Wear-out of Al-Ta2O5/SiO2-Si structures under dynamic stress

Wear-out of Al-Ta₂O₅/SiO₂-Si stacked layers under dynamic current stresses was studied. It was found that a detrapping of negative charges occurs between the pulses, similarly to SiO₂ and SiO_xN_y films. Additional consumption of the SiO₂ interfacial layer results in a decrease of the gate voltage in some stages of the stress, depending upon the stress time and current density.     

Specific features of residual stress measurements in thermal barrier coatings

Techniques for measuring the residual stresses in bilayer thermal barrier coatings of a NiCrAlY alloy metal sublayer and 8-wt% stabilized ZrO₂–8Y₂O₃ ceramic upper layer are developed with the inhomogeneous composition and stress relaxation upon removal of the top layers taken into account. The outer ceramic layer is shown to undergo quenching-induced tensile stress up to 200 MPa, whereas the metal sublayer is subjected to compressive stress of 600 MPa which is associated with an increase in the specific volume as a result of the formation of a thermally grown oxide (TGO).     

动态应力下超薄栅氧化层经时击穿的可靠性评价

实验发现动态电压应力条件下,由于栅氧化层很薄,高电平应力时间内隧穿入氧化层的电子与陷落在氧化层中的空穴复合产生中性电子陷阱,中性电子陷阱辅助电子隧穿.由于每个周期的高电平时间较短(远远低于电荷的复合时间),隧穿到氧化层的电子很少,同时低电平应力时间内一部分电荷退陷,形成的中性电子陷阱更少.随着应力时间的累积,中性电子陷阱达到某个临界值,栅氧化层突然击穿.高电平时形成的陷阱较少和低电平时一部分电荷退陷,使得器件的寿命提高. 关键词： 超薄栅氧化层 斜坡电压 经时击穿     

Bulk model of rapid thermal oxidation of silicon

A model of rapid thermal oxidation of silicon in dry oxygen based on the reaction of volume oxidation is constructed. It is assumed that the coefficient of oxygen diffusion for silicon dioxide decreases because of internal compressive stress, which is at a maximum near the SiO₂-Si interface; as the distance from the interface increases, this stress decreases according to the time-dependent exponential law because of viscoelastic relaxation from the value of the diffusion coefficient for strained oxide to that for fused quartz. The characteristic relaxation time of the coefficient of oxygen diffusion in silicon dioxide correlates with the relaxation time of internal stress in silicon dioxide films on silicon and with the relaxation time of the refraction index. Because the refraction index is related to the density of silicon dioxide, we arrive at the conclusion that the relaxation of the diffusion coefficient is related not only to the relaxation of internal mechanical stress, but also to the relaxation of the density of silicon dioxide.     

Dielectric matrix imposed stress–strain effect on photoluminescence of Ge nanocrystals

Ge nanocrystals embedded in SiO₂ and Lu₂O₃ matrices were fabricated using the pulsed laser deposition method and investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry and photoluminescence spectroscopy. X-ray diffractometry and Fullprof computer program clearly revealed the bond lengths of Ge nanocrystals embedded in Lu₂O₃ matrix is smaller than that in SiO₂ matrix, which can be attributed to the greater compressive stress exerted on Ge nanocrystals by the Lu₂O₃ matrix. The greater compressive stress will lead to much more defects induced at the interface of Ge nanocrystals and thus enhance the intensity of photoluminescence. The findings presented here indicate that the matrix environment of the nanocrystals plays a significant role in the photoluminescence property.     

Splitting of X-ray diffraction peak in (Ge:SiO2)/SiO2 multilayers

(Ge:SiO₂)/SiO₂ multilayers were fabricated for exploring the influence of the stress on the structure of Ge nanocrystals. When annealed at 800 °C, the multilayers show a clear splitting (fine structure) of the Ge (220) X-ray diffraction peak and have a preferred orientation. Similar effects cannot take place in the multilayers annealed at higher or lower temperature. Analyses of Raman scattering, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope observations suggest that the observed phenomena arise from compressive stress exerted on Ge nanocrystals, which is induced by the confinement of both the SiO₂ matrix in the cosputtered layer and neighboring SiO₂ layers. The stress may cause an orthorhombic distortion of the diamond structure of bulk Ge. This will lead to the disappearance of the (111) and (311) diffraction peaks and the splitting of the (220) peak. This kind of (Ge:SiO₂)/SiO₂ multilayers enables us to control the sizes of the Ge crystallites and enhance the stress, and is thus promising in forming new nanocrystal structures.     

