The nearly free interfacial layer and the tetragonal phase ZrO2 with the high permittivity of 45 ± 3 on Ge (001) substrate lead to the equivalent oxide thickness as low as 0.39 nm and the low leakage current density of 2 × 10−3 A/cm−2. The ultrathin GeON layer formed by remote plasma treatment on GeO2/Ge can inhibit the interfacial layer regrowth by retarding the interdiffusion of Ge and O atoms. The initial ∼1 nm GeO2 layer is consumed during the remote plasma treatment, confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and further thinned down by post-deposition annealing to trigger the GeO desorption.
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