Ohmic contacts to GaAs epitaxial layers

Formation of ohmic contacts onto GaAs epitaxial layers was reviewed. Because the Fermi energy of GaAs is pinned at the surface near the middle of the bandgap, it is impossible to choose a metal with the proper work function to make an ohmic contact. Instead, it is necessary to create a heavily doped surface layer and using field emission or thermionic field emission to achieve an ohmic contact. The oldest known contact metallization for GaAs is sequentially deposited thin films of Au, Ge, and Ni. It was shown that the ‘dopant diffusion model’, widely accepted to date to explain the formation of an n⁺ layer on GaAs to form the ohmic contact, is incorrect. Instead, the “solid phase regrowth model” was discussed in detail and shown to describe formation of ohmic contacts in this system. Based on this result, general rules for forming ohmic contacts to compound semiconductors with pinned Fermi levels or large values of electron affinities plus bandgap were expressed.     

Thermal conductivity of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

The thermal conductivity of amorphous silicon thin films is measured in one dimension steady state condition. The experimental method is based on heating the sample front surface and monitoring the temperatures at its two sides. The experiments were carried out in conditions ensuring one-direction heat flow from top to bottom throughout the sample thickness. Sputtered a-Si:H films prepared with different conditions are used in order to investigate the dependence of thermal conductivity on material properties (i.e. hydrogen content and microstructure). The results show that, firstly, amorphous silicon is a very bad thermal conductor material. Secondly, the disorder in the film network plays an important role in thermal conduction. The highly disordered film exhibits the lowest thermal conductivity.     

Effect of self-conjugate perforation in amorphous silicon carbide layers

SiC films on glass substrates are found to have an amorphous structure, high insulating properties, and good mechanical strength. The integrated transmission coefficient of the SiC films in the spectral range λ=0.4–0.7 µm depends on their thickness. The SiC films subjected to etching in hydrofluoric acid exhibit self-conjugate perforation.     

Molecular dynamics study of structural damage in amorphous silica induced by swift heavy-ion radiation

In this paper, the radiation defects induced by the swift heavy ions and the recoil atoms in amorphous SiO₂ were studied. The energy of recoil atoms induced by the incident Au ions in SiO₂ was calculated by using Monte Carlo method. Results show that the average energies of recoils reach the maximum (200?eV for Si and 130?eV for O, respectively) when the incident energy of Au ion is 100?MeV. Using Tersoff/zbl potential with the newly built parameters, the defects formation processes in SiO₂ induced by the recoils were studied by using molecular dynamics method. The displacement threshold energies (E_d) for Si and O atoms are found to be 33.5 and 16.3?eV, respectively. Several types of under- and over-coordinated Si and O defects were analyzed. The results demonstrate that Si₃, Si₅, and O₁ are the mainly defects in SiO₂ after radiation. Besides, the size of cylindrical damage region produced by a single recoil atom was calculated. The calculation shows that the depth and the radius are up to 2.0 and 1.4?nm when the energy of recoils is 200?eV. Finally, it is estimated that the Au ion would induce a defected track with a diameter of 4?nm in SiO₂.     

Study of deposition patterns of plating layers in SiC/Cu composites by electro-brush plating

SiC reinforced copper composite coatings were prepared by electro-brush plating with micron-size silicon carbide (SiC) ranging from 1 to 5 μm on pure copper sheet in this paper. The micro-structural characterizations of SiC/Cu composite coatings were performed by optical microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) coupled with spectrometer, to study co-deposition mechanism of SiC/Cu. It was found that there were three different patterns of SiC deposition in plating layers during electro-brush plating process, i.e. the particles could deposit inside copper grains, in grain boundaries, or in holes of the surface. To investigate deposition mechanism of each pattern, size of SiC and copper grains was compared. By comparison of size of copper grains and hard particles, SiC were either wrapped in copper grains or deposited in grain boundaries. Moreover, electro-brush plating layers at different brush velocities and current densities were obtained respectively, to analyze the microstructure evolution of the composite coatings. The hardness of plating layers was measured. The results indicated at the current density of 3 A/dm², the SiC/Cu coating was compact with SiC content at a high level and the hardness reached a maximum.     

