We have epitaxially grown thin HfO2 films doped with 10 mol% Gd2O3 (GDH) as high-k gate dielectrics by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The 6-nm-thick GDH film on Si(1 0 0) substrate adopts a cubic structure with a particular orientation relationship (1 0 0)(GDH)parallel to(1 0 0)(Si) and [0 1 1](GDH)parallel to[0 1 1](Si). The surfaces and absence of the typical interfacial layer have been determined by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results demonstrate that no silicides exist at the interface. The electrical properties of GDH films have been examined by capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-electrical field (I-E) measurements. Published by Elsevier B.V.