Effect of F doping on capacitance-voltage characteristics of SiCOH low-k films metal-insulator-semiconductor

This paper investigates the capacitance-voltage(C-V) characteristics of F doping SiCOH low dielectric constant films metal-insulator-semiconductor structure.The F doping SiCOH films are deposited by decamethylcyclopentasiloxane(DMCPS) and trifluromethane(CHF3) electron cyclotron resonance plasmas.With the CHF3/DMCPS flow rate ratio from 0 to 0.52,the positive excursion of C-V curves and the increase of flat-band voltage VFB from 6.1 V to 32.2 V are obtained.The excursion of C-V curves and the shift of VFB are related to the change of defects density and type at the Si/SiCOH interface due to the decrease of Si and O concentrations,and the increase of F concentration.At the CHF3/DMCPS flow rate ratio is 0.12,the compensation of F-bonding dangling bond to Si dangling bond leads to a small VFB of 2.0 V.     

Investigation of the characteristics of GIDL current in 90nm CMOS technology

A specially designed experiment is performed for investigating gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current in 90nm CMOS technology using lightly-doped drain (LDD) NMOSFET. This paper shows that the drain bias $V_{\rm D}$ has a strong effect on GIDL current as compared with the gate bias $V_{\rm G}$ at the same drain--gate voltage $V_{\rm DG}$. It is found that the difference between $I_{\rm D}$ in the off-state $I_{\rm D}-V_{\rm G}$ characteristics and the corresponding one in the off-state $I_{\rm D}-V_{\rm D}$ characteristics, which is defined as $I_{\rm DIFF}$, versus $V_{\rm DG}$ shows a peak. The difference between the influences of $V_{\rm D}$ and $V_{\rm G}$ on GIDL current is shown quantitatively by $I_{\rm DIFF}$, especially in 90nm scale. The difference is due to different hole tunnellings. Furthermore, the maximum $I_{\rm DIFF }$($I_{\rm DIFF,MAX})$ varies linearly with $V_{\rm DG}$ in logarithmic coordinates and also $V_{\rm DG}$ at $I_{\rm DIFF,MAX}$ with $V_{\rm F}$ which is the characteristic voltage of $I_{\rm DIFF}$. The relations are studied and some related expressions are given.     

Effect of F- and CH-Doped on Dielectric Properties of SiCOH Films Deposited by Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma

We investigate the effect of CH-doped and F-doped on dielectric properties of SiCOH films deposited by de- camethylcyclopentasiloxane （DMCPS） electron cyclotron resonance plasma. The dielectric constant k is closely related to the configurations of films. For the films deposited only using DMCPS, the minimum k is as low as 2.88. By adding CH4 in the precursor, the k value can be reduced to 2.45 due to the film density decreasing by incorporating large size CHx groups. By adding CHF3 in the precursor, the k value can also be reduced to 2.48 due to the incorporation of the weak-polarization F atom. Thus the dielectric constant for SiCOH films depends on not only the film density but also the polarization of atoms. By increasing the film density or by reducing the polarization of atoms under the condition of a lower film density, the low dielectric constant SiCOH films can be obtained.     

improvement of electrical properties of Cu/SiCOH low-k film integrated system by O2 plasma treatment

This paper investigates the effect of O2 plasma treatment on the electric property of Cu/SiCOH low dielectric constant （low-k） film integrated structure. The results show that the leakage current of Cu/SiCOH low-k integrated structure can be reduced obviously at the expense of a slight increase in dielectric constant k of SiCOH films. Bythe Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） analysis on the bonding configurations of SiCOH films treated by O2 plasmar it is found that the decrease of leakage current is related to the increase of Si-O cages originating from the linkage of Si dangling bonds through O, which makes the open pores sealed and reduces the diffusion of Cu to pores.     

Mass Spectrometry Investigation on Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma for SiCOH Film Deposition

We investigate the fragmentation behaviour of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane （DMCPS） plasma using a quadrupole mass spectrometry, which is used as the precursor to deposit SiCOH film in an electron cyclotron resonance （ECR） plasma system. The structure of DMCPS molecules comprises a fivefold Si-O ring and ten -CH3 groups bonded at five Si atoms. In ECR discharge plasma, the main fragmentation behaviour of DMCPS includes two stages. One is the breaking of fivefold Si-O rings and then the formation of threefold Si-O rings and Si-O chain species. The other is the decomposing of hydrocarbon groups from Si atoms and then the crosslink of hydrocarbon species. Combined with the bonding configuration of SiCOH films, the relation between species in ECR plasma and films structures is analysed.     

