Reversible H2 passivation of Si ≡ Si3 interface defects in (1 1 1)Si/SiO2

K-band electron spin resonance (ESR) at 4.3 K has revealed the dipole-dipole (DD) interaction effects between [1 1 1]P_b centers (^*Si ≡ Si₃ defects with unpaired sp³ hybrid [1 1 1]) at the 2 dimensional (1 1 1)Si/SiO₂ interface. This has been enabled by the perfectly reversible H₂ passivation of P_b, which affects the defect's spin state. Sequential hydrogenation at 253–353°C and degassing treatments in high vacuum at 743–835°C allowed to vary the P_b density in the range 5 × 10¹⁰ < [P_b] (1.14 ± 0.06) × 10¹³ cm^-2. With increasing [P_b] fine structure doublets are clearly resolved. It is found that (1 1 1)Si/SiO₂ interfaces, dry thermally grown at ≈920°C, naturally comprise a ^*Si ≡ Si₃ defect density — passivated or not — of 1.14 × 10¹³ cm^-2.     

Metastable states in Si:H

The results of ab initio LDF calculations applied to large clusters of Si atoms containing H in various positions are described. We find the bond centred (BC) defect to be most stable for neutral and positively charged H. H placed at an antibonding site is also stable with an energy 0.1 eV higher than the BC defect. The stability of H₂ and H^*₂ is also discussed. New results are reported for the conversion of BC defects into Si dangling bonds. It is found that H attached to vacancy-like defects is bi-stable: for Si-H-Si lengths less than ≈3.8 Å, the BC defect is stable, whereas for longer separations, the Si-H ··· Si dangling bond is stable. A discussion of the relevance of this to the Staebler-Wronski effect is given.     

THE INTERACTION OF Au AND THE Si/SiO2 INTERFACE DEFECT Hit(0.494)

The defects at the Si/SiO₂ interface have been studied by the deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique in p-type MOS structures with and without gold diffusion. The experimental results show that the interaction of gold and Si/SiO₂ interface defect,H_it(0.494), results in the formation of a new interface de-fect, Au-H_it(0.445). Just like the interface defect, H_it(0.494), the new interface defect possesses a few interesting properties, for example, when the gate voltage applied across the MOS structure reduces the energy interval between Fermi-level and Si valence band of the Si surface to values smaller than the hole ionization Gibbs free energy of the defect, a sharp DLTS peak is still observable; and the hole apparent activation energy increases with the decrease of the Si surface potential barrier height. These properties can be successfully explained with the transition energy band model of the Si/SiO₂ interface.     

MoO_3/Si界面区钼掺杂非晶氧化硅层形成的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法,通过模拟MoO_3/Si界面反应,研究了MoO_x薄膜沉积中原子、分子的吸附、扩散和成核过程,从原子尺度阐明了缓冲层钼掺杂非晶氧化硅(a-SiO_x(Mo))物质的形成和机理.结果表明,在1500 K温度下, MoO_3/Si界面区由Mo, O, Si三种原子混合,可形成新的稳定的物相.热蒸发沉积初始时, MoO_3中的两个O原子和Si成键更加稳定,同时伴随着电子从Si到O的转移,钝化了硅表面的悬挂键. MoO_3中氧空位的形成能小于SiO_2中氧空位的形成能,使得O原子容易从MoO_3中迁移至Si衬底一侧,从而形成氧化硅层;替位缺陷中, Si替位MoO_3中的Mo的形成能远远大于Mo替位SiO_2中的Si的形成能,使得Mo容易掺杂进入氧化硅中.因此,在晶硅(100)面上沉积MoO_3薄膜时, MoO_3中的O原子先与Si成键,形成氧化硅层,随后部分Mo原子替位氧化硅中的Si原子,最终形成含有钼掺杂的非晶氧化硅层.     