点缺陷对硼掺杂直拉硅单晶p/p~+外延片中铜沉淀的影响

系统研究了点缺陷对晶体硅中氧沉淀生成的影响,及点缺陷和氧沉淀对重掺硼直拉硅单晶p/p⁺外延片中铜沉淀的影响.样品先在不同的气氛下进行1250℃/60 s快速热处理,随后在750℃/8 h+1050℃/16 h常规热处理过程中引入铜沾污.通过腐蚀结合光学显微镜研究发现,以O₂作为保护气氛时,p⁺衬底中的沉淀密度较小,以Ar和N₂作为保护气氛时,重掺硼p⁺衬底中生成了高密度的沉淀,且在上述所有样品的外延层中均无缺陷生成.研究认为,以O₂作为保护气时引入的自间隙硅原子（Si_I）可以抑制沉淀的形成,而以Ar和N₂作为保护气氛时引入的空位则会促进沉淀的生成,这是导致此差异的主要原因.另外,研究还发现,p/p⁺外延结构能很好地吸除硅片中的铜杂质,从而保持了外延层的洁净.     

Thermal redistribution of boron implants in bulk silicon and SOS type structures

The redistribution of boron profiles in bulk silicon and SOS (silicon-on-sapphire) type structures is investigated in this paper. Experimental data on thermally redistributed profiles are correlated with predictions based on a computer program whose numerical algorithm was described in an earlier paper. Three cases were considered which involved the thermal redistribution of 1) a high dose (2×10¹⁵ and 5×10¹⁴ cm^–2) 80keV boron implant in (111) bulk silicon, in an oxidizing ambient of steam at 1000°, 1100°, and 1200°C, respectively; 2) a high dose (2.3×10¹⁵ cm^–2) 25 keV boron implant in (100) silicon-on-sapphire, in a nonoxidizing ambient of nitrogen at 1000 °C; and 3) a low dose (3.2×10¹² cm^–2) 150 keV boron implant in (100) bulk silicon, in oxidizing and nonoxidizing ambients that make up the fabrication schedule of an-channel enhancement mode device. For all three cases the overall correlation of computer predictions with experimental data was excellent. Correlations with experimental data based on SUPREM predictions are also included.     

Porous silicon layers prepared by electrochemical etching for application in silicon thin film solar cells

In this paper, multilayer structures of porous silicon were fabricated by using electrochemical etching and characterized for its optical properties and surface morphology. Samples of monolayer of porous silicon were grown to study the characteristics of porous layer formation with respect to applied current density, etching time and hydrofluoric acid concentrations. Photoluminescence peaks of red emission at wavelength 695 and 650 nm were observed from multilayer porous silicon structures. By atomic force microscopy measurement, hillocks like surface were clearly observed within the host material, which confirmed the formation of pores.     

Thermal conductivity and specific heat of thin-film amorphous silicon

We report the thermal conductivity and specific heat of amorphous silicon thin films measured from 5-300 K using silicon-nitride membrane-based microcalorimeters. Above 50 K the thermal conductivity of thin-film amorphous silicon agrees with values previously reported by other authors. However, our data show no plateau, with a low T suppression of the thermal conductivity that suggests that the scattering of long wavelength, low Q vibrations goes as Q2. The specific heat shows Debye-like behavior below 15 K, with theta(D) = 487 +/- 5 K, and is consistent with a very small contribution of tunneling states in amorphous silicon. Above 15 K, the specific heat deviates less from Debye behavior than does its crystalline allotrope, indicating no significant excess modes (boson peak) in amorphous silicon.     

Hydrogen pile-up at interfaces between differently doped layers of amorphous silicon

Hydrogen profiles for layered a-Si:H structures are presented. Substantial accumulation of hydrogen at the p-i interface is found. Additional incorporation of hydrogen in p-layers is also observed for intermediate boron doping levels compared to intrinsic layers. Hydrogen profiles in single pin and in pinpin amorphous silicon structures enable determination of individual layer thickness.     

Specificities of light-induced relaxation of metastable defects in amorphous hydrogenated silicon

The thermal relaxation kinetics of light-induced metastable defects in a-Si:H was studied prior to and after partial relaxation in the dark and in a dim light. The film lighting was found to change the relaxation rate of the defects and their distribution in relaxation time. This was demonstrated to be due to the concurrent light-induced relaxation and formation of the defects.     

