Study of the formation of silicon nanoclusters in silicon dioxide during electron beam irradiation

Irradiation of silicon dioxide by an electron beam with a high specific power leads to the formation of silicon nanocrystals in the irradiated region and the formation of a modified region, i.e., a Si-SiO₂ nano-composite. This work is devoted to studying the formation of this nanocomposite and of its luminescence properties.     

Fabrication and Characterization of Si Nanocrystals Synthesized by Electron Beam Evaporation of Si and SiO2 Mixture

Silicon nanocrystals synthesized by electron beam （e-beam） evaporation of Si and SiO2 mixture are studied. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry of the as-deposited Si-rich silicon dioxide or oxide （SRO） thin film shows that after evaporation, the Si and SiO2 concentration is well kept, indicating that the e-beam evaporation is suitable for evaporating mixtures of Si and SiO2. The SRO thin films are annealed at different temperatures for two hours to synthesize silicon nanoerystals. For the sample annealed at 1050℃, silicon nanoerystals with different sizes and the mean diameter of 4.5 nm are evidently observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. Then the Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectra arising from silicon nanocrystals are further confirmed the above results.     

Temperature evolution during scanning electron beam processing of silicon

Temperature profile evolutions produced by a scanning electron beam in crystalline silicon have been numerically calculated using a two-dimensional finite-element scheme. The temperature dependence of the different silicon properties as well as the electron penetration effects have been taken into account. Numerical calculations carried out at different conditions have been compared with experimental melting-threshold measurements using an electron beam with a Gaussian power density distribution. The good agreement between numerical calculations and experimental results proves the validity of the two-dimensional approach.     

Photoluminescence and Raman scattering of silicon nanopowders

Nanopowders obtained by evaporating silicon ingots with a powerful electron beam having an electron energy of 1.4 MeV in an Ar atmosphere are investigated. The nanopowders are studied by means of photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering (RS) spectroscopy. In simulating the PL spectra, the recombination energy dependences for the nanocrystals were found to be almost equal in vacuum and in silicon dioxide cores, allowing us to determine the average particle radius, which coincided with estimates obtained by analyzing the Raman spectra using an improved model of phonon localization that considers phonon dispersion in terms of quasi-momentum and direction.     

Field emission measured from nanostructured germanium and silicon thin films

We have prepared nanostructured thin films of germanium and silicon. The films were grown by an ion beam sputtering technique followed by a rapid annealing step using an electron beam annealer. The annealing temperature is a comparatively low 500 °C, resulting in well defined nano-islands on the film surface. Electron field emission has been measured from the surfaces under high vacuum. The threshold electric field value for significant current flow was measured as 2.5 V μm⁻¹ for a silicon thin film which is comparable to other silicon technologies. A value of 0.5 V μm⁻¹ for a germanium thin film represents an order of magnitude improvement for related germanium nanostructured systems.     

Quantifying the quality of femtosecond laser ablation of graphene

The influence of beam intensity on laser ablation quality and ablation size is experimentally studied on graphene-coated silicon/silicon dioxide substrates. With an amplified femtosecond-pulsed laser system, by systematically decreasing the average power, periodic stripes with decreasing widths are ablated. Histogram analyses of the untouched and ablated regions of scanning electron microscope images of the fabricated structures make it possible to quantify the ablation quality. These analyses reveal that submicron ablation can be achieved while maintaining 75 % ablation accuracy by adjusting the beam intensity around the ablation threshold.     

Electron and ion beam effects in auger electron spectrometry

In Auger Electron Spectrometry relatively high primary electron current density is usually used in order to obtain a good signal-to-noise ratio. As a consequence, a number of phenomena occurs, which can substantially modify—or even destroy—the sample, and impair the results of the analysis.

In this communication we report some observations on the electron and ion beam interaction on some of the insulating and conducting films used in the silicon device technology. Among the materials considered, silicon nitride and P-doped silicon dioxide are of primary interest, and will be treated in some detail; results on other films, both insulating (Al₂O₃, B-doped SiO₂, etc.) and conducting (Al-Si alloys) will also be reported.

The electron beam causes the oxides (B, Al, Si, P) to be reduced, as shown by the decrease of the height of the low energy, chemically shifted peaks (B_KVV, Al_LVV, Si_Lvv, P_Lvv) and by the contemporary increase of the height of the elemental peaks. In phosphorus doped glasses the electron beam also induces a strong surface P enrichment, followed by a P desorption. Silicon nitride was found to be quite stable against the e-b irradiation in “good” vacuum, but very sensitive to the e-b induced oxidation even at (total) pressure as low as 5 × 10¹⁰ torr. This is a very important fact to be taken into account when evaluating thin Si₃N₄ films, because it can change the apparent film stoichiometry.