Silane effects on the surface morphology and abrasion resistance of transparent SiO2/UV-curable resin nano-composites

Transparent ultraviolet curable nano-composite coatings consisting of nano-sized SiO₂ and acrylate resin have been developed to improve the abrasion resistance of organic polymers. The nano-sized SiO₂ particles were surface-modified using various amounts of 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane. The 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane concentration effects on the surface morphology and abrasion resistance of the transparent SiO₂/ultraviolet-curable resin nano-composites were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The results showed that as the 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane/SiO₂ weight ratio increased from 0.2 to 0.6, the dispersion, compatibility and cross-linking density between the 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane-modified SiO₂ particles and acrylate resin were improved, leading to an increase in abrasion resistance. However, as the 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane/SiO₂ weight ratio was increased to 1.5, the additional 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane may exceed that needed to fill the pores with the probability of SiO₂ nano-particles existing on the coating surface was lower than that for samples with a 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane/SiO₂ weight ratio of 0.6. This produced a decrease in abrasion resistance.     

Photoluminescence and charge storage characteristics of silica nanocrystals: The role of stress-induced interface defects

SiO₂ nanocrystals embedded in Lu₂O₃ thin film were fabricated using pulsed-laser deposition method. Two dimensional finite element calculations clearly reveal that SiO₂ nanocrystals certainly experienced great compressive stress in Lu₂O₃ thin film. This may lead to a great deal of stress-induced defects at the interface of SiO₂ nanocrystals embedded in Lu₂O₃ thin film and thus induced the observed photoluminescence peak and charge storage properties. The findings presented here indicate that the matrix environment of the nanocrystals plays a significant role in determining their electrical and optical properties.     

Substrate-induced stress in silicon nanocrystal/SiO2 multilayer structure

A Raman frequency upshift of nc-Si phonon mode is observed at room temperature, which is attributed to a strong compressive stress in Si nanocrystals. The 10-period amorphous-Si(3 nm)/amorphous-SiO₂ (3 nm) layers are deposited by high vacuum radio-frequency magnetron sputtering on quartz and sapphire substrates at different temperatures. The samples are then annealed in N₂ atmosphere at 1100 ℃ for 1 h for Si crystallization. It is demonstrated that the presence of a supporting substrate at the high grown temperature can induce different types of stresses in the Si nanocrystal layers. The strain is attributed to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate and the Si/SiO₂ SL film. Such a substrate-induced stress indicates a new method to tune the optical and the electronic properties of Si nanocrystals for strained engineering.     

镶嵌在SiO2薄膜中InAs纳米颗粒的Raman散射

对镶嵌在SiO₂薄膜中纳米InAs颗粒的Raman散射谱进行了研究.与大块InAs晶体相比,InAs纳米颗粒的Raman散射谱具有相似的特征,即由纵光学声子模和横光学声子模组成,但是散射峰宽化并红移.用声子限域效应解释了散射峰的红移现象,并结合InAs纳米颗粒的应力效应解释了红移量与理论值的差异. 关键词： 2薄膜')" href="#">SiO₂薄膜 InAs量子点 Raman散射     

Strain-Gradient-Induced Modulation of Carrier Density and Mobility at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Heterointerface

A strain gradient induced by mechanical bending on a SrTiO₃ substrate is demonstrated, and has a pronounced influence on the carrier density and mobility of the interfacial 2D electron gas at the LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ heterointerface. Tensile and compressive strain gradients represent two states of upward and downward bending. Under the tensile strain gradient, the carrier density decreases and the mobility has about 200% increase. Conversely, under the compressive strain gradient, the mobility decreases and the carrier density increases by up to 107%. These results demonstrate a range of opportunities to modulate the carrier density and mobility at oxide heterointerface and open up a promising way for further research on application of oxide devices.     

