Effect of Bias Step on the I-V Curve in Double-Barrier AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs Resonant-Tunnelling Devices

We investigate the non-equilibrium electron transport properties of double-barrier AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs resonant- tunnelling devices in nonlinear bias using the time-dependent simulation technique. It is found that the bias step of the external bias voltage applied on the device has an important effect on the final current-voltage （I - V） curves. The results show that different bias step applied on the device can change the bistability, hysteresis and current plateau structure of the I - V curve. The current plateau occurs only in the case of small bias step. As the bias step increases, this plateau structure disappears.     

High density Al2O3/TaN-based metal--insulator-- metal capacitors in application to radio frequency integrated circuits

Metal-insulator-metal （MIM） capacitors with atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 dielectric and reactively sputtered TaN electrodes in application to radio frequency integrated circuits have been characterized electrically. The capacitors exhibit a high density of about 6.05 fF/μm^2, a small leakage current of 4.8 × 10^-8 A/cm^2 at 3 V, a high breakdown electric field of 8.61 MV/cm as well as acceptable voltage coefficients of capacitance （VCCs） of 795 ppm/V2 and 268ppm/V at 1 MHz. The observed properties should be attributed to high-quality Al2O3 film and chemically stable TaN electrodes. Further, a logarithmically linear relationship between quadratic VCC and frequency is observed due to the change of relaxation time with carrier mobility in the dielectric. The conduction mechanism in the high field ranges is dominated by the Poole-Frenkel emission, and the leakage current in the low field ranges is likely to be associated with trap-assisted tunnelling. Meanwhile, the Al2O3 dielectric presents charge trapping under low voltage stresses, and defect generation under high voltage stresses, and it has a hard-breakdown performance.     

Formation of high density TiN nanocrystals and its application in non-volatile memories

Non-volatile memory based on TiN nanocrystal （TiN-NC） charge storage nodes embedded in SiO2 has been fabricated and its electrical properties have been measured. It was found that the density and size distribution of TiN-NCs can be controlled by annealing temperature. The formation of well separated crystalline TiN nano-dots with an average size of 5 nm is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the existence of a transition layer of TiNxOy/SiON oxide between TiN-NC and SiO2, which reduces the barrier height of tunnel oxide and thereby enhances programming/erasing speed. The memory device shows a memory window of 2.5V and an endurance cycle throughout 10^5. Its charging mechanism, which is interpreted from the analysis of programming speed （dVth/dt） and the gate leakage versus voltage characteristics （Ig vs Vg）, has been explained by direct tunnelling for tunnel oxide and Fowler Nordheim tunnelling for control oxide at programming voltages lower than 9V, and by Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling for both the oxides at programming voltages higher than 9V.     

Directly Trapping Atoms in a U-Shaped Magneto-Optical Trap Using a Mini Atom Chip

We experimentally demonstrate the trapping of ^85Rb atoms directly on a chip-size U-shaped magneto-optical trap （U-MOT）. The trap includes a U-shaped wire on the chip, two bias magnetic field coils and laser beams. The capture volume of the U-MOT is theoretically calculated, and the trap is experimentally realized. With 2 A current applied to the U-shaped wire and 2-Gauss horizontal bias field, more than 2 × 10^6 atoms are trapped. In contrast with an ordinary mirror-MOT, this U-MOT captures atoms directly from the background, thus the trap size is greatly reduced. Based on this mini trap scheme, it is possible to realize a chip-size atom trap array for quantum information processing.     

Effect of Barrier Width on Bias-Dependent Tunnelling in Ferromagnetic Junctions

We present a finite temperature theory for bias-dependent tunnelling in ferromagnetic tunnelling junctions. The effects of the barrier width d on the tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) and its sign change behaviour are discussed with this theory. Numerical results show that both the zero-bias TMR and the critical voltage Vc at which the TMR changes its sign decrease with the increasing barrier width for a considerably thick barrier junction. Furthermore, it is found that a minimum exists in the curve of Vc versus d if a composite junction is under oxidized.     

Spin Filter of Graphene Nanoribbon Based Structure

Spin-dependent transport properties of the zigzag graphene nano-ribbon （zGNR） based structure Al-zGNR-Al are investigated by ab initio technique where density functional calculation is carried out within the Keldysh non-equilibrium Green＇s function formalism. The energy band structure of the infinite zigzag ribbon is sensitive to the dangling bonds of carbon atoms on both edge sides. For the three-circle-width zigzag ribbon with one edge monohydrogenated and the other edge dihydrogenated （zGNR（H-H2））, strongly spin-polarized energy bands are found. A spin-down branch is obtained just below the Fermi level while a spin up band appears above it. For the structure Al-zGNR（H-H2）-Al, where three-circle-width and seven-circle-length （3 × 7） zGNR（H-H2） is coupled by two （100） aluminium electrodes, an obvious spin filter property is found as the bias voltage changes. When the length of the sandwiched zGNR（H-H2） ribbon increaes, the spin-up current is strongly restrained especially under higher bias voltage.     

