Rapid crystallization of silicon films using Joule heating of metal films

50-nm thick amorphous silicon films formed on glass substrates were crystallized by rapid Joule heating induced by an electrical current flowing in 100-nm-thick Cr strips formed adjacently to 200-nm-thick SiO₂ intermediate layers. 3-μs-pulsed voltages were applied to the Cr strips. Melting of the Cr strips caused a high Joule heating intensity of about 1×10⁶ W/cm². Raman scattering measurements revealed complete crystallization of the silicon films at a Joule heating energy of 1.9 J/cm² via the SiO₂ intermediate layer. Transmission electron microscopy measurements confirmed a crystalline grain size of 50–100 nm. 1-μm-long crystalline grain growth was also observed just beneath the edge of the Cr strips. The electrical conductivity increased from 10^-5 S/cm to 0.3 S/cm for 7×10¹⁷-cm^-3-phosphorus-doped silicon films because of activation of the phosphorus atoms because of crystallization. The numerical analysis showed a density of localized defect states at the mid gap of 8.0×10¹⁷ cm^-3. Oxygen plasma treatment at 250 °C and 100 W for 5 min reduced the density of the defect states to 2.7×10¹⁷ cm^-3. Received: 3 April 2001 / Accepted: 9 April 2001 / Published online: 25 July 2001     

Oxygen plasma and high pressure H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O vapor heat treatments used to fabricate polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors

Oxygen plasma and high pressure H₂O vapor heat treatment were applied to fabrication of n-channel polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors (poly-Si TFTs). 13.56 MHz-oxygen-plasma treatment at 250 °C, 100 W for 5 min effectively reduced defect states of 25-nm-thick silicon films crystallized by 30 ns-pulsed XeCl excimer laser irradiation. 1.3×10⁶-Pa-H₂O vapor heat treatment at 260 °C for 3 h was carried out in order to improve electrical properties of SiO_x gate insulators and SiO_x/Si interfaces. A carrier mobility of 470 cm²/V s and a low threshold voltage of 1.8 V were achieved for TFTs fabricated with crystallization at 285 mJ/cm². Received: 18 November 2002 / Accepted: 25 November 2002 / Published online: 11 April 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-42/388-7109, E-mail: tsamesim@cc.tuat.ac.jp     

Improvement of transport properties for polycrystalline silicon prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The carrier transport property of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si:H:F) thin films was studied in relation to film microstructure, impurity, in situ or post-annealing treatments to obtain better carrier transport properties. Poly-Si:H:F films were prepared from SiF₄ and H₂ gas mixtures at temperatures <300 °C. Dark conductivity of the films prepared at high SiF₄/H₂ gas flow ratio (e.g., 60/3 sccm) exhibits a high value for intrinsic silicon and its Fermi level is located near the conduction band edge. The carrier incorporation is suppressed well, either by in situ hydrogen plasma treatment or by post-annealing with high-pressure hot-H₂O vapor. It is confirmed that weak-bonded hydrogen atoms are removed by the hot-H₂O vapor annealing. In addition, evident correlation between impurity concentrations and dark conductivity is not found for these films. It is thought that the carrier incorporation in the films prepared at high SiF₄/H₂ gas flow ratios is related to grain-boundary defects such as weak-bonded hydrogen. By applying hot-H₂O vapor annealing at 310 °C to a 1-μm-thick p-doped (400)-oriented poly-Si:H:F film, Hall mobility was improved from 10 cm²/Vs to 17 cm²/Vs. Received: 7 August 2000 / Accepted: 2 March 2001 / Published online: 20 June 2001     

Influence of Oxygen Vacancy on Transport Property in Perovskite Oxide Heterostructures

Effect of oxygen vacancy on transport property of perovskite microstructures is studied theoretically. Compared with calculated and measured I-V curves, it is revealed that electron conduction plays an important role in the oxygen nonstoichiometry perovskite heterostructures even with hole-doped or un-doped material due to the oxygen vacancies. In addition, a detailed understanding of the influence of oxygen vacancy concentration and temperature on the conduction characteristics of oxide heterojunction with both forward and reverse biases is obtained by calculation.     