Study on spectroscopic parameters and molecular constants of HCl(X~1Σ~+) molecule by using multireference configuration interaction approach

Equilibrium internuclear separations, harmonic frequencies and potential energy curves (PECs) of HCl($X^{1}\Sigma ^{ + })$ molecule are investigated by using the highly accurate valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach in combination with a series of correlation-consistent basis sets in the valence range. The PECs are all fitted to the Murrell--Sorbie function, and they are used to accurately derive the spectroscopic parameters ($D_{\rm e}$, $D_{0}$, $\omega_{\rm e}\chi_{\rm e}$, $\alpha_{\rm e}$ and $B_{\rm e})$. Compared with the available measurements, the PEC obtained at the basis set, aug-cc-pV5Z, is selected to investigate the vibrational manifolds. The constants $D_{0}$, $D_{\rm e}$, $R_{\rm e}$, $\omega_{\rm e}$, $\omega_{\rm e}\chi_{\rm e}$, $\alpha_{\rm e}$ and $B_{\rm e}$ at this basis set are 4.4006~eV, 4.5845~eV, 0.12757~nm, 2993.33~cm$^{ - 1}$, 52.6273~cm$^{ - 1}$, 0.2981~cm$^{ - 1}$ and 10.5841~cm$^{ - 1}$, respectively, which almost perfectly conform to the available experimental results. With the potential determined at the MRCI/aug-cc-pV5Z level of theory, by numerically solving the radial Schr\"{o}dinger equation of nuclear motion in the adiabatic approximation, a total of 21 vibrational levels are predicted. Complete vibrational levels, classical turning points, inertial rotation and centrifugal distortion constants are reproduced, which are in excellent agreement with the available Rydberg--Klein--Rees data. Most of these theoretical vibrational manifolds are reported for the first time to the best of our knowledge.     

First principle study of nitrogen vacancy in aluminium nitride

In the framework of density functional theory, using the plane-wave pseudopotential method, the nitrogen vacancy ($V_{\rm N})$ in both wurtzite and zinc-blende AlN is studied by the supercell approach. The atom configuration, density of states, and formation energies of various charge states are calculated. Two defect states are introduced by the defect, which are a doubly occupied single state above the valance band maximum (VBM) and a singly occupied triple state below the conduction band minimum (CBM) for wurtzite AlN and above the CBM for zinc-blende AlN. So $V_{\rm N}$ acts as a deep donor in wurtzite AlN and a shallow donor in zinc-blende AlN. A thermodynamic transition level $E({3 + } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{3 + } + }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} + )$ with very low formation energy appears at 0.7 and 0.6eV above the VBM in wurtzite and zinc-blende structure respectively, which may have a wide shift to the low energy side if atoms surrounding the defect are not fully relaxed. Several other transition levels appear in the upper part of the bandgap. The number of these levels decreases with the structure relaxation. However, these levels are unimportant to AlN properties because of their high formation energy.     

Effect of substrate temperature on the growth and properties of boron-doped microcrystalline silicon films

Highly conductive boron-doped hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (\mu c-Si:H) films are prepared by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (VHF PECVD) at the substrate temperatures $T_{\rm S})$ ranging from 90$^\circ$C to 270$^\circ$C. The effects of $T_{\rm S}$ on the growth and properties of the films are investigated. Results indicate that the growth rate, the electrical (dark conductivity, carrier concentration and Hall mobility) and structural (crystallinity and grain size) properties are all strongly dependent on $T_{\rm S}$. As $T_{\rm S}$ increases, it is observed that 1) the growth rate initially increases and then arrives at a maximum value of 13.3 nm/min at $T_{\rm S}$=210$^\circ$C, 2) the crystalline volume fraction ($X_{\rm c})$ and the grain size increase initially, then reach their maximum values at $T_{\rm S}$=140$^\circ$C, and finally decrease, 3) the dark conductivity ($\sigma _{\rm d})$, carrier concentration and Hall mobility have a similar dependence on $T_{\rm S}$ and arrive at their maximum values at $T_{\rm S}$=190$^\circ$C. In addition, it is also observed that at a lower substrate temperature $T_{\rm S}$, a higher dopant concentration is required in order to obtain a maximum $\sigma _{\rm d}$.     