4H-SiC探测器的温度及辐照性能研究

针对极端环境下耐高温和耐辐照半导体探测器的研制需求,利用外延层厚度为100 µm的4H-SiC外延片通过欧姆接触和肖特基接触制备成肖特基二极管,封装成肖特基二极管探测器。在25 ºC~150 ºC的环境下,测量探测器的I-V特性曲线。结果表明,在温度≤105 ºC时,漏电流曲线变化较小。当偏置电压为−500 V时,温度从25 ºC上升至105 ºC,漏电流的变化率为0.33%/ºC。利用北京大学化学系⁶⁰Co放射源对探测器进行辐照,对比总剂量1 Mrad的实验前、实验后的探测器I-V特性变化。结果表明,辐照前后探测器的漏电流无明显变化。     

Thermal experiment of silicon PIN detector

The experiment of this paper is the thermal test of the leakage current of silicon PIN detector.Raising temperature may cause the detector to increase leakage current,decrease depletion and increase noise.Three samples are used in the experiment.One (called △E) is the sample of 100 tan in thickness.The other two (called E1 and E2) are stacks of five detectors of 1000 μm in thickness.All of them are 12 mm in diameter.The experiment has been done for 21 hours and with power on continuously.The samples have undergone more than 60 ℃ for about one hour.They are not degenerated when back to the room temperature.The depletion rate is temperature and bias voltage related.With the circuit of the experiment and temperature at 35 ℃,△E is still depleted while E1 and E2 are 94.9% and 99.7% depleted respectively.The noises of the samples can be derived from the values at room temperature and the thermal dependence of the leakage currents.With the addition of the noise of the pre-amplifier,the noises of E1,E2 and AE at 24 ℃ are 16.4,16.3,and 10.5 keV (FWHM) respectively while at 35 ℃ are about 33.6,33.1,and 20.6 keV (FWHM) respectively.     

Silicon heterojunction solar cell with amorphous silicon oxide buffer and microcrystalline silicon oxide contact layers

This Letter reports on the fabrication and characterization of silicon heterojunction solar cells with silicon oxide based buffer (intrinsic amorphous silicon oxide) and contact layers (doped microcrystalline silicon oxide) on flat p‐type wafers. The critical dependency of the cell performance on the front and rear buffer layer thickness reveals a trade‐off between the open circuit voltage V_oc and the fill factor FF. At the optimum, the highest efficiency of 18.5% (active area = 0.67 cm²) was achieved with V_oc = 664 mV, short circuit current J_sc = 35.7 mA/cm² and FF = 78.0%. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Photoluminescence of Er3+ ions in amorphous silicon layers under intensive laser excitation

Transients of the photoluminescence (1.54 μm) of Er³⁺ ions embedded in an amorphous silicon matrix excited with intensive laser pulses are simulated using a phenomenological model which takes into account both the defect-related excitation mechanism and stimulated optical transitions in the ions. The simulated transients are compared with the experimental ones observed in Er-doped amorphous silicon layers under pulsed laser excitation. The modeling and the experimental results demonstrate a possibility to realize a regime of superradiance in the system of Er³⁺ ions pumped via an electronic excitation of the amorphous matrix. Received: 7 August 2001 / Revised version: 1 November 2001 / Published online: 17 January 2002     

Influence of atomic defect generation on the propagation of elastic waves in laser-excited solid layers

The mechanical behavior of solid layers subjected to laser irradiation is investigated by a dynamical model that is based on coupled evolution equations for the elastic displacement of the medium and lattice defect-density fields. The evolution of defect-density is governed by the (i) generation of defects by irradiation, (ii) their diffusion and recombination and (iii) diffusion induced by strain field. The strain field associated with lattice dilatation due to atomic defects is shown to couple with deformation fields of the layer. Frequency equations corresponding to the symmetric and anti-symmetric modes of vibration of the layer are obtained. It is found that coupling between diffusion and strain fields cause dispersion of the general waveform. Explicit expressions are defined for the wave velocity, and the attenuation (amplification) coefficients which characterize these waves.