Defect reduction and surface passivation of SiO2/Si by heat treatment with high-pressure H2O vapor

Heat treatment with high-pressure H₂O vapor was applied to improve interface properties of SiO₂/Si and passivate the silicon surface. Heat treatment at 180–420 °C with high-pressure H₂O vapor changed SiO_x films, 150 nm thick formed at room temperature by thermal evaporation in vacuum, into SiO₂ films with a Si-O-Si bonding network similar to that of thermally grown SiO₂ films. Heat treatment at 130 °C with 2.8×10⁵ Pa H₂O for 3 h reduced the recombination velocity for the electron minority carriers from 405 cm/s (as-fabricated 150-nm-thick SiO_x/Si) to 5 cm/s. Field-effect passivation was demonstrated by an additional deposition of defective SiO_x films on the SiO₂ films formed by heat treatment at 340 °C with high-pressure H₂O vapor. The SiO_x deposition reduced the recombination velocity from 100 cm/s to 48 cm/s. Received: 1 March 1999 / Accepted: 28 March 1999 / Published online: 24 June 1999     

High-resolution electron microscopy of microstructure of MnF2 subjected to shock compression at 4.4 GPa

Microstructure of MnF₂ subjected to by shock compression at 4.4 GPa was examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Lamellar structure consisting of twin-related domains of rutile-structure and intergrowth of α- PbO₂-type phase is observed in the electron diffraction pattern and TEM images. The crystallographic relationship between rutile and α- PbO₂-type phases can be expressed as and .     

Oxygen deficiency dependence of magnetic and magnetoresistive properties for La0.5Sr0.5CoO3-x thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

The complete (001)-oriented thin films of La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO_3-x (LSCO) are deposited on (001) SrTiO₃ substrates by pulsed laser deposition under reduced oxygen pressure. It is revealed that the c axis of the film stretches with depleting oxygen. The magnetic, electrical, and magnetoresistive properties of the films are characterized by means of various techniques. Significant dependence of these properties on oxygen deficiency in the films is demonstrated, with enhanced magnetoresistance recorded for the samples deposited over a wide range of reduced oxygen pressure. Received: 9 July 1998 / Accepted: 15 January 1999 / Published online: 31 March 1999     

Honeycomb-like alignments of carbon nanotubes synthesized by pyrolysis of a metal phthalocyanine

Honeycomb-like alignments of carbon nanotubes were prepared by pyrolysis of a metal phthalocyanine at 950 °C in an Ar/H₂ flow. A simple synthetic method has been developed for a large-scale synthesis of aligned carbon nanotubes normal to a substrate surface. Received: 15 June 2000 / Accepted: 21 June 2000 / Published online: 2 August 2000     

Formation of metal membranes by direct duplication of etched ion-track templates

A method for direct electrochemical metal duplication of pores in ion-track polymer membranes is described. It allows fabrication of metallic membranes using any metal, which is readily deposited by electroplating from aqueous solutions. The metal is deposited on one side of the template membrane, facing the anode, which is made conductive by a thin metal cladding layer. During electroplating, the lateral tapping of the pores is prevented by applying a counter-solution from the opposite non-metallized side of the plastic membrane, which increases dramatically the deposition overvoltage in the vicinity of the pore orifices. Such metallic membranes can be generated with pore diameters in the nano- and micrometer range and with densities from single pores up to 10⁶–10⁷ pores/cm². They can replace plastic filters in cases when an application of polymer material is not desirable. They could be advantageous particularly in catalysis as well as in biological science and technology. Further, they may be useful as apertures and collimators for different kinds of radiation. Received: 14 February 2002 / Accepted: 21 May 2002 / Published online: 22 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-6159/712-179, E-mail: r.neumann@gsi.de     

Effect of annealing on structure and magnetic properties of Fe-N and Fe-Ti-N thin films

