Review of alternative gate stack technology research during the last decade

Scaling of the gate stack has been one of the major contributors to the performance enhancement of CMOSFET devices in past technology generations. The scalability of gate stack has diminished in recent years and alternative gate stack technology such as metal electrode and high-k dielectrics has been intensively studied during the last decade. Today the performance of high-k dielectrics almost matches that of conventional SiO₂-based gate dielectrics. However, many technical challenges remain to be resolved before alternative gate stacks can be introduced into mainstream technology. This paper reviews the research in alternative gate stack technologies to provide insights for future research.