Influence of high energy electron irradiation on the characteristics of polysilicon thin film transistors

The influence of high energy electron (23 MeV) irradiation on the electrical characteristics of p-channel polysilicon thin film transistors (PSTFTs) was studied. The channel 220 nm thick LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) deposited polysilicon layer was phosphorus doped by ion implantation. A 45 nm thick, thermally grown, SiO2 layer served as gate dielectric. A self-alignment technology for boron doping of the source and drain regions was used. 200 nm thick polysilicon film was deposited as a gate electrode. The obtained p-channel PSTFTs were irradiated with different high energy electron doses. Leakage currents through the gate oxide and transfer characteristics of the transistors were measured. A software model describing the field enhancement and the non-uniform current distribution at textured polysilicon/oxide interface was developed. In order to assess the irradiation-stimulated changes of gate oxide parameters the gate oxide tunneling conduction and transistor characteristics were studied. At MeV dose of 6×10¹³ el/cm², a negligible degradation of the transistor properties was found. A significant deterioration of the electrical properties of PSTFTs at MeV irradiation dose of 3×10¹⁴ el/cm² was observed.     

Theoretical Analysis of Current Crowding Effect in Metal/AIGaN/GaN Schottky Diodes and Its Reduction by Using Polysilicon in Anode

There exists a current crowding effect in the anode of AIGaN/GaN heterojunction Schottky diodes, causing local overheating when working at high power density, and undermining their performance. The seriousness of this effect is illustrated by theoretical analysis. A method of reducing this effect is proposed by depositing a polysilicon layer on the Schottky barrier metal. The effectiveness of this method is provided through computer simulation. Power consumption of the polysilicon layer is also calculated and compared to that of the Schottky junction to ensure the applicability of this method.     

Measurement of optical and electrical properties of silicon microstructuring induced by ArF excimer laser at SF6 atmosphere

The irradiation of ArF excimer laser (193 nm) on Si wafer (〈1 1 1〉, n-type, arsenic-doped, 0.01 Ω cm) in SF₆ atmosphere, from vacuum to 1000 mbar, creates a regular self-assembled microstructure owning to a great number of microconical spikes covered with SiF₂ (fluorosilyl) layer containing sulfur impurities. The geometry of microstructure as well as the layer thickness varies with the gas pressure and the laser parameters, particularly duration, pulse energy and the dose. In this work, the electrical properties of the layer on the microstructured silicon have been investigated based on electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The measured impedance significantly changes regarding to the unirradiated samples. It was shown that the corresponding electrical conductance and the dielectric constants of the layer are strongly dependent on the gas pressure and UV dose. The layer thickness was also determined in terms of SF₆ pressures.     

Optical surface roughness evaluation of phosphorus-doped polysilicon films

The surface roughness of phosphorus-doped polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) film is widely believed to be related to its electrical property. In this work, the roughness of polysilicon films prepared in situ under varied processing conditions, is determined using an optical technique that is based on measuring the spectral absorbance of specularly reflected light. The roughness measurements attained are found to follow the logical trend of roughness anticipated from phosphorus-doped polysilicon prepared under controlled variations of temperature, pressure and phospine/silane flow ratio.     

Characteristics of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films grown by ultraviolet-assisted pulsed laser deposition

The microstructure and properties of barium strontium titanate (BST) thin films grown by an in situ ultraviolet-assisted (UV-assisted) pulsed laser deposition (UVPLD) technique are reported in this paper. In comparison with BST films grown by conventional pulsed laser deposition (PLD) under similar conditions, but without UV illumination, the UVPLD-grown films exhibited improved structural, electrical, and optical properties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that when exposed to atmosphere, Ba atoms from the outermost layers formed a thin layer of barium carbonate, which negatively affects the film electrical characteristics. UVPLD-grown films exhibited a smaller amount of Ba atoms within the carbonate layer, resulting in better electrical characteristics. The dielectric constant of 40-nm-thick films deposited at 650 °C by UVPLD and PLD were determined to be 281 and 172, respectively. The leakage current density of the UVPLD-grown films was in the mid-10^-8 A/cm² range, a factor of 2 lower than that obtained from PLD-grown films.     