The structure and magnetic properties of Fe-N and Fe-Ti-N films have been studied as a function of annealing temperature T_a with a transmission electron microscope and a vibrating sample magnetometer. The as-prepared Fe-N films consist of the γ^′-Fe₄N and α^′′-Fe₁₆N₂ phases, and the Fe-Ti-N films are composed of the γ^′-Fe₄N, α^′′-Fe₁₆N₂, and TiN phases. The structural changes with annealing temperature in the Fe-N films are distinct. The α^′′-Fe₁₆N₂ decomposes into α+γ^′ phases in the Fe-N film annealed at about 300 °C, and it disappears in the film annealed at 350 °C. Annealing of the Fe-Ti-N films shows no structural changes between room temperature (RT) and 500 °C. The saturation magnetization 4πM_S and coercivity H_c of the Fe-N films change drastically with the annealing temperature T_a, whereas those of the Fe-Ti-N films do not change with T_a up to 500 °C. These results indicate that the additon of Ti may improve the thermal stability of Fe-N films. Recieved: 6 Juli 1998 / Accepted: 19 Oktober 1998 / Published online: 10 March 1999     

Flat layered structure and improved photoluminescence emission from porous silicon microcavities formed by pulsed anodic etching

Single-mode, highly directional and stable photoluminescence (PL) emission has been achieved from porous silicon microcavities (PSMs) fabricated by pulsed electrochemical etching. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the narrow PL peak available from a freshly etched PSM is about 9 nm. The emission concentrates in a cone of 10° around the normal of the sample, with a further reduced FWHM of ∼5.6 nm under angle-resolved measurements. Only the resonant peak is present in such angle-resolved PL spectra. No peak broadening is found upon exposure of the freshly prepared PSM to a He-Cd laser beam, and the peak becomes somewhat narrower (∼5.4 nm) after the PSM has been stored in an ambient environment for two weeks. At optimized etching parameters, even a 4-nm FWHM is achievable for the freshly etched PSM. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) plane-view images reveal that the single layer porous Si formed by pulsed current etching is more uniform and flatter than that formed by direct current (dc) etching, demonstrated by the well-distributed circular pores with small size in the former in comparison with the irregular interlinking pores in the latter. The SEM cross-section images show the existence of oriented Si columns of 10 nm diameter along the etching direction within the active layer, good reproducibility and flat interfaces. It is thus concluded that pulsed current etching is superior to dc etching in obtaining flat interfaces within the distributed Bragg reflectors because of its minor lateral etching. Received: 7 March 2001 / Accepted: 23 July 2001 / Published online: 30 October 2001     

Electronic properties of the single-domain Li/Si(001) surface

Received: 14 October 1996/Accepted: 17 December 1996     

Structure and magnetic properties of Co nanoclusters fabricated by ion beam synthesis in SiO2 films

Co nanoparticles fabricated by ion beam synthesis in SiO₂ films were investigated with transmission electron microscopy and superconducting quantum interference device technique. Variation of the thermal treatment enables the formation of Co nanoclusters of different sizes ranging from 2 to 40 nm. Small nanoclusters of about 2–3 nm are amorphous, whereas clusters above 7 nm show the configuration of cubic Co nanocrystals. Measurements of magnetisation at temperatures between 2 K and 360 K reveal superparamagnetic behaviour for the small nanoclusters up to 3 nm and ferromagnetism for clusters above 7 nm. Received: 12 February 2001 / Accepted: 3 May 2001 / Published online: 27 June 2001     

Studies of interface structures of W films grown on patterned and bare Si(100) by TEM

+ Si(100) and bare Si(100) wafers by low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) at 230–280 °C. The films were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The cross-sectional TEM samples of W/Si(100) exhibited a fine scale interface roughness, which was attributed to the surface preparation. Irregular W plug structures were observed depending on the predeposition procedures. It was observed that an insufficient deposition of W films on the contact surface leads to the presence of aluminium around and underneath the plugs. This was observed by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX). A study, using conventional electron diffraction, confirmed that no silicides formed at the interfaces of W-bare Si(l00) wafers. Received: 16 December 1996/Accepted: 6 May 1997     

Modeling interface trapping effect in organic field-effect transistor under illumination

