Patent ID: 6943076

Claim:
A semiconductor device, comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a gate insulation film formed on one major surface of said semiconductor substrate and including titanium oxide; and a gate electrode film formed in contact with said gate insulation film, said gate electrode film having a dual function of being an electrode and a diffusion barrier, said gate electrode film being configured to minimize diffusion of conductive elements into said gate insulation film to reduce a current leakage via the gate insulation film, said gate electrode film including ruthenium oxide or iridium oxide, wherein said titanium oxide is in the form of a crystal of rutile structure, wherein said gate electrode film and titanium oxide cooperate to reduce the diffusion of conductive elements of said gate electrode into said gate insulation film, so that the diffusion of the conductive elements of said gate electrode is less than that of when said gate electrode comprises Si, W, WSi2, Mo, MoSi2, Ti, or TiN.