Internal friction and Young’s modulus of Si<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript>/BN fibrous monoliths at various vibrational strain amplitudes

The effect of temperature and vibrational strain amplitude on Young’s modulus and an ultrasound damping (internal friction) of ceramic boron nitride samples and silicon nitride/boron nitride fibrous monoliths was studied. It was shown that the elastic moduli and the elastic vibration decrement of the low-modulus BN ceramic and of the high-modulus Si₃N₄/BN monoliths measured at small strain amplitudes (in the region of amplitude-independent internal friction) exhibit a noticeable temperature hysteresis. Temperature exerts the smallest effect on the amplitude-independent decrement and on the amplitude-dependent damping and Young’s modulus defect of a monolith whose filaments are arranged both along and perpendicular to the axis of a rodshaped sample. These parameters behave in the most complicated way in a sample with all its filaments aligned with the rod axis. The observed relations can be assigned to structural features of the monoliths and the considerable influence of transverse strain on the evolution of defect structure in the materials studied.     

Excimer laser surface treatment of bulk ceramics

Changes of surface morphology following excimer laser (KrF, ArF) irradiation were investigated for three technical ceramic materials (TZP, PSZ, Si₃N₄). Zirconia samples exhibit a smooth and glass-like surface at the low power density regime, while at higher power densities colour changes were observed due to changes in the chemical composition of the bulk material. In the silicon nitride samples new crystals of specific orientation are formed, which could be crystalline silicon.     

Effect of tellurium on electrical and structural properties of sintered silicon nitride ceramics

The effects of tellurium (Te) additives on electrical conductivity, dielectric constant and structural properties of sintered silicon nitride ceramics have been studied. Different amounts of Te (10% and 20%) were added as sintering additives to silicon nitride ceramic powders and sintering was performed. Microstructure and composition were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrical conductivity and dielectric constant (ε′) increase exponentially with temperature greater than 800 K. The electrical conductivity and dielectric constant increase but activation energy decreases from 0.72 to 0.33 eV with the increase of Te concentration. However, the conductivity increases five orders of magnitude at the concentration of 10% of Te in Si₃N₄. As the Te concentration increases the sintered silicon nitride ceramics become denser. These types of samples can be used as high temperature semiconducting materials.     

Quantitative evaluation of process induced strain in MOS transistors by Convergent Beam Electron Diffraction

Convergent Beam Electron Diffraction (CBED) experiments and simulations associated with Finite Element calculations were performed in order to measure strain and stress in a complex device such as periodic MOS transistors with a spatial resolution of about 2 nm and a sensitivity that could reach 50 MPa. A lamella of a thickness of about 475 nm was extracted from the wafer with the transistors by Focus Ion Beam (FIB) and was observed in cross-section in a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). When approaching the transistors, the HOLZ lines of the CBED patterns acquired in the silicon substrate, become broader and broader. This HOLZ line broadening, which is due to the stress relaxation in the thin foil, was used to determine quantitatively the strain and stress in the lamella and then in the bulk device. We showed that this procedure could be applied to a complex device. Two parameters, the intrinsic material strains – or equivalently the intrinsic material stresses – in the nickel silicide (NiSi) and nitride (Si₃N₄) layers on the top of the transistors gate, were successfully fitted by trial and error, in the procedure.     

Capturing properties of a threefold coordinated silicon atom in silicon nitride: Positive correlation energy model

The electronic structure and capturing properties of threefold coordinated silicon atoms (≡Si·) and the Si-Si bond in silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) were studied using the ab initio density functional theory. The results show that the previously proposed negative correlation energy (NCE) model is not applicable to Si₃N₄. The NCE model was proposed for interpreting the absence of the ESR signal for threefold coordinated silicon defects and suggested that an electron can transfer between two silicon defects. We proposed that the absence of this ESR signal is due to the creation of neutral diamagnetic Si-Si defects in Si₃N₄. This model offers the most fundamental theory for explaining the hole localization (memory) effect in silicon nitride.     

Controllable off-plane deflection of cantilevers for multiple scanning proximity probe arrays

The presented work reports the fabrication of 4×32 arrays of fully addressable proximity probes, which are initially and controllably off-plane deflected (bent). Such a deflection is required for the simultaneous approach and scanning of all cantilevers. It is realized by deposition of the silicon cantilevers with Si₃N₄ film inducing tensile stress. ANSYS simulations are used to calculate the off-plane deflection for different thickness of the cantilever and the Si₃N₄ layer and compared with experimentally obtained values. Cantilever arrays with set bending up to 50 μm, employing LPCVD silicon nitride film with a tensile stress of 750 MPa are fabricated.     