Some metallic films are also preferentially oxidized by the electron beam; in Al/Si diluted alloy (0.1÷2% silicon) a strong surface silicon enrichment was found to take phase on small-grained thin films, but not on bulk material.

Our results show that much care has to be taken when performing or interpreting the AES data, and how to use, in some cases, the e-b irradiation effects to increase the sensitivity of the method.     

Structure and electron energy spectrum in the hydroxide-depleted surface centers of silicon dioxide

A molecular cluster model with dangling valence bonds terminated by hydrogen pseudoatoms and a calculation scheme based on density functional theory with the Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr hybrid exchange-correlation potential on a two-exponent valence basis are used to investigate the electron energy spectrum of hydroxide-depleted surface centers in different modifications of silicon dioxide. The nature and structure of energy bands, which depend on the relative position between a surface oxygen atom and adjacent silicon ones and the angle of a bridging oxygen atom in a siloxane bond, are discussed. The calculated energies of electron transitions corresponding to singlet and triplet states agree well with the cathodoluminescence spectra of amorphous SiO₂ processed by an electron beam with a high power density.     

Dual material insulator SOI-LDMOSFET: A novel device for self-heating effect improvement

The silicon-on-insulator (SOI) power devices show good electrical performance but they suffer from inherent self-heating effect (SHE), which limits their operation at high current levels. The SHE effect is because of low thermal conductivity of the buried oxide layer. In this paper we propose a novel silicon on insulator lateral double diffused MOSFET (SOI-LDMOSFET) where the buried insulator layer under the active region consists of two materials in order to decrease the SHE. The proposed structure is called dual material buried insulator SOI-LDMOSFET (DM-SOI). Using two-dimensional and two-carrier device simulation, we demonstrate that the heat dissipation and the SHE can be improved in a conventional SOI-LDMOSFET by replacement of the buried oxide with dual material buried insulator (silicon nitride and silicon oxide) beneath the active region. The heat generated in the active silicon layer can be flowed through the buried silicon nitride layer to the silicon substrate easily due to high thermal conductivity of silicon nitride. Furthermore, the channel temperature is reduced, negative drain current slope is mitigated and electron and hole mobility is increased during high-temperature operation. The simulated results show that silicon nitride is a suitable alternative to silicon dioxide as a buried insulator in SOI structures, and has better performance in high temperature.     

Computer simulation of charging the silicon dioxide surface and subsurface layers by electron bombardment

A physical model and program of calculating the parameters of charging dielectrics by electron bombardment is described. A method of computer simulation is used to investigate the main processes of charging the subsurface silicon dioxide layers. Dependences of the current density, volume charge density, and electric field strength on the material layer depth are calculated for variable electron beam parameters, irradiation time, and grid potential near the sample surface.     

Self-assembled monolayer resists and nanoscale lithography of silicon dioxide thin films by chemically enhanced vapor etching (CEVE)

We report on the use of electron-beam exposed monolayers of undecylenic acid in the etch rate enhancement of silicon dioxide films in HF vapor for the formation of nanoscale features in the oxide. Variations of the etching characteristics with electron beam parameters are examined and the results analyzed in terms of proposed models of the etching mechanism. Apparent variations in the relative concentrations of etch initiator with the thermal history of the samples prior to etching provides support for the dominant etch initiator within this system as the carboxylic acid moiety bound at the oxide surface. Other variations in the etching characteristics are discussed in terms of differences in localized concentrations of hydrocarbon crosslinks and the effect that this has upon the etch initiation. The process has been employed in the production of features in silicon dioxide surface masks with sizes down to 50 nm.     

Quantization of the electronic spectrum and localization of electrons and holes in silicon quantum dots

The quantization of the electronic spectrum has been observed in photoluminescence experiments for silicon quantum dots prepared by implantation of silicon into silicon dioxide SiO2. The diameter of silicon quantum dots has been estimated as 1.8 nm. Injection of electron and holes is accompanied by the appearance of a paramagnetic resonance signal with the g factor equal to 2.006. This result unambiguously indicates that silicon clusters are the electron and hole traps in SiO2.     

Morphology of periodic nanostructures for photonic crystals grown by glancing angle deposition

An enhancement of the glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique called PhiSweep was used to grow slanted columns of silicon and titanium dioxide onto patterned substrates. The PhiSweep technique involves periodically rotating the substrate back and forth during the deposition process, which reduces column fanning caused by anisotropy in the shadowing conditions. The patterned substrates consisted of a tetragonal array of hillocks with 100, 200, and 300 nm periodicities and were fabricated using electron beam lithography. The PhiSweep method alters the tilt angle of the slanted columns compared with those grown using traditional GLAD. We present a derivation of the tilt angle of the slanted columns as a function of the parameters of the PhiSweep technique. The tilt angles of the silicon and titanium dioxide films were measured and agree with the predicted values. The films fabricated using the PhiSweep method are compared with similar films grown using traditional GLAD. The PhiSweep technique produced films with substantially less column fanning than those grown by traditional GLAD. This reduction in column fanning has extended the size range over which periodic GLAD structures, such as square spiral photonic crystals, can be grown.     