Electrical and optical characterization of SiOxNy and SiO2 dielectric layers and rear surface passivation by using SiO2/SiOxNy stack layers with screen printed local Al-BSF for c-Si solar cells

In c-Si solar cells, surface recombination velocity increases as the wafer thickness decreases due to an increase in surface to volume ratio. For high efficiency, in addition to low surface recombination velocity at the rear side, a high internal reflection from the rear surface is also required. The SiO_xN_y film with low absorbance can act as rear surface reflector. In this study, industrially feasible SiO₂/SiO_xN_y stack for rear surface passivation and screen printed local aluminium back surface field were used in the cell structure. A 3 nm thick oxide layer has resulted in low fixed oxide charge density of 1.58 × 10¹¹ cm⁻² without parasitic shunting. The oxide layer capped with SiO_xN_y layer led to surface recombination velocity of 155 cm/s after firing. Using single layer (SiO₂) rear passivation, an efficiency of 18.13% has been obtained with V_oc of 625 mV, J_sc of 36.4 mA/cm² and fill factor of 78.7%. By using double layer (SiO₂/SiO_xN_y stack) passivation at the rear side, an efficiency of 18.59% has been achieved with V_oc of 632 mV, J_sc of 37.6 mA/cm², and fill factor of 78.3%. An improved cell performance was obtained with SiO₂/SiO_xN_y rear stack passivation and local BSF.     

Nitric acid oxidation of Si (NAOS) method for low temperature fabrication of SiO2/Si and SiO2/SiC structures

We have developed low temperature formation methods of SiO₂/Si and SiO₂/SiC structures by use of nitric acid, i.e., nitric acid oxidation of Si (or SiC) (NAOS) methods. By use of the azeotropic NAOS method (i.e., immersion in 68 wt% HNO₃ aqueous solutions at 120 °C), an ultrathin (i.e., 1.3-1.4 nm) SiO₂ layer with a low leakage current density can be formed on Si. The leakage current density can be further decreased by post-metallization anneal (PMA) at 200 °C in hydrogen atmosphere, and consequently the leakage current density at the gate bias voltage of 1 V becomes 1/4-1/20 of that of an ultrathin (i.e., 1.5 nm) thermal oxide layer usually formed at temperatures between 800 and 900 °C. The low leakage current density is attributable to (i) low interface state density, (ii) low SiO₂ gap-state density, and (iii) high band discontinuity energy at the SiO₂/Si interface arising from the high atomic density of the NAOS SiO₂ layer.For the formation of a relatively thick (i.e., ≥10 nm) SiO₂ layer, we have developed the two-step NAOS method in which the initial and subsequent oxidation is performed by immersion in ∼40 wt% HNO₃ and azeotropic HNO₃ aqueous solutions, respectively. In this case, the SiO₂ formation rate does not depend on the Si surface orientation. Using the two-step NAOS method, a uniform thickness SiO₂ layer can be formed even on the rough surface of poly-crystalline Si thin films. The atomic density of the two-step NAOS SiO₂ layer is slightly higher than that for thermal oxide. When PMA at 250 °C in hydrogen is performed on the two-step NAOS SiO₂ layer, the current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics become as good as those for thermal oxide formed at 900 °C.A relatively thick (i.e., ≥10 nm) SiO₂ layer can also be formed on SiC at 120 °C by use of the two-step NAOS method. With no treatment before the NAOS method, the leakage current density is very high, but by heat treatment at 400 °C in pure hydrogen, the leakage current density is decreased by approximately seven orders of magnitude. The hydrogen treatment greatly smoothens the SiC surface, and the subsequent NAOS method results in the formation of an atomically smooth SiO₂/SiC interface and a uniform thickness SiO₂.     

Applied stresses,cyclotron masses and charge-density-waves in silicon inversion layers

The behaviour of cyclotron masses for n-type Si(100)/SiO₂ inversion layers under stress is explained by means of a charge-density-wave model. The model yields: (1) the observed occupied valley degeneracy of two; (2) a cyclotron mass which varies as a function of stress or as a function of electron number density between 0.19 m_e and 0.42 m_e; (3) a charge-density-wave solution only for a restricted range of stresses, with a different paramagnetic solution at each boundary of this range. Of the two tramsitions one is first order and the other second order both as a function of stress and carrier density. The approximations in the calculation are discussed.     

Effects of switching pulse width and stress on properties of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films

Polycrystalline ferroelectric Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films are prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by the conventional metalorganic decomposition method.It is observed that with the increase of switching pulse width,the remnant polarisation and the coercive field increase.A wider switching pulse can result in poorer fatigue properties,which comes from more charged defects diffusing to and being trapped on domain walls.On the other hand,when the compressive stress is applied to films,the fatigue properties can be improved.This phenomenon is due to the reorientation of domains under stress.     

