In this paper, we report upon an investigation into the feasibility of Y2O3 films as buffer layers for metal ferroelectric insulator semiconductor type capacitors. Buffer layers were prepared by a two-step process of low temperature film growth using the RF reactive magnetron sputtering method and subsequent rapid thermal annealing. By applying an yttrium metal seed layer of 4 nm, unwanted SiO2 layer generation was successfully suppressed at the interface between the buffer layer and the Si substrate. Increasing the post-annealing temperature above 700 degreesC reduced the surface roughness of the Y2O3 films, and increasing the 02 partial pressure from 10 to 20% increased the surface roughness from 4.0 to 15.1 nm. The Y2O3 films, prepared using an 02 partial pressure of 20% and annealed at 900 degreesC, exhibited the best surface roughness characteristics of the samples studied. For a substrate temperature above 400 degreesC and an 02 partial pressure of 20%, we observed that a cubic Y2O3 phase dominated the Xray diffraction spectra. The lowest lattice mismatch achieved between the Y2O3 film and the Si substrate was 1.75%. By using a two-step process, we reduced the leakage current density of Y2O3 films by two orders of magnitude and the D,, to as low as 8.72 X 10(10) cm(-2) eV(-1). A Y2O3 buffer layer grown at 400 degreesC in a 20% O-2 partial pressure and rapidly annealed at 900 degreesC in an oxygen enviroment exhibited the best overall properties for a single transistor ferroelectric random access memory.