Electron emission characteristics of the porous polycrystalline silicon diode

It is estimated that a porous polysilicon (PPS) diode with a structure of Au/PPS/n-type Si operates as an efficient stable surface emitting cold cathode. 2.0 μm of an non-doped polysilicon layer is formed on an heavily doped n-type silicon wafer and anodized in a solution of HF (50%):ethanol=1:1 under illumination by a 500 W tungsten lamp from a distance of 20 cm. The electron emission properties of the PPS diode were investigated as a function of anodizing condition such as anodizing current density. The electron emission trajectory was investigated, and it was also demonstrated their good uniformity in the emitting area.     

Thermal and mechanical coupling between successive pulses in KrF-excimer-laser ablation of polyimide

Multiple-shot effects in laser processing and ablation of polyimide are examined and are found to be the dominant phenomena for processes involving several hundreds or thousands of pulses. For fluences less than 260 mJ/cm², it was found that it is impossible to cut through 75 m polyimide foils for an arbitrarily large number of excimer pulses even though this fluence is more than ten times the single-shot ablation threshold. The halt in etching is due to the formation, over a number of shots, of a robust carbon matrix with a deep surface roughness which is also responsible for laser-induced electrical conductivity. The effect of thermal coupling between successive shots is shown to be a dominant factor in determining the electrical properties of the carbon layer. Differences in electrical conductivity of up to 12 orders of magnitude were found for only small differences in repetition rate. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the changes in microstructure responsible for the dramatic differences in electrical properties.     

Properties of amorphous carbon nitride prepared by RF reactive sputtering

The local microstructure and optical and electrical properties were investigated of amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN) films deposited by reactive radio-frequency (RF) sputtering. Two series prepared in nitrogen or in a nitrogen and argon mixture were studied. The optical properties were investigated by transmittance/reflectance and photothermal deflection spectroscopies. Combined infrared measurements and Raman scattering spectroscopies were used to investigate the microstructure of a-CN films in terms of nitrogen incorporation within the films and C sp ² content. These experiments were completed by dark electrical conductivity measurements performed in coplanar configuration in the temperature range 50–450?K. The films exhibit semiconductor behaviour and the temperature dependence suggests two types of conduction. An increase in nitrogen incorporation induces an increase with clustering of sp ² phase replacing C=C olefinic groups with aromatic groups.     

ITO退火对GaN基LED电学特性的影响

近些年来,越来越多的发光二极管采用铟锡氧化物(ITO)作为电流扩展层,但是如果不对其进行任何处理,得到的发光二极管的电学特性很差,要得到好的电学特性需要对长有铟锡氧化物的发光二极管进行退火处理.针对不同的退火时间和退火温度对发光二极管的电学特性影响不同的问题,通过测量不同条件下退火得到的发光二极管的理想因子和串联电阻, 根据Shah等人提出的模型进行分析,推测出铟锡氧化物和P型氮化镓的接触特性.结果表明:发光二极管的电学特性开始随着退火温度的升高和时间的增加到达一个优值,如果继续增加温度或者时间都会导致发光二极管电学特性的下降.这样有利于优化退火温度和时间, 得到电学性能较好的器件.     

Material properties and characteristics of polysilicon transistors for large area electronics

The recent progress in material, device and theoretical analysis of polysilicon transistors are reviewed. New methods for the determination of the material density of states are discussed. Based on these results a new model for the characteristics of polysilicon TFTs is deduced, which leads to an analytical expression for the threshold voltage, the subthreshold and the above threshold regime. TEM analysis has been used to correlated the electrical results with the structural properties of the films and is found in very good agreement with the experiment. We show that the material prepared under the standard conditions normally used in commercial low-pressure reactors contains a high density of defects and results in transistors with poor characteristics. A marked improvement is obtained with the deposition of films at much lower pressures. The role of different types of defects is discussed.     

Ta/Ni/Ta multilayered ohmic contacts on n-type SiC

The interface formation, electrical properties and the surface morphology of multilayered Ta/Ni/Ta/SiC contacts were reported in this study. It was found that the conducting behavior of the contacts so fabricated is much dependent on the metal layer thickness and the subsequent annealing temperature. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that Ni₂Si and TaC formed as a result of the annealing. The Ni atoms diffused downward to metal/SiC interface and converted into Ni₂Si layer in adjacent to the SiC substrate. The released carbon atoms reacted with Ta atoms to form TaC layer. Ohmic contacts with specific contact resistivity as low as 3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm² have been achieved after thermal annealing. The formation of carbon vacancies at the Ni₂Si/SiC interface, probably created by dissociation of SiC and formation of TaC during thermal annealing, should be responsible for the ohmic formation of the annealed Ta/Ni/Ta contacts. The addition of Ta into the Ni metallization scheme to n-SiC restricted the accumulation of carbon atoms left behind during Ni₂Si formation, improving the electrical and microstructure properties.     

