The structural and the electrical properties of HfO2 gate dielectrics, treated using a xenon flash-lamp-annealing (FLA) technology have been studied for replacement metal gate transistors. Samples were exposed to a xenon flash with a 0.8 ms pulse width using preheating at 400 degrees C in a N-2 atmosphere. The energy density of the radiation was proportional to the capacitor charging voltage, which was varied from 2800 to 4300 V. At these energies, it was thought that the silicon substrate could be effectively heated by the xenon flash lamp. Equivalent oxide thickness values were decreased by about 5% during FLA treatments on the samples having the same starting HfO2 film thickness, because the HfO2 films were crystallized at capacitor charging voltages above 3300 V. Leakage current densities were almost the same with and without FLA treatments. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society.