Investigations on spectroscopic parameters, vibrational levels, classical turning points and inertial rotation and centrifugal distortion constants for the X1∑+g state of sodium dimer

The density functional theory (B3LYP, B3P86) and the quadratic configuration-interaction method including single and double substitutions (QCISD(T), QCISD) presented in Gaussian03 program package are employed to calculate the equilibrium internuclear distance $R_{\rm e}$, the dissociation energy $D_{\rm e }$ and the harmonic frequency $\omega _{\rm e}$ for the $X{}^{1}\Sigma^{ + }_{\rm g}$ state of sodium dimer in a number of basis sets. The conclusion is gained that the best $R_{\rm e}$, $D_{\rm e}$ and $\omega _{\rm e}$ results can be attained at the QCISD/6-311G(3df,3pd) level of theory. The potential energy curve at this level of theory for this state is obtained over a wide internuclear separation range from 0.16 to 2.0~nm and is fitted to the analytic Murrell--Sorbie function. The spectroscopic parameters $D_{\rm e}$, $D_{0}$, $R_{\rm e}$, $\omega _{\rm e}$, $\omega _{\rm e}\chi _{\rm e}$, $\alpha _{\rm e}$ and $B_{\rm e}$ are calculated to be 0.7219~eV, 0.7135~eV, 0.31813~nm, 151.63~cm$^{ - 1}$, 0.7288~cm$^{ - 1}$, 0.000729~cm$^{ - 1}$ and 0.1449~cm$^{ - 1}$, respectively, which are in good agreement with the measurements. With the potential obtained at the QCISD/6-311G(3df,3pd) level of theory, a total of 63 vibrational states is found when $J=0$ by solving the radial Schr\"{o}dinger equation of nuclear motion. The vibrational level, corresponding classical turning point and inertial rotation constant are computed for each vibrational state. The centrifugal distortion constants ($D_{\upsilon }\, H_{\upsilon }$, $L_{\upsilon }$, $M_{\upsilon }$, $N_{\upsilon }$ and $O_{\upsilon })$ are reported for the first time for the first 31 vibrational states when $J=0$.     

Electronic structure and defect states of transition films from amorphous to microcrystalline silicon studied by surface photovoltage spectroscopy

In this paper, surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) is used to determine the electronic structure of the hydrogenated transition Si films. All samples are prepared by using helicon wave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique, the films exhibit a transition from the amorphous phase to the microcrystalline phase with increasing temperature. The film deposited at lower substrate temperature has the amorphous-like electronic structure with two types of dominant defect states corresponding to the occupied Si dangling bond states (D⁰/D^- and the empty Si dangling states (D⁺). At higher substrate temperature, the crystallinity of the deposited films increases, while their band gap energy decreases. Meanwhile, two types of additional defect states is incorporate into the films as compared with the amorphous counterpart, which is attributed to the interface defect states between the microcrystalline Si grains and the amorphous matrix. The relative SPS intensity of these two kinds of defect states in samples deposited above 300\du increases first and decreases afterwards, which may be interpreted as a result of the competition between hydrogen release and crystalline grain size increment with increasing substrate temperature.     

Theoretica Study on defects associated with lead vacancies in PbWO4 crystals

The defects associated with lead vacancies(VPd)in lead tungstate crystals(PbWO4) are investigated by the relativistic self-consistent discrete variational embedded cluster method.We focus on the density of states and the effect of Vpb on surroundings,the results show that the existence of Vpb can diminish the bandwidth of WOr^2- group,however,it can neither produce O^- and Pb^3 ions nor result in absorptions at 350 and 420nm,The charge balance of VPb may be evenly compensated by the surrounding oxygen ions.     

