A GaAs MISFET with Ge3N4 gate dielectric

GaAs MIS field effect transistors with a Ge₃N₄ dielectric gate have been investigated. No hysteresis loop and drain current drift has been observed in theI _D -V _Dcharacteristics. However, performance of the devices have been found to be limited by the contact resistance. FromI _DS ^1/2 -V _G plot, the threshold voltage and effective channel mobility of the transistor have been obtained as -4.5V and 2800cm²v^–1s^–1, respectively. A maximum dc transconductance of 68 mS/mm of gate width has been achieved.     

Changes produced in the electrical resistivity of ErH2 thin films when converted to ErH3 due to hydrogen treatment

The resistivity of thin films (80–200 Å) of ErH₂ increases sharply when heated for 2 h at 300 °C in vacuum in the presence of hydrogen gas at 10^–2 Torr. This confirms that the films, originally metallic conductor, have become converted to semiconducting ErH₃ which is in conformity with the structural studies. The negative values of TCR also indicate the semiconducting nature of the hydrogen treated films. Activation energies of the films have been evaluated.     

Single-wafer optical processing of semiconductors thin insulator growth for integrated electronic device applications

This paper presents an overview of the single-wafer optical processing techniques for integrated circuit fabrication with an emphasis on their applications to insulator growth. Rapid thermal growth of various thin homogeneous and heterogeneous dielectrics on silicon substrates including silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, nitrided oxides, and composition-tailored insulators will be described and some electronic device applications of the rapidly grown dielectrics will be examined. Multicycle rapid growth processes have been used for dielectric structural engineering and in-situ formation of thin layered insulators. The compositional depth profiles and the electrical characteristics of devices are controlled through the synthesis of an appropriate sequence of the wafer temperature-vs-time profiles and process gas cycles. The ongoing developments and future prospects of single-wafer rapid processing for advanced microelectronics manufacturing will also be discussed.     

Nucleation effects during MBE growth of Sn-Doped GaAs

The morphology, structure and composition of Sn films on GaAs substrates have been investigated in relation to the predeposition technique used with Sn doping of MBE-grown GaAs films. It has been shown that 3-D aggregates of Sn are formed and a similar morphology has been identified in the Sn which accumulates at the surface of all Sn-doped GaAs films. The way in which this relates to donor incorporation is considered and a simple model of incorporation kinetics proposed which is shown to be consistent with observation.     

Electron mobility in compensated VPE GaAs films

Electron Hall mobilities were measured on a series of intentionally compensated vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) GaAs layers. Using Sn and Zn as dopants, compensation ratiosK=(N_D+N_A)/(N_D-N_A) as high as 50 were obtained. Already for samples with the lowestK values the 300 K mobilities are higher than the 77 K values. In the range 20<T<100 [K] the data may be represented by μ∼T ^α with α increasing from 0.6 to 1.1 with compensation. The experimental μ values are smaller than those predicted from current models in all cases. It appears that scattering at ionized impurities is the dominant process also at temperatures well above 77 K, and that this scattering process is quantitatively underestimated in current models.     

Transition metal impurities in silicon: New defect reactions

Recent investigations on transition-metal impurities in silicon emphasizing the effect of the combined diffusion of two transition metals are presented and briefly discussed. The electronic properties and basic thermal kinetics are analysed by DLTS. The conversion of a Pd-related multivalent defect atE _c-0.35 eV andE _c-0.57 eV to the Pd-related defect atE _c –0.22 eV is observed, and a Pd-Fe complex level atE _c –0.32 eV is identified. The annealing characteristics of the multivalent Rh levels atE _c-0.33 eV andE _c-0.57 eV are observed, and used to analyse the influence of prior Rh doping on the Au diffusion. A complex formed by the codiffusion of Au and Cu is observed atE _v+0.32eV andE _v+0.42 eV, and shown to exhibit bistable behavior as does a similarly produced Au-Ni complex observed atE _v + 0.35 eV andE _v+0.48 eV.     

Microscopic mechanisms of self-compensation in Si delta-doped GaAs

We combined systematic cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy investigations with Hall measurements on single Si delta-doped layers, as well as Si delta-doped superlattices in GaAs. We found that Si self-compensation involves nucleation and growth of electrically neutral Si precipitates at the expense of the conventional donor Si phase.     