磁控溅射制备的W,WSi2,Si单层膜和W/Si,WSi2/Si多层膜应力

采用直流磁控溅射技术制备了厚度约100 nm的W,WSi2,Si单层膜和周期约为20 nm,Si膜层厚度与周期的比值为0.5的W/Si,WSi2/Si周期多层膜.利用台阶仪对镀膜前后基底表面的面形进行了测试,计算并比较了不同膜系的应力值.结果表明:W单层膜表现出较大的压应力,而W/Si周期膜则表现为张应力.WSi2单层...     

Roles of interface and oxide trap density in the kinked current behavior of Al/SiO2/Si(p) structures with ultra-thin oxides

A clear current kinked phenomenon was observed in Al/SiO₂/Si(p) structures with nanoscale (<2.5 nm) SiO₂ in a forward biased region. It was found that the kinked points are dependent on oxide thickness and are not the same as flat-band voltages. A model regarding the oxide voltage dropping efficiency with the consideration of interface trap density ( $D_{\mathrm{it}}$ ) and effective charge number density ( $Q_{\mathrm{eff}}/q$ ) was proposed for the observation. It is noted that the kinked point is severely affected by the oxide quality and uniformity. However, Al/SiO₂/Si(n) structures in a forward biased region do not exhibit this current kinked phenomenon because the dropping behavior of oxide is absolutely different from Al/SiO₂/Si(p) structures.     

Stress insensitive NiCuZn ferrite compositions for microinductor applications

Two series of stoichiometric and iron deficient NiCuZn ferrites were prepared by the conventional ceramic method. The formation of single phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction in pure ferrites and a second phase was noticed in SiO₂ added ferrite samples. Initial permeability measurements on these samples were carried out in the temperature range of 30–300 °C. The effect of external applied stress on the open magnetic circuit type coil with these ferrite cores was studied by applying uniaxial compressive stress parallel to the magnetizing direction and the change in the inductance was measured. These studies show that stress sensitivity is more in stoichiometric ferrite samples than in iron deficient ferrite samples. In order to make them stress insensitive various amounts of SiO₂ were added and the stress insensitivity was examined. SiO₂ addition was found to be effective in reducing the stress sensitivity. This was confirmed by elastic behaviour studies at room temperature on these ferrite samples by employing composite oscillator technique. These ferrite compositions have been developed for their use as core materials for microinductor applications.     

Mineral associations in coal and their transformation during gasification

The principle aim of this investigation was to determine the effect that minerals and mineral associations in dense medium coal fractions have on the ash fusion temperature (AFT) of coal, where the mineral matter associated with coal undergoes transformations during gasification. Samples from three coal sources used by Sasol for gasification were acquired and a comprehensive characterisation on all dense medium fractions was conducted, including proximate analyses, AFT, ash oxide analyses, XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy. From the proximate analyses, the ash content was the highest for the higher density fractions, with an accompanying decrease in fixed carbon content, consistent with the XRD and Mössbauer analyses. From the ash oxide analyses, it was evident that at higher relative densities more Fe₂O₃ and SiO₂ were present than in the lower density samples. From XRD analyses, the low density fractions contained calcite and dolomite. Pyrite and quartz were found in the higher density fractions whereas kaolinite occurred in all density separated fractions. From the different techniques it follows that with the Fe-content high in high density fractions, the AFT was low. When Ca and other basic oxide levels were abundant in low density fractions, the AFT was low and when the SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio was high in high density fractions the AFT increased.     

Tuning defect-related photoluminescence of Ge nanocrystals by stress

Ge nanocrystals embedded in SiO₂ and Lu₂O₃ thin films were fabricated using a pulsed laser deposition method. Two dimensional finite element calculations and Raman spectra clearly revealed that the Ge nanocrystals certainly experienced greater compressive stress in a Lu₂O₃ thin film than in a SiO₂ thin film. This may lead to much more stress-relaxing defects at the interface of Ge nanocrystals embedded in a Lu₂O₃ thin film and thus enhances the intensity of defect-related photoluminescence. The findings presented here indicate that the matrix environment of the nanocrystals plays a significant role in the defect-related photoluminescence property.