We report a new atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃) thin films using tris(N,N⁰-diisopropyl-2-dimethylamido-guanidinato) yttrium(III) [Y(DPDMG)₃] which possesses an optimal reactivity towards water that enabled the growth of high quality thin films. Saturative behavior of the precursor and a constant growth rate of 1.1 Å per cycle confirm the characteristic self-limiting ALD growth in a temperature range from 175 C to 250 C. The polycrystalline films in the cubic phase are uniform and smooth with a root mean squared (RMS) roughness of 0.55 nm, while the O/Y ratio of 2.0 reveal oxygen rich layers with low carbon contaminations of around 2 at%. Optical properties determined via UV/Vis measurements revealed the direct optical band gap of 5.56 eV. The valuable intrinsic properties such as a high dielectric constant make Y₂O₃ a promising candidate in microelectronic applications. Thus the electrical characteristics of the ALD grown layers embedded in a metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) capacitor structure were determined which resulted in a dielectric permittivity of 11, low leakage current density (z10⁷ A cm² at 2 MV cm¹) and high electrical breakdown fields (4.0–7.5 MV cm¹). These promising results demonstrate the potential of the new and simple Y₂O₃ ALD process for gate oxide applications.