Modeling of polysilicon diffusion sources during rapid optical annealing

A new model for polysilicon diffusion sources is presented. It considers the following effects: 1) dopant diffusion in grains, in grain boundaries and in the single-crystal silicon substrate, 2) dynamic dopant segregation between grain and grain boundary phases and between the phases of polysilicon and the single-crystal silicon substrate, 3) dynamic dopant activation or clustering in grains and in the single-crystal silicon substrate, 4) dynamic grain growth depending on local grain size and local electron density. These mechanisms with completely different time scales are modeled simultaneously. For the first time this allows the analysis of furnace and rapid optical annealing processes with arbitrary grain growth kinetics even during epitaxial realignment. The advanced model for segregation allows for the effect that dopants in grain boundaries and active dopants in grains as well as in the single-crystal silicon substrate find only a limited number of sites which can be occupied. These limitations are necessary to explain the dopant distributions in polysilicon and in the single-crystal silicon substrate. For the first time the coupling between the concentration of active dopants in grains, between the concentration of dopants in grain boundaries and between the local grain size is shown during doping enhanced grain growth.     

Numerical simulation study of organic nonvolatile memory with polysilicon floating gate

A polysilicon-based organic nonvolatile floating-gate memory device with a bottom-gate top-contact configuration is investigated,in which polysilicon is sandwiched between oxide layers as a floating gate.Simulations for the electrical characteristics of the polysilicon floating gate-based memory device are performed.The shifted transfer characteristics and corresponding charge trapping mechanisms during programing and erasing(P/E) operations at various P/E voltages are discussed.The simulated results show that present memory exhibits a large memory window of 57.5 V,and a high read current on/off ratio of ≈ 10~3.Compared with the reported experimental results,these simulated results indicate that the polysilicon floating gate based memory device demonstrates remarkable memory effects,which shows great promise in device designing and practical application.     

Microstructure evolution of room-temperature-sputtered ITO films suitable for silicon heterojunction solar cells

Thickness influence on structural, optical and electrical properties of sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) with thickness ranging from 60 up to 430 nm films has been studied. At the increase of the film thickness crystallinity degree and grain size increased, whereas tensile structural distortion as well as resistivity decreased. It was observed that a microstructure evolution takes place: the initial amorphous layer evolved in polycrystalline phase, with a grain–subgrain surface morphology. Carrier concentration increased at the increase of the film thickness and a general relationship between electrical characteristics and structural distortion has been found. In thinner films larger tensile distortion allowed to include larger amount of interstitial O and/or Sn atoms in the lattice. An appreciable impact of the thickness was also observed on electro-optical properties in terms of changes in energy gap, resistivity and optical absorption. Silicon heterojunction solar cells have been produced and J_sc as high as 33.0 mA/cm² has been obtained.     

Impact of film thickness on threshold voltage of polysilicon TFTs

The threshold voltage is a key parameter in the silicon MOSFETS design and operation. In this paper, we study the factors that contribute to the changes of threshold voltage of thin-film LPCVD polysilicon transistors when varying the thickness of the active layer.The results show that the threshold voltage depends strongly on the film thickness. For high thicknesses, the threshold voltage is shown to be determined by the trapped holes at grain boundaries. The variation of this parameter with film thickness can be attributed to inter-granular trap states density variation in the film.For low thicknesses, a simple electrostatic model of the study structure, associated with a numerical method of solving 2D-Poisson's equations, shows that the changes of threshold voltage of polysilicon TFT depends on grain-boundary properties and charge-coupling between the front and back gates. Based on this consideration, the usual threshold voltage expression is modified. The results so obtained are compared with the available experimental data, which show a satisfactory match thus justifying the validity of the proposed relation.     

Influence of dislocations in the GaN layer on the electrical properties of an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure

This paper reports on a comparative study of the spatial distributions of the electrical, optical, and structural properties in an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure. Edge dislocation density in the GaN template layer is shown to decrease in the regions of the wafer where the heterostructure sheet resistance increases and the GaN photoluminescence band-edge energy peak shifts to a high wavelength. This phenomenon is found to be attributed to the local compressive strain surrounding edge dislocation, which will generate a local piezoelectric polarization field in the GaN layer in the opposite direction to the piezoelectric polarization field in the AlGaN layer and thus help to increase the two-dimensional electron gas concentration.     