内在缺陷与Cu掺杂共存对ZnO电磁光学性质影响的第一性原理研究

采用基于自旋密度泛函理论的平面波超软赝势方法,研究了Cu掺杂ZnO (简称Cu_(Zn))与内在缺陷共存对ZnO电磁光性质的影响.结果表明,Cu是以替位受主的形式掺入的;制备条件对Cu_(Zn)及内在缺陷的形成起至关重要的作用,富氧条件下Cu掺杂有利于内在缺陷的形成,且Cu_(Zn)-O_i最易形成;相反在缺氧条件下,Cu掺杂不利于内在缺陷的形成.替位Cu的3d电子在价带顶形成未占据受主能级,产生p导电类型.与Cu_(Zn)体系相比,Cu_(Zn)-V_O体系中载流子浓度降低,导电性变差;Cu_(Zn)-V_(Zn)体系中载流子浓度几乎不变,对导电性没影响;Cu_(Zn)-O_i体系中载流子浓度升高,导电性增强.纯ZnO体系无磁性;而Cu掺杂ZnO体系,与Cu原子相连的O原子,电负性越小,键长越短,对磁矩贡献越大;Cu_(Zn)与Cu_(Zn)-O_i体系中的磁矩主要是Cu的3d电子与Z轴上O的2p电子耦合产生的;Cu_(Zn)中存在空位缺陷(V_O,V_(Zn))时,磁矩主要是Cu 3d电子与XY平面内O的2p电子强烈耦合所致;Cu_(Zn)中存在V_(Zn)时,磁性还包含V_(Zn)周围0(5, 6)号原子2p轨道自旋极化的贡献;所有体系中Zn原子自旋对称,不产生磁性.Cu_(Zn)-V_(Zn)和Cu_(Zn)-O_i缺陷能态中,深能级中产生的诱导态是0-0 2s电子相互作用产生的.Cu_(Zn)模型的光学带隙减小,导致吸收边红移;Cu_(Zn)-V_(Zn)模型中吸收和反射都增强,使得透射率降低.     

Hydrogen-release mechanisms in the breakdown of thin SiO2 films

The mechanism of hydrogen release from the anode Si/SiO(2) interface that triggers defect generation and finally the dielectric breakdown of the oxide in metal-oxide-semiconductor structures is investigated. Extensive experimental charge-to-breakdown statistics are used to derive the defect generation efficiency as a function of gate voltage and oxide thickness in wide ranges. The presented results provide strong support to single-electron assisted Si-H bond breakage and discard multiple electron induced incoherent vibrational heating mechanisms.     

硅锗量子阱结构在硅异质结太阳电池中应用的数值模拟

利用半导体工艺和器件仿真软件silvaco TCAD(Technology Computer Aided Design),模拟研究了采用硅/硅锗合金(silicon/silicon germanium alloy,Si/Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱结构作为吸收层的薄膜晶体硅异质结太阳电池各项性能.模拟结果显示,长波波段光学吸收随锗含量的增加而增加,而开路电压则因Si_(1-x)Ge_x)层带隙的降低而下降.锗含量为0.25时,短路电流密度的增加补偿了开路电压的衰减,效率提升0.2%.氢化非晶硅/晶体硅(a-Si:H/c-Si)界面空穴密度以及Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱的体空穴载流子浓度制约着空穴费米能级的位置,进而影响到开路电压的大小.随着锗含量增加,a-Si:H/c-Si界面缺陷对开压的影响降低,Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱的体缺陷对开压的影响则相应增加.高效率含Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱结构的硅异质结太阳电池的制备需要a-Si:H/c-Si界面缺陷的良好钝化以及高质量Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱的生长.     