Effect of high energy ion irradiation on silicon substrate in a pulsed plasma device

We have performed an experimental analysis on the investigation of high energy ion beam irradiation on Si(1 0 0) substrates at room temperature using a low energy plasma focus (PF) device operating in methane gas. The surface modifications induced by the ion beams are characterized using standard surface science diagnostic tools, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photothermal beam deflection, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and atomic force microscope (AFM) and the results are reported. In particular, it has been found that with silicon targets, the application of PF carbon ion beams results in the formation of a surface layer of hexagonal (6H) silicon carbide, with embedded self-organized step/terrace structures.     

激光干涉法测量硅高温环境下的线膨胀系数的实验研究

利用中国计量科学研究院自行设计的基于激光干涉法的材料线膨胀系数测量装置进行了材料线膨胀系数测量试验。该装置采用单频激光干涉，对称光路设计，其干涉仪分辨率小于1nm。实验过程中改进并完善了该装置，重新设计了加热炉，改进了实验方法，使该装置在800K以上的高温环境下能进行材料线膨胀系数的测量。在800K到1200K温度范围内，对单晶硅试样采用分段加热进行测量,并对样品变化过程及测量结果作了分析，得到了单晶硅线膨胀系数的曲线，实现了在1200K环境下采用激光干涉法材料线膨胀系数的纳米级测量。     

SEM Investigation of the electrical properties of silicon ribbons

The structure and electrical properties of silicon ribbons grown on a substrate by the Ribbon Growth on Substrate (RGS) method method for solar cell applications have been investigated in secondary electron and electron beam induced current modes of scanning electron microscopy. The growth method and growth conditions have provided the formation of the coarse-grained structure of silicon, in which the majority of grains are separated by twin boundaries and the dislocation density does not exceed 10⁶ cm⁻². According to the electron beam induced current investigations, the recombination contrast from twin boundaries is extremely low at 300 K, only a small amount of twin boundaries show an increase in the contrast upon cooling, and the contrast from dislocations is almost absent in the temperature range from 100 to 300 K.     

A study of the effect of different catalysts for the efficient CVD growth of carbon nanotubes on silicon substrates

We report on the identification of efficient combinations of catalyst, carbon feedstock, and temperature for the ethanol chemical vapour deposition (CVD) growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) onto silicon substrates.Different catalyst preparations, based on organometallic salts (Co, Fe, Mo, Ni acetate, and bimetallic mixtures), have been spin coated onto thermally grown silicon dioxide on silicon chips to perform tests in a temperature range between 500 and 900 °C.The samples have been then characterized by Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Assuming the growth of high-quality isolated nanotubes as target, the ratio in Raman spectra between the intensity of the G peak and of the D peak has been used as the main parameter to evaluate the performance of the catalytic process. A comparison made for both single metals and bimetallic mixtures points out best conditions to achieve efficient CVD growth of SWCNTs.     

电子束加速器维纳尔的研究

由于电子束理论上可聚成直径小于1nm的束斑,易于控制,在超大规模集成电路掩模制造中起的重要作用,目前仍无法用其它方法所代替.以SDS-3电子束设备的电子枪为基础,讨论了双曲凹面加速器维纳尔(外敷碱土金属氧化物盖)的电子轨迹与能量分布.通过这一维纳尔电子被送达硅片靶心(置于光阑前).最后给出了刻蚀硅片的束斑和加速器维纳尔的图.     

Single layer silicon photonic crystal slab

We present here the fabrication and characterization of single layer silicon photonic crystal mirror on a silicon-on-insulator wafer. By a combination of electron beam lithography, fast atom beam etching with deep reactive ion etching, silicon photonic crystal slabs are achieved on 260 nm freestanding silicon membrane and sandwiched with air on the top and bottom. Their high refractive index contrasts enable photonic crystal slabs function as dielectric mirrors for externally incident light. The optical performances of fabricated photonic crystal slabs can be tuned by varying the width of separation grooves or the air-hole size, which represents a significant advantage of offering various approaches for optical response control.     

Fabrication of Silicon-Blazed Gratings for Couplers

To our knowledge, no blazed grating has been fabricated in silicon (Si) at a pitch of less than half a micron. In this article, we report the fabrication of Si-blazed gratings at the period of 400 nm, using electron beam lithography and ion beam etching techniques. The blazed grating is extremely useful as a grating coupler in integrated optics, operating at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.3 mum, because very high output efficiency of the grating coupler is expected. This will allow coupling to thin film devices in silicon, previously not regarded as promising because coupling to them was very inefficient.