Dielectric absorption in HfSiO has been investigated with transient floating potential measurements. This has been achieved by peripheral component interconnect-based recording after the application of conditioning pulses. Metal-insulator-semiconductor (TiN/HfSiO/n+Si) capacitors show an increase in dielectric absorption with increasing annealing temperature when the film is covered with TiN. This effect is attributed to electrically active defects introduced by the presence of titanium during annealing. (C) 2009 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3043532]