Morphological and optical properties changes in nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si) deposited on porous aluminum nanostructures by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for Solar energy applications

Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to determine the electrical band gap of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) deposited by plasma enhancement chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on porous alumina structure by fitting the experimental spectra using a model based on the quantum confinement of electrons in Si nanocrystallites having spherical and cylindrical forms. This model permits to correlate the PL spectra to the microstructure of the porous aluminum silicon layer (PASL) structure. The microstructure of aluminum surface layer and nc-Si films was systematically studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that the structure of the nanocrystalline silicon layer (NSL) is dependent of the porosity (void) of the porous alumina layer (PAL) substrate. This structure was performed in two steps, namely the PAL substrate was prepared using sulfuric acid solution attack on an Al foil and then the silicon was deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on it. The optical constants (n and k as a function of wavelength) of the deposited films were obtained using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) in the UV-vis-NIR regions. The SE spectrum of the porous aluminum silicon layer (PASL) was modeled as a mixture of void, crystalline silicon and aluminum using the Cauchy model approximation. The specific surface area (SSA) was estimated and was found to decrease linearly when porosity increases. Based on this full characterization, it is demonstrated that the optical characteristics of the films are directly correlated to their micro-structural properties.     

Effects of electrical and temperature stress on polysilicon resistors for CMOS technology applications

The effects of electrical and temperature stress on polysilicon resistors for CMOS technology applications are studied. Under a fixed square number, the peak current density (J_peak) is increased with decreasing the polysilicon resistor width W. The time-to-fail value of the polysilicon resistor is decreased with increasing the electrical and temperature stress. A simple empirical formula is proposed in this study to predict the maximum current density (J ) and lifetime of polysilicon resistors. Under a fixed current density (1.0 × 10⁶A cm ^{− 2}), the activation energies (E_a) for n ⁺ andp ⁺ polysilicon resistors at different temperatures are 0.67 and 0.48 eV, respectively. In addition, at a fixed temperature of 473 K, the current factors for n ⁺ andp ⁺ polysilicon resistors are 1.57 × 10 ^{− 5}and 1.30 × 10 ^{− 5}cm² / A, respectively, under different current densities. Therefore, these precise reliability performances offer promise for ULSI design and fabrication.     

Effects of electron beam irradiation on the friction and work function of the wrinkled graphene

The ability to control the tribological and electrical properties of graphene is critical to the fabrication of micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) devices. Due to its high energy, electron beam irradiation has been widely used to adjust the local electrical properties of the graphene, such as inducing local defects or n-type doping. However, whether electron beam irradiation can affect the local tribological properties of wrinkled graphene has not been investigated yet. In this research, we demonstrated that the lateral force signal and the work function of the wrinkled monolayer graphene were affected by the electron beam irradiation.By using Kelvin-probe force microscopy (KPFM) and Raman spectroscopy, we measured the local electrical properties of the wrinkled monolayer graphene and confirmed that the electron-beam exposed area was changed as n-doped graphene. We compared the lateral force signal with surface potential data and concluded that the n-type doping induced by electron beam affected the tribological characteristics. Characterization of the electron-beam exposed wrinkled graphene provides a physical insight that the electrical and tribological characteristics of wrinkled graphene are correlated.     

Effect of bilayer structure and a SrRuO3 buffer layer on ferroelectric properties of BiFeO3 thin films

Effects of the BiFe_0.95Mn_0.05O₃ thickness and a SrRuO₃ (SRO) buffer layer on the microstructure and electrical properties of BiFeO₃/BiFe_0.95Mn_0.05O₃ (BFO/BFMO) bilayered thin films were investigated, where BFO/BFMO bilayered thin films were fabricated on the SRO/Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si(100) substrate by a radio frequency sputtering. All thin films are of a pure perovskite structure with a mixture of (110) and (111) orientations regardless of the BFMO layer thickness. Dense microstructure is demonstrated in all thin films because of the introduction of BFMO layers. The SRO buffer layer can also further improve the ferroelectric properties of BFO/BFMO bilayered thin films as compared with those of these thin films without a SRO buffer layer. The BFO/BFMO bilayered thin film with a thickness ratio of 220/120 has an enhanced ferroelectric behavior of 2P _r??165.23???C/cm² and 2E _c??518.56?kV/cm, together with a good fatigue endurance. Therefore, it is an effective way to enhance the ferroelectric and fatigue properties of bismuth ferrite thin films by constructing such a bilayered structure and using a SRO buffer layer.