very different from the usual switching behaviors observed for polycrystalline or amorphous TiO2 and instead very similar to those found in electrochemical metallization memory. In addition, we demonstrate highly stable and reproducible quantized conductance that is well controlled by application of a compliance current and that suggests the localized formation of conducting Magnéli-like nanophases. The quantized conductance observed results in multiple well-defined resistance states suitable for implementation of multilevel memory cells.

The current work explores the crystalline perovskite oxide, strontium hafnate, as a potential high-k gate dielectric for Ge-based transistors. SrHfO3 (SHO) is grown directly on Ge by atomic layer deposition and becomes crystalline with epitaxial registry after post-deposition vacuum annealing at ∼700 °C for 5 min. The 2 × 1 reconstructed, clean Ge (001) surface is a necessary template to achieve crystalline films upon annealing. The SHO films exhibit excellent crystallinity, as shown by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The SHO films have favorable electronic properties for consideration as a high-k gate dielectric on Ge, with satisfactory band offsets (>2 eV), low leakage current (<10−5 A/cm2 at an applied field of 1 MV/cm) at an equivalent oxide thickness of 1 nm, and a reasonable dielectric constant (k ∼ 18). The interface trap density (Dit) is estimated to be as low as ∼2 × 1012 cm−2 eV−1 under the current growth and anneal conditions. Some interfacial reaction is observed between SHO and Ge at temperatures above ∼650 °C, which may contribute to increased Dit value. This study confirms the potential for crystalline oxides grown directly on Ge by atomic layer deposition for advanced electronic applications.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a proven technique for the conformal deposition of oxide thin films with nanoscale thickness control. Most successful industrial applications have been with binary oxides, such as Al2O3 and HfO2. However, there has been much effort to deposit ternary oxides, such as perovskites (ABO3), with desirable properties for advanced thin film applications. Distinct challenges are presented by the deposition of multi-component oxides using ALD. This review is intended to highlight the research of the many groups that have deposited perovskite oxides by ALD methods. Several commonalities between the studies are discussed. Special emphasis is put on precursor selection, deposition temperatures, and specific property performance (high-k, ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, etc.). Finally, the monolithic integration of perovskite oxides with semiconductors by ALD is reviewed. High-quality epitaxial growth of oxide thin films has traditionally been limited to physical vapor deposition techniques (e.g., molecular beam epitaxy). However, recent studies have demonstrated that epitaxial oxide thin films may be deposited on semiconductor substrates using ALD. This presents an exciting opportunity to integrate functional perovskite oxides for advanced semiconductor applications in a process that is economical and scalable.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of epitaxial c-axis oriented BaTiO3 (BTO) on Si(001) using a thin (1.6 nm) buffer layer of SrTiO3 (STO) grown by molecular beam epitaxy is reported. The ALD growth of crystalline BTO films at 225  °C used barium bis(triisopropylcyclopentadienyl), titanium tetraisopropoxide, and water as co-reactants. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals a high degree of crystallinity and c-axis orientation of as-deposited BTO films. Crystallinity is improved after vacuum annealing at 600  °C. Two-dimensional XRD confirms the tetragonal structure and orientation of 7–20-nm thick films. The effect of the annealing process on the BTO structure is discussed. A clean STO/Si interface is found using in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and confirmed by cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy. The capacitance-voltage characteristics of 7–20 nm-thick BTO films are examined and show an effective dielectric constant of ∼660 for the heterostructure.