Synthesis of n-type semiconducting diamond film using diphosphorus pentaoxide as the doping source

An n-type semiconducting diamond film has been synthesized by the hot filament CVD method using diphosphorus pentaoxide as the doping source. The obtained film was identified as polycrystalline diamond containing few sp² components by means of several methods including Raman spectroscopy. From measurements of the Hall effect and the Seebeck effect, the film was found to be an n-type semiconductor.Patent pending No. Heisei 1-302209     

Type-I and type-II Wannier-Stark effect in InGaAs/InGaAs superlattices

The formation of minibands is demonstrated in photocurrent experiments on shallow In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.40Ga_0.60 As superlattices grown by low-pressure metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. Field-dependent variations of the spectral shape are attributed to Wanner-Stark localization. Both type-I transitions between electrons and heavy holes and type-II transitions involving light holes confined in the In_0.40Ga_0.60 As layers are observed and distinguished by their characteristic field dependence.     

Time-resolved photoluminescence of delta-doped AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures

The photoluminescence (PL) at low temperature of three delta-doped AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures is investigated under continuous and pulsed excitations. The PL under continuous excitations allows the identification of the trapping centres and probes the carrier's transfer to the GaAs channel. The time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) inquires about carrier dynamics and gives radiative lifetimes of different levels. The DX level shows two time constants of the intensity decay relating the splitting of the valence band under impurity strains which reduce the crystal symmetry. The two time constants evolve with temperature and exhibit an increase near T=50 K.     

Characterization of active layers in GaAs by microwave absorption

Free carrier electric microwave absorption is applied to the analysis of ion implanted and epitaxial active layers in GaAs. An improved version of a previously reported waveguide system is described. It allows a quick and nondestructive determination of the sheet resistance, carrier concentration and carrier mobility of active layers. The usefulness of the method for routine electric material characterization supporting a microelectronic device fabrication is demonstrated. Finally, some explorative microwave measurements of heterostructures and photo-induced effects are reported.     

Thickness dependence of the spin- and angle-resolved photoemission of ultrathin,epitaxial Ni(111)/W(110) layers

The thickness dependence of the magnetic band structure of ultrathin, epitaxial Ni(111)/W(110) layers has been studied by spin and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The changes of the spin-resolved photoemission intensities upon reducing the layer thickness depend strongly on the wavevector along the -L line of the Brillouin zone. The measured exchange splitting atk 1/3(-L) andk 1/2(-L) is found to be independent of the layer thickness for layers consisting of 3 or more atomic layers, while decreases rapidly with the layer thickness atk2/3(-L). This behavior is very similar to the temperature dependence of the spin-resolved photoemission spectra of bulk Ni(111) at the samek-points.     

The effects of arsenic source contamination on doped GaAs grown by MBE

The presence of parts per million (ppm) levels of impurities in the low-temperature arsenic charge used in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is shown to have a dramatic effect on the quality of GaAs grown. Source charge impurities play a vital role in determining the apparent variation in reported doping behaviour in MBE:GaAs.     

Localized magnetic excitations for a line of magnetic impurities in a transverse Ising thin film ferromagnet

A Green's function method is used to obtain the spectrum of spin excitations associated with a linear array of magnetic impurities implanted in a ferromagnetic thin film. The equations of motion for the Green's functions of the anisotropic film are written in the framework of the Ising model in a transverse field. The frequencies of localized modes are calculated as a function of the interaction parameters for the exchange coupling between impurity-spin pairs, host-spin pairs, and impurity-host neighbors, as well as the effective field parameter at the impurity sites.     

Positron annihilation studies in alpha-irradiated n-type GaAs

The positron annihilation technique has been used to study the recovery of defects in α-irradiated n-type GaAs. The Doppler broadening lineshape parameter, S, showed, for the first time, the recovery in three steps beginning around 120°C, 300°C and 510°C indicating the presence of three types of defects.     

Influence of material design parameters on radiative recombination in GaAs doping superlattices grown by MBE

The specific luminescence process in GaAs doping superlattices arises from recombination of electrons populating low-index conduction subbands with holes in the acceptor impurity band across the indirect gap in real space. The luminescence peak energy thus directly reflects the actual value of the tunable gap for the photoexcited state of the superlattice. We have studied the tunability of the effective gap, the recombination rate, and the relative quantum efficiency on superlattice specimen of different material design parameters by means of low-temperature photoluminescence measurements. For optimized design parameters the ratio between luminescence and excitation intensity remains nearly constant over the entire tunability range of the effective gap.     

Structural perfection and the distribution of impurities in magnetic semiconductor nanoheterosystems based on GaAs

A comprehensive study of the crystal structure and distribution of impurities in GaAs nanoheterosystems containing InGaAs quantum wells and delta ?Mn?-doped layers is performed. High-resolution transmission electronmicroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction are used in particular. It is shown that our technique allows growing structures with embedded delta layers of magnetic impurities epitaxially.