The paper focuses on the electrical and structural characterization of nanostructurated ZrxLa1−xOy (ZLx) thin films in Zr atomic fractions in the range of x = 5 to 50%. High-k ZLx thin films were prepared on a Si(100) substrate using the sol-gel method. The influence of the annealing temperature in the presence of uniform oxygen flow (8 cm3/sec) on the insulator thickness was examined. It is found that the oxide growth versus time has parabolic behavior. The structure and morphology of the ZLx thin films were evaluated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Furthermore, material properties are investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The current density-voltage (J-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics are determined for Al/ZLx/Si devices. It is found that dielectric properties are sensitive to annealing conditions.