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have received significant attention recently because of the potential application in low-cost flexible electronics. The physics behind their operation are relatively complex and require careful consideration particularly with respect to the effect of charge trapping at the insulator–semiconductor interface and field effect in a region with a thickness of a few molecular layers. Recent studies have shown that the so-called “onset” voltage (V _onset) in the rubrene OFET can vary significantly depending on past illumination and bias history. It is therefore important to define the role of the interface trap states in more concrete terms and show how they may affect device performance. In this work, we propose an equivalent-circuit model for the OFET to include mechanism(s) linked to trapping. This includes the existence of a light-sensitive “resistor” controlling charge flow into/out of the interface trap states. Based on the proposed equivalent-circuit model, an analytical expression of V _onset is derived showing how it can depend on gate bias and illumination. Using data from the literature, we analyzed the I–V characteristics of a rubrene OFET after pulsed illumination and a tetracene OFET during steady-state illumination.     

The curved feature of ultrasound-treated graphitic sheets

When examined under a high-resolution transmission microscope (HRTEM), highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG), after ultrasound treatment, is found to contain some bent graphitic sheets. These bent structures are ordered graphitic sheets, which have specific bend angles that are a multiple of 30° (from 30° to 180°). We speculate that the creation and variation of bend angles is a result of interplay between the conformation of sp³-like defects and the ultrasound wave impact. Received 8 September 2000 / Accepted: 6 November 2000 / Published online: 23 May 2001     

Metal-induced solid-phase crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon: dependence on metal type and annealing temperature

We report on metal (Cr, Ni, or Pd)-induced solid-phase crystallization (MISPC) of plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon at annealing temperatures ≤600 °C. MISPC is found to significantly reduce the thermal budget of crystallization at annealing temperatures as low as ∼400 °C. The lowest achievable annealing temperature is found to depend on the metal type. The metal type is also found to influence grain size and the conductivity of the polycrystalline silicon. Received: 21 June 1999 / Accepted: 20 October 1999 / Published online: 23 February 2000     

A study of interface characteristics in HfAlO/p-Si by deep level transient spectroscopy

Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and high-frequency capacitance-voltage (HF-CV) measurement are used for the investigation of HfAlO/p-Si interface. The so-called “slow” interface states detected by HF-CV are obtained to be 2.68 × 10¹¹ cm⁻². Combined conventional DLTS with insufficient-filling DLTS (IF-DLTS), the true energy level position of interfacial traps is found to be 0.33 eV above the valance band maximum of silicon, and the density of such “fast” interfacial traps is 1.91 × 10¹² cm⁻² eV⁻¹. The variation of energy level position of such traps with different annealing temperatures indicates the origin of these traps may be the oxide-related traps very close to the HfAlO/Si interface. The interfacial traps’ passivation and depassivation effect of postannealing in forming gas are shown by comparing samples annealed at different temperatures.     

Electron trapping center and SnO2-doping mechanism of indium tin oxide

Indium tin oxide (ITO) and Er³⁺-doped ITO powders were prepared by a conventional ceramic method. The density of ITO powders and optical absorption spectra of Er³⁺ ions in Er³⁺-doped ITO were measured as a function of the SnO₂ doping level. The results obtained were discussed in terms of the trapping center for immobile electrons in ITO. Observed densities of ITO powders were in good agreement with those calculated from their lattice parameters, assuming that the immobile electrons were trapped at the excess interstitial oxygen. The optical absorption spectra of Er³⁺-doped ITO indicated that some In³⁺ ions in ITO were surrounded by 7 and/or 8 oxygen ions; the increase in the coordination number of In³⁺ from 6 in In₂O₃ to 7 and/or 8 in ITO must be caused by the introduction of excess interstitial oxygen into the quasi-anion site in the C-typerare-earth lattice upon SnO₂ doping. It was concluded that the immobile electrons in ITO are trapped at the excess interstitial oxygen, and that the mechanism of conduction carrier generation and compensation upon SnO₂ doping into In₂O₃ can be expressed by the defect equation, 2SnO₂?2Sn_In·+2(1-z)e^′+zO_i ^′′+3O_O ^×+(1-z)/2O₂. Received: 26 November 1999 / Accepted: 20 April 2000 / Published online: 13 September 2000