High energy electron radiation effect on Ni/4H-SiC SBD and Ohmic contact

The Ni/4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) and transfer length method (TLM) test patterns of Ni/4H-SiC Ohmic contacts were fabricated, and irradiated with 1~MeV electrons up to a dose of 3.43× 10¹⁴~e/cm^-2. After radiation, the forward currents of the SBDs at 2~V decreased by about 50%, and the reverse currents at -200~V increased by less than 30%. Schottky barrier height (φ _B ) of the Ni/4H-SiC SBD increased from 1.20~eV to 1.21~eV under 0~V irradiation bias, and decreased from 1.25~eV to 1.19~eV under -30~V irradiation bias. The degradation of φ _B could be explained by the variation of interface states of Schottky contacts. The on-state resistance (R_s) and the reverse current increased with the dose, which can be ascribed to the radiation defects in bulk material. The specific contact resistance (\rho_c) of the Ni/SiC Ohmic contact increased from 5.11× 10⁵~Ωega.cm² to 2.97× 10^-4~Ωega.cm².     

Enhanced optical nonlinear absorption of graded Au--TiO2 composite films

This paper reports that single-layer and graded Au-TiO2 granular composite films with Au atom content 15%- 66% were prepared by using reactive co-sputtering technique. The third-order optical nonlinearity of single-layer and graded composite films was investigated by using s- and p-polarized Z-scans in femtosecond time scale. The nonlinear absorption coefficient βeff of single-layer Au-TiO2 films is measured to be -2.3×10^3-0.76×10^3 cm/GW with Au atom content 15%-66%. The βeff value of the 10-layer Au-TiO2 graded film is enhanced to be -2.1×10^4cm/GW calculated from p-polarized Z-scans, which is about ten times the maximum βeff of single-layer films. Broadened response in the wavelength region 730-860 nm of the enhanced optical nonlinearity of graded Au-TiO2 composite films was also investigated.     

Impurity effects of the Λhyperon in the hypernuclear systems ${}_{{\rm{\Lambda }}}^{25}\mathrm{Mg}$ and ${}_{{\rm{\Lambda }}}^{29}\mathrm{Si}$

Based on the beyond-mean-field Skyrme–Hartree–Fock model, impurity effects of the Λhyperon in the hypernuclear systems ${}_{\,{\rm{\Lambda }}}^{25}$ Mg and ${}_{\,{\rm{\Lambda }}}^{29}$ Si are investigated, respectively. Four cases, in which the Λhyperon occupies the single-particle orbitals ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[000]${\tfrac{1}{2}}^{+}$, ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[110]${\tfrac{1}{2}}^{-}$, ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[101]${\tfrac{3}{2}}^{-}$ and ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[101]${\tfrac{1}{2}}^{-}$, are focused. In each case, the potential energy surface and the energy curves projected on certain angular momenta are employed to show the influence of the Λhyperon on the nuclear core. Beside the shrinkage effect that is induced by the Λhyperon occupying the s_Λ orbital, it is found that the Λhyperon on the p_Λ orbital, ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[110]${\tfrac{1}{2}}^{-}$, drives the nuclear core toward a prolate shape, while the ones on the other two p_Λ orbitals, ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[101]${\tfrac{3}{2}}^{-}$ and ${\rm{\Lambda }}$[101]${\tfrac{1}{2}}^{-}$, drive the nuclear core toward an oblate shape. The energy spectra and the corresponding intra-band E2 transition rates for the rotational bands are given as a prediction for future experiments.     

The research on suspended ZnO nanowire field-effect transistor

This paper reports that a novel type of suspended ZnO nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) were successfully fabricated using a photolithography process, and their electrical properties were characterized by I--V measurements. Single-crystalline ZnO nanowires were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, they were used as a suspended ZnO nanowire channel of back-gate field-effect transistors (FET). The fabricated suspended nanowire FETs showed a p-channel depletion mode, exhibited high on--off current ratio of ～10⁵. When V_DS=2.5 V, the peak transconductances of the suspended FETs were 0.396 μS, the oxide capacitance was found to be 1.547 fF, the pinch-off voltage V_TH was about 0.6 V, the electron mobility was on average 50.17 cm²/Vs. The resistivity of the ZnO nanowire channel was estimated to be 0.96× 10²Ω cm at V_GS = 0 V. These characteristics revealed that the suspended nanowire FET fabricated by the photolithography process had excellent performance. Better contacts between the ZnO nanowire and metal electrodes could be improved through annealing and metal deposition using a focused ion beam.     