Si–Si bond as a deep trap for electrons and holes in silicon nitride

A two-stage model of the capture of electrons and holes in traps in amorphous silicon nitride Si₃N₄ has been proposed. The electronic structure of a “Si–Si bond” intrinsic defect in Si₃N₄ has been calculated in the tight-binding approximation without fitting parameters. The properties of the Si–Si bond such as a giant cross section for capture of electrons and holes and a giant lifetime of trapped carriers have been explained. It has been shown that the Si–Si bond in the neutral state gives shallow levels near the bottom of the conduction band and the top of the valence band, which have a large cross section for capture. The capture of an electron or a hole on this bond is accompanied by the shift of shallow levels by 1.4–1.5 eV to the band gap owing to the polaron effect and a change in the localization region of valence electrons of atoms of the Si–Si bond. The calculations have been proposed with a new method for parameterizing the matrix elements of the tightbinding Hamiltonian taking into account a change in the localization region of valence electrons of an isolated atom incorporated into a solid.     

THE INTERACTION OF Au AND THE Si/SiO2 INTERFACE DEFECT Hit(0.494)

The defects at the Si/SiO₂ interface have been studied by the deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique in p-type MOS structures with and without gold diffusion. The experimental results show that the interaction of gold and Si/SiO₂ interface defect,H_it(0.494), results in the formation of a new interface de-fect, Au-H_it(0.445). Just like the interface defect, H_it(0.494), the new interface defect possesses a few interesting properties, for example, when the gate voltage applied across the MOS structure reduces the energy interval between Fermi-level and Si valence band of the Si surface to values smaller than the hole ionization Gibbs free energy of the defect, a sharp DLTS peak is still observable; and the hole apparent activation energy increases with the decrease of the Si surface potential barrier height. These properties can be successfully explained with the transition energy band model of the Si/SiO₂ interface.     

High temperature reaction and defect chemistry at the Si/SiO2 interface

The generation of structural and electrical defects in Si/SiO₂ structures upon high temperature annealing by the oxide decomposition reaction Si+SiO₂→2SiO ↑ has been studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ramped current-voltage measurements. The SiO decomposition is nucleated at crystalline defects in the substrate and results in the formation of voids in the oxide. The voids grow laterally with annealing time, independent of the nature of the defect. Prior to the formation of physical voids in the oxide, defects become electrically active, leading to low field dielectric breakdown. The breakdown degradation is prevented when the O₂ pressure in the annealing ambient is sufficient to reverse the decomposition reaction by reoxidizing the SiO product at the interface.     

Atomic and electronic properties of tert-butanol on the Si(001)-(2×1) surface

The atomic and electronic properties of the adsorption of tert-butanol [(CH₃)₃OH] molecule on the Si(001)-(2×1) surface have been studied by using the ab-initio density functional theory (DFT) based on pseudopotential approach. We have found that tert-butanol bonded the Si(001) surface by oxygen atom, cleaving a O–H bond and producing a Si-H bond and tert-butoxy surface species. We have also investigated the influence of chemisorption of tert-butanol on the electronic structure of the clean Si(001)-(2×1) surface. Two occupied surface states situated entirely below the bulk valence band maximum have been identified, which means that the clean Si(001)-(2×1)surface was passivated by the chemisorption of tert-butanol. In order to explain the nature of the surface components we have also plotted the total and partial charge densities at the [`(K)]\bar{K} point of the surface Brillouin zone (SBZ).     

Large supercell molecular dynamics study of defect formation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We have performed molecular dynamics simulations of the defect formation associated with the Staebler-Wronski (SW) effect in a-Si:H using 224 and 231 atom supercells and employing semiempirical Si-Si and Si-H total energy functionals. The role of hydrogen in the defect formation within the bond breaking model of the SW effect has been investigated for both large supercells. The results suggest that, within this model, H can be important in weakening the normal Si-Si bonds which break to produce defects in the SW effect.     

