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Thin films of polycrystalline YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia ) of 4-500nm in film thickness were deposited on (100)Si at 800 o C by rf-magnetron sputtering of a sintered YSZ target. The sputtered YSZ thin films were evaluated as an alternate gate oxide for Si-MOSFETs. It was found that the interfacial layer of SiO x was formed between YSZ and (100)Si. The formation of the SiO x layer during the sputtering deposition of the YSZ was not predominant. The surface of the Si was chiefly oxidized during a cleaning stage and/or a pre-sputtering due to possibly residual H 2 O or O 2 in a sputtering chamber. The cooling process after the deposition affected the interfacial properties. The rapid cooling in Ar ambient increased a breakdown voltage in a heterostructure Au/YSZ(100)/p-Si with evaporated gold top electrodes. A small leakage current of 5x10 -8 cm 2 at 1V and a high breakdown voltage of 9.3MV/cm were observed for the YSZ thin films of 7.5nm. The resultant equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) for Si-gate oxide was 3nm. The interfacial quality of the YSZ and SiO x seems to have a close relation to the small leakage current.