Novel material for nonvolatile ovonic unified memory (OUM)－Ag11In12Te26Sb51 phase change semiconductor

In this paper, Ag_{11}In_{12}Te_{26}Sb_{51} phase change semiconductor films have been prepared by dc sputtering. The crystallization behaviour of amorphous Ag_{11}In_{12}Te_{26}Sb_{51} thin films was investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffraction. It was found that the crystallization temperature is about 483K and the melting temperature is 754.8K and the activation energy for crystallization, E_a, is 2.07eV. The crystalline Ag_{11}In_{12}Te_{26}Sb_{51} films were obtained using initializer. The initialization conditions have a great effect on the sheet resistance of Ag_{11}In_{12}Te_{26}Sb_{51} films. We found that the effect of the initialization condition on the sheet resistance can be ascribed to the crystallinity of Ag_{11}In_{12}Te_{26}Sb_{51} films. The sheet resistance of the amorphous (R_{amo}) film is found to be larger than 1×10^6Ω and that of the crystalline (R_{cry}) film lies in the range from about 10^3 to 10^4Ω. So we have the ratio R_{amo}/R_{cry}=10^2～10^3, which is sufficiently large for application in memory devices.     

A first-principles study of the catalytic mechanism of the dehydriding reaction of LiNH2 through adding Ti catalysts

Experiments on a ball milled mixture with a 1:1 molar ratio of LiNH2 and LiH with a small amount(1 mol %) of Ti nano,TiCl3 and TiO nano 2 have revealed a superior catalytic effect on Li-N-H hydrogen storage materials.In the x-ray diffraction profiles,no trace of Ti nano,TiCl3 and TiO nano 2 was found in these doped composites,by which we deduced that Ti atoms enter LiNH2 by partial element substitution.A first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory has been used to investigate the catalytic effects of Ti catalysts on the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2 system.The results show that Ti substitution can reduce the dehydrogenation reaction activation energy of LiNH2 and improve the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2.Based on the analysis of the density of states and overlap populations for LiNH2 before and after Ti substitution,it was found that the stability of the system of LiNH2 is reduced,which originates from the increase of the valence electrons at the Fermi level(EF) and the decrease of the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) gap(△EH-L) near E F.The catalytic effect of Ti on the dehydrogenating kinetics of LiNH2 may be attributed to the reduction of average populations between N-H per unit bond length(nm-1),which leads to the reduction of the chemical bond strength of N-H.     

Observation of four-wave mixing in caesium atoms using a noncycling transition

In this paper the generation of four-wave mixing (FWM) signal using a noncycling transition of caesium atoms is investigated when the pumping laser is locked to the transition $6{\rm S}_{1/2}F=4\to6{\rm P}_{3/2}F'=4$, and meanwhile the probe frequency is scanned across the $6{\rm S}_{1/2}F=4 \to6{\rm P}_{3/2}$ transition. The efficiency of the four-wave mixing signal as a function of the intensity of the pumping beams and the detuning of the pumping beams is also studied. In order to increase the detection efficiency, a repumping laser which is resonant with $6{\rm S}_{1/2} F=3\to 6{\rm P}_{3/2}F'=4$ transition is used. A theoretical model is also introduced, and the theoretical results are in qualitative agreement with experimental ones.     

A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

We demonstrate a novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation technology for AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with thin-barrier to minimize surface leakage current to enhance the breakdown voltage. The bilayer SiN with 20-nm Si-rich SiN and 100-nm Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) after removing 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer. Compared to traditional Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ passivation for thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation can suppress the current collapse ratio from 18.54% to 8.40%. However, Si-rich bilayer passivation leads to a severer surface leakage current, so that it has a low breakdown voltage. The 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer can protect the surface of HEMTs in fabrication process and decrease Ga-O bonds, resulting in a lower surface leakage current. In contrast to passivating Si-rich SiN directly, devices with the novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation increase the breakdown voltage from 29 V to 85 V. Radio frequency (RF) small-signal characteristics show that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation leads to $f_{\rm T}/f_{\rm max}$ of 68 GHz/102 GHz. At 30 GHz and $V_{\rm DS} = 20$ V, devices achieve a maximum $P_{\rm out}$ of 5.2 W/mm and a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 42.2%. These results indicate that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation can have potential applications in the millimeter-wave range.