发光多孔硅的表面氮钝化

报道对多孔硅在NH₃气中进行快速热处理的结果。红外吸收谱表明,经处理样品的表面由Si(NH)₂和Si₃N₄所覆盖,电子自旋共振谱指出,经处理的样品有相当低的悬挂键密度,光荧光谱表明,经适当条件处理的样品的发光强度与未作处理样品相比仅略有降低,而且在大气中存放三个月基本不变,这些结果表明,氮化物可以在多孔硅表面形成优良的钝化膜,这对多孔硅的实际应用及理论研究都有一定意义。     

纳米非晶氮化硅键态结构的X射线径向分布函数研究

本文用X射线径向分布函数法研究了室温到1000℃不同退火条件下的纳米非晶氮化硅样品的微结构和键合特征。观察到占庞大体积百分数界面不是“gas-like”结构,而是与非晶纳米粒子不同的新的短程序结构。Si—N键长和最近邻原子配位数(CN)均比传统Si₃N₄小,并存在大量的Si悬键和不饱和键。纳米氮化硅与传统Si₃N₄饱和共价键不同,是含有大量非饱和键和悬键的非典型共价键结构。由于键配位的不饱和特征,纳米非晶氮化硅的分子式应写作Si_3-xN_4-y。纳米非晶氮化硅出现强极性与非饱和键和悬键有密切的关系。 关键词：     

The impact of ultra thin silicon nitride buffer layer on GaN growth on Si (1 1 1) by RF-MBE

Ultra thin films of pure silicon nitride were grown on a Si (1 1 1) surface by exposing the surface to radio-frequency (RF) nitrogen plasma with a high content of nitrogen atoms. The effect of annealing of silicon nitride surface was investigated with core-level photoelectron spectroscopy. The Si 2p photoelectron spectra reveals a characteristic series of components for the Si species, not only in stoichiometric Si₃N₄ (Si⁴⁺) but also in the intermediate nitridation states with one (Si¹⁺) or three (Si³⁺) nitrogen nearest neighbors. The Si 2p core-level shifts for the Si¹⁺, Si³⁺, and Si⁴⁺ components are determined to be 0.64, 2.20, and 3.05 eV, respectively. In annealed sample it has been observed that the Si⁴⁺ component in the Si 2p spectra is significantly improved, which clearly indicates the crystalline nature of silicon nitride. The high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) studies showed a significant improvement of the crystalline qualities and enhancement of the optical properties of GaN grown on the stoichiometric Si₃N₄ by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).     

Modified Fowler–Nordheim tunnelling for modelling charge injection into Si3N4 in an Al/Si3N4/Si structure

Charge injection behaviours in silicon nitride of an Al/Si₃N₄/n-Si metal?Cinsulator?Csemiconductor (MIS) device are systematically studied before and after applying different high constant DC bias conditions with the aim of controlling charge accumulation in the dielectric when a high actuation voltage is applied. We found that both polarity and magnitude of charge accumulation in silicon nitride depend on the biasing direction. Charge injection from the semiconductor to the silicon nitride always dominates over charge injection from the Al electrode to the silicon nitride. Negative charge accumulation happens in silicon nitride when the Al electrode is positively biased, and positive charge accumulation occurs in silicon nitride when the Al electrode is negatively biased. The positive charge accumulation is much bigger than the negative charge accumulation under the same magnitude of stress voltage. Furthermore, the experimental results also show that the charge injection level exponentially increases with the applied voltage across the silicon nitride. These observed experimental results can be well explained by a modified Fowler?CNordheim tunnelling charge injection model, which takes into account the roles of both electrons and holes in the process of charge injection.     

Plasma treatment studies of MIS devices

Silicon nitride films have emerged as the possible future dielectrics for ultra large scale integration (ULSI). Because the interface state density of silicon nitride/silicon interface in metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) configuration is more than an order of magnitude larger than that of silicon dioxide/silicon interface, plasma treatment studies on silicon nitride films have been undertaken for the possible improvement. Accordingly, silicon nitride films of various composition have been prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system using silane(SiH₄) and ammonia(NH₃) with nitrogen(N₂) as the diluent and MIS devices have been fabricated with as well as without plasma treated silicon nitride as the insulator. A considerable improvement in the silicon nitride/silicon interface is observed on ammonia plasma treatment while nitrous oxide(N₂O) plasma treatment studies have resulted in the establishment of a novel plasma oxidation process.     

Tensile strength of aluminium nitride films

Two-layered aluminium nitride (AlN)/silicon nitride microbridges were fabricated for microbridge tests to evaluate the elastic modulus, residual stress and tensile strength of the AlN films. The silicon nitride layer was added to increase the robustness of the structure. In a microbridge test, load was applied to the centre of a microbridge and was gradually increased by a nano-indenter equipped with a wedge tip until the sample was broken, while displacement was recorded coherently. Measurements were performed on single-layered silicon nitride microbridges and two-layered AlN/silicon nitride microbridges respectively. The data were fitted to a theory to derive the elastic modulus, residual stress and tensile strength of the silicon nitride films and AlN films. For the AlN films, the three parameters were determined to be 200, 0.06 and 0.3?GPa, respectively. The values of elastic modulus obtained were consistent with those measured by conventional nano-indentation method. The tensile strength value can be used as a reference to reflect the maximum tolerable tensile stress of AlN films when they are used in micro-electromechanical devices.     

