High-k 【High-k dielectric】
High-k is a dielectric material with a high dielectric constant (k) compared to silicon dioxide. High-k is used in semiconductor a manufacturing process which replaces the silicon dioxide gate dielectric.
Using silicon dioxide gate dielectric, when the thickness scales below 2 nm, current leakage due to tunneling increase drastically, leading to unwieldy power consumption and reduced device reliability. But High-k material allows increased gate capacitance without the concomitant leakage effects. High-k dielectric has enabled further miniaturization of microelectronic components.