First-principles calculations of F-, Cl-, and N-related defects of amorphous SiO_2 and their impacts on carrier trapping and proton release

The first-principles calculations based on density functional theory are performed to study F-,Cl-,and N-related defects of amorphous SiO2(a-SiO2) and their impacts on carrier trapping and proton release.The possible geometric configurations of the impurity-related defects,the formation energies,the hole or electron trapping of the neutral defects,and the mechanisms to suppress proton diffusion by doping N are investigated.It is demonstrated by the calculations that the impurity atoms can interact with the oxygen vacancies and result in impurity-related defects.The reactions can be utilized to saturate oxygen vacancies that will cause ionization damage to the semiconducting devices.Moreover,the calculated formation energy indicates that the F-or Cl-related oxygen vacancy defect is a deep hole trap,which can trap holes and prevent them from diffusing to the a-SiO2/Si interface.However,three N-related defects,namely N(2)o-H,N(2)o=O,and N(3)o-Vo,tend to act as shallow hole traps to facilitate hole transportation during device operation.The N(2)o and N(3)o configurations can be negatively charged as deep electron traps during the oxide charge buildup after ionization radiation.In addition,the nudged elastic band(NEB) calculations show that four N-related defects,namely N(2)o,N(2)o-H,N(2)o=O,and N(3)o are capable of capturing protons and preventing them from diffusing to and de-passivating the interface.This research reveals the fundamental properties of the F-,Cl-,and N-related defects in amorphous silica and the details of the reactions of the carrier trapping and proton release.The findings help to understand the microscopic mechanisms that alleviate ionization damage of semiconducting devices by doping a-SiO2.     

Adhesion and bonding of the Al/TiC interface

The electronic structure and adhesion of Al/TiC(0 0 1) interface are examined by density functional theory. Our results show the preferred configuration is the Al atom above the ceramic’s metalloid atom. The calculated adhesion explains the conflicting experimental results of the W_ad from the aspect of the establishing different chemical equilibrium bonds at the different temperatures. By applying several analysis methods we have thoroughly characterized the interfacial electronic structure. For the Ti-site the interfacial Al and Ti atoms form the metal/covalent bond, while for the C-site the interfacial Al and C atoms form the polar covalent interaction. In addition, we examine the effects of Mg and Si alloying elements at the interface, and find that Mg greatly deteriorates the interface and Si slightly improves the interface. The cleavage may take place preferentially at the interface with the help of interface strain energy, especially with the addition of Mg. This is in good agreement with the experimental result.     

掺杂非晶氧化硅薄膜中三元化合态与电子结构的第一性原理计算

基于密度泛函理论和分子动力学方法,研究了ITO-SiO_x(In,Sn)/n-Si异质结光伏器件中非晶SiO_x层的氧化态和电子结构.计算结果表明:具有钝化隧穿功能的超薄(2 nm)非晶SiO_x层,是由In,Sn,O,Si四种元素相互扩散形成的,其中In,Sn元素在SiO_x网格中以In-O-Si和Sn-O-Si成键态存在,形成了三元化合物.In和Sn的掺杂不仅在SiO_x的带隙中分别引入了E_v+4.60 eV和E_v+4.0 eV两个电子能级,还产生了与In离子相关的浅掺杂受主能级(E_v+0.3 eV).这些量子态一方面使SiO_x的性能得到改善,在n-Si表面形成与反型层相衔接的p-型宽禁带"准半导体",减少了载流子的复合,促进了内建电场的建立.另一方面有效地降低了异质结势垒高度,增强了ITO-SiO_x(In,Sn)/n-Si光伏器件中光生非平衡载流子的传输概率,促进了填充因子的提升(72%).     

Identification of the phosphorus-doping defect in MgS as a potential qubit

The P_S defect is obtained by replacing one S atom with one P atom in the wide-bandgap semiconductor MgS. Based on first-principles calculations, the formation energy, defect levels, and electronic structure of the P_S defect in different charge states are evaluated. We predict that the neutral P_S⁰ and positively charged P_S⁺¹ are the plausible qubit candidates for the construction of quantum systems, since they maintain the spin conservation during optical excited transition. The zero-phonon lines at the P_S⁰ and P_S⁺¹ defects are 0.43 eV and 0.21 eV, respectively, which fall in the infrared band. In addition, the zero-field splitting parameter D of the P_S⁺¹ with spin-triplet is 2920 MHz, which is in the range of microwave, showing that the P_S⁺¹ defect can be manipulated by microwave. Finally, the principal values of the hyperfine tensor are examined, it is found that they decay exponentially with the distance from the defect site.     