Elasticity and inelasticity of silicon nitride/boron nitride fibrous monoliths

A study is reported on the effect of temperature and elastic vibration amplitude on Young’s modulus E and internal friction in Si₃N₄ and BN ceramic samples and Si₃N₄/BN monoliths obtained by hot pressing of BN-coated Si₃N₄ fibers. The fibers were arranged along, across, or both along and across the specimen axis. The E measurements were carried out under thermal cycling within the 20–600°C range. It was found that high-modulus silicon-nitride specimens possess a high thermal stability; the E(T) dependences obtained under heating and cooling coincide well with one another. The low-modulus BN ceramic exhibits a considerable hysteresis, thus indicating evolution of the defect structure under the action of thermoelastic (internal) stresses. Monoliths demonstrate a qualitatively similar behavior (with hysteresis). This behavior of the elastic modulus is possible under microplastic deformation initiated by internal stresses. The presence of microplastic shear in all the materials studied is supported by the character of the amplitude dependences of internal friction and the Young’s modulus. The experimental data obtained are discussed in terms of a model in which the temperature dependences of the elastic modulus and their features are accounted for by both microplastic deformation and nonlinear lattice-atom vibrations, which depend on internal stresses.     

Radiation response of strained Si---SiO2 layered system

In the presented paper radiation effects in silicon-silicon dioxide systems in the presence of additional tensile and compressive stresses were investigated. These stresses were produced by placing additional layers of SiO₂ or Si₃N₄ on the back side of oxidized silicon wafers.The results obtained indicate that relaxation takes place in the oxide during irradiation and leads to the decrease of the compressive stress in the oxide film. Relaxation of strained bonds causes defect generation and the increase of the oxide charge density. This increase is larger for oxides with higher level of compressive stress. No significant changes of the density of surface states were observed since the additional coatings did not affect the strain gradient in the SiO₂.     

Characterization of SiC and Si<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoparticles and their aqueous dispersions

Nanoparticles of SiC and Si₃N₄ were previously used to obtain electroless NiP/particles nanocomposites. The incorporation process was very different, depending on the particle: SiC tended to agglomerate and had a high incorporation level; Si₃N₄ particles were not aggregated, but their incorporation level was very low. To try to explain these differences, the particles and their aqueous dispersions were characterized. Although the as-received products were both oxidized and of the identical mean size, results showed that the size distributions and the surface oxidation products were rather different. The zeta potential in water dispersions was similar and negative for both particles but, as the electrolyte ions were introduced, it showed a different evolution: nitride particles retained a small negative charge and carbide was almost uncharged. The overall results obtained in this study explain the different behavior of both ceramic particles and provide possible solutions to improve their co-deposition with nickel.     

n-type conductivity in Si-doped amorphous AlN: an ab initio investigation

We report the electronic structure and topology of a heavily Si-doped amorphous aluminium nitride (Al_37.5Si_12.5N₅₀) using ab initio simulations. The amorphous Al_37.5Si_12.5N₅₀ system is found to be structurally similar to pure amorphous aluminium nitride. It has an average coordination number of about 3.9 and exhibits a small amount of Si–Si homopolar bonds. The formation of Si–Al bonds is not very favourable. Electronic structure calculations reveal that the Si doping has a negligible effect on the band gap width but causes delocalization of the valence band tail states and a shift of the Fermi level towards the conduction band. Thus, amorphous Al_37.5Si_12.5N₅₀ alloys show n-type conductivity.     

High-temperature real-time studies of lattice strains induced by localized oxidation of silicon

Mechanical strains along oxide edges of semiconductor devices with oxide isolation were studied by real-time x-ray topography in the temperature range from 20 to 1100°C. Due to the different thermal expansion coefficients of silicon and oxide, the strain at these edges decreases continuously with increasing temperature. The strength of the strain pattern corresponds to the structure size. The strain depends also on the thickness of the Si₃N₄ layer though the nitride was removed before the experiment. During the first heat treatment the contrast splits up into two lines at about 780°C.     

Electronic structure of silicon nitride according to ab initio quantum-chemical calculations and experimental data

Charge transfer ΔQ = 0.35e at the Si-N bond in silicon nitride is determined experimentally using photoelectron spectroscopy, and the ionic formula of silicon nitride Si₃^+1.4N₄^−1.05 is derived. The electronic structure of α-Si₃N₄ is studied ab initio using the density functional method. The results of calculations (partial density of states) are compared with experimental data on X-ray emission spectroscopy of amorphous Si₃N₄. The electronic structure of the valence band of amorphous Si₃N₄ is studied using synchrotron radiation at different excitation energies. The electron and hole effective masses m _e ^* ≈ m _h ^* ≈ 0.5m _e are estimated theoretically. The calculated values correspond to experimental results on injection of electrons and holes into silicon nitride.     

Hydrogen-related defect creation at the Si(100)–SiO2interface of metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors during hot electron stress

We explore the hydrogen-related microstructures involved in hot electron defect creation at the Si(100)–SiO₂interface of metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors. Based on the energetics of hydrogen desorption from the interface between silicon and silicon-dioxide, we argue that the hard threshold for hydrogen-related degradation may be considerably lower than the previously assumed value of 3.6 eV. Also, hydrogen atoms released from Si–H bonds at the interface by hot electron stress are trapped in bulk silicon near the interface.