Al掺杂对HfO2俘获层可靠性影响第一性原理研究

采用基于MS(Materials Studio)软件和密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法, 研究了HfO₂ 俘获层的电荷俘获式存储器(Charge Trapping Memory, CTM)中电荷的保持特性以及耐擦写性. 在对单斜晶HfO₂中四配位氧空位(V_O4) 缺陷和V_O4 与Al替位Hf掺杂的共存缺陷体(Al+V_O4)两种超晶胞模型进行优化之后, 分别计算了其相互作用能、形成能、Bader电荷、态密度以及缺陷俘获能. 相互作用能和形成能的计算结果表明共存缺陷体中当两种缺陷之间的距离为2.216 Å时, 结构最稳定、缺陷最容易形成; 俘获能计算结果表明, 共存缺陷体为双性俘获, 且与V_O4缺陷相比, 俘获能显著增大; Bader电荷分析表明共存缺陷体更有利于电荷保持; 态密度的结果说明共存缺陷体对空穴的局域能影响较强; 计算两种模型擦写电子前后的能量变化表明共存缺陷体的耐擦写性明显得到了改善. 因此在HfO₂俘获层中可以通过加入Al杂质来改善存储器的保持特性和耐擦写性. 本文的研究可为改善CTM数据保持特性和耐擦写性提供一定的理论指导.     

具有HfN/HfO2栅结构的p型MOSFET中的负偏置-温度不稳定性研究

研究了HfN/HfO₂高K栅结构p型金属-氧化物-半导体(MOS)晶体管(MOSFET)中，负 偏置-温度应力引起的阈值电压不稳定性(NBTI)特征.HfN/HfO₂高K栅结构的等效 氧化层厚度(EOT)为1.3nm，内含原生缺陷密度较低.研究表明，由于所制备的HfN/HfO₂ 高K栅结构具有低的原生缺陷密度，因此在p-MOSFET器件中观察到的NBTI属HfN/HfO2高K栅结构的本征特征，而非工艺缺陷引起的；进一步研究表明，该HfN/HfO₂高K栅结构中观察到的NBTI与传统的SiO₂基栅介质p-MOSFET器件中观察 到的NBTI具有类似的特征，可以被所谓的反应-扩散(R-D)模型表征： HfN/HfO₂ 栅结构p-MOSFET器件的NBTI效应的起源可以归为衬底注入空穴诱导的界面反应机理，即在负 偏置和温度应力作用下，从Si衬底注入的空穴诱导了Si衬底界面Si-H键断裂这一化学反应的 发生，并由此产生了Si^＋陷阱在Si衬底界面的积累和H原子在介质层内部的扩散 ，这种Si^＋陷阱的界面积累和H原子的扩散导致了器件NBTI效应的发生. 关键词： 高K栅介质 负偏置-温度不稳定性(NBTI) 反应-扩散(R-D)模型     

Adsorption of Ag on Si(1 0 0) surface

The chemisorption of one monolayer Ag atoms on an ideal Si(1 0 0) surface is studied by using the self-consistent tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method. The adsorption energies (E_ad) of different sites are calculated. It is found that the adsorbed Ag atoms are more favorable on C site (fourfold site) than on any other sites on Si(1 0 0) surface, the polar covalent bond is formed between Ag atom and surface Si atom, a Ag and Si mixed layer does not exist and does form an abrupt interface at the Ag–Si(1 0 0) interface. This is in agreement with the experiment results. The layer-projected density of states is calculated and compared with that of the clean surface. The charge transfer is also investigated. Comparing with the Au/Si(1 0 0) system, the interaction is weaker between Ag and Si than between Au and Si.