Electrical Characteristics of Co/n-Si Schottky Barrier Diodes Using I-V and C-V Measurements

Electrical characteristics of Co/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes are analysed by current- voltage （I- V） and capacitancevoltage （C- V） techniques at room temperature. The electronic parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and average series resistance are determined. The barrier height 0. 76 eV obtained from the C - V measurements is higher than that of the value 0. 70 eV obtained from the I - V measurements. The series resistance Rs and the ideality factor n are determined from the d ln（ I） /dV plot and are found to be 193.62 Ω and 1.34, respectively. The barrier height and the Rs value are calculated from the H（I） - I plot and are found to be 0.71 eV and 205.95Ω. Furthermore, the energy distribution of the interface state density is determined from the forward bias I - V characteristics by taking into account the bias dependence of the effective barrier height. The interface state density Nss ranges from 6.484×10^11 cm^-2eV^-1 in （Ec - 0.446） eV to 2.801×10^10 cm^-2eV^-1 in （Ec - 0.631） eV, of the Co/n-Si Schottky barrier diode. The results show the presence of a thin interracial layer between the metal and the semiconductor.     

Temporal pulsed x-ray response of CdZnTe:In detector

The temporal response of cadmium-zinc-telluride(CZT) crystals is evaluated at room temperature by using an ultrafast-pulsed x-ray source. The dynamics of carrier relaxation in a CZT single crystal is modeled at a microscopic level based on a multi-trapping effect. The effects of the irradiation flux and bias voltage on the amplitude and full width at half maximum(FWHM) of the transient currents are investigated. It is demonstrated that the temporal response process is affected by defect level occupation fraction. A fast photon current can be achieved under intense pulsed x-ray irradiation to be up to 2.78×10~9 photons mm~(-2)·s~(-1). Meanwhile, it is found that high bias voltage could enhance carrier detrapping by suppressing the capture of structure defects and thus improve the temporal response of CZT detectors.     

High-Performance Germanium Waveguide Photodetectors on Silicon

Germanium waveguide photodetectors with 4 μm widths and various lengths are fabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrates by selective epitaxial growth.The dependence of the germanium layer length on the responsivit.y and bandwidth of the photodetectors is studied.The optimal length of the germanium layer to achieve high bandwidth is found to be approximately 8 μm.For the 4 × 8 μm~2 photodetector,the dark current density is as low as 5 mA/cm~2 at~(-1) V.At a bias of-1 V,the 1550 nm optical responsivity is as high as 0.82 A/W.Bandwidth as high as 29 GHz is obtained at-4 V.Clear opened eye diagrams at 50 Gbits/s are demonstrated at 1550 nm.     

Transport Properties of Binary Clusters

We present first-principles studies on the transport properties of small sificon and aluminium clusters： Al2, Si2, Al4 and AlSi sandwiched between two Al （100） electrodes. The variation of the equilibrium conductance as a function of contact distance for these two-probe systems is probed. Our results show that the transport properties are dependent on both the specific nanostructure and the separation distance between the central molecule and the electrodes. For equilibrium transport properties, the clusters with the similar structure show similar transmission spectra at large distances, the small difference can be explained by the electron filling. For current-voltage characteristics, all the clusters show the metallic behaviour at lower bias, however very different non-linear behaviour can be observed at higher bias. For AlSi and Al2, when the distance between the central cluster and the electrodes is 3.5 A, large negative differential resistance （NDR） can be found in the bias range 0.8V～1.4V.     

Reversible local-modification of surface structure on clean Ge(0 0 1) by scanning tunneling microscopy below 80 K

The structure of the clean Ge(0 0 1) surface is locally and reversibly changed between c(4×2) and p(2×2) by controlling the bias voltage of a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) below 80 K. It shows hysteresis for the direction of the sample bias voltage change. The c(4×2) structure is observed with the sample bias voltage V_b?−0.7 V. This structure is maintained at V_b?0.7 V with increasing the bias voltage from −0.7 V. When V_b is higher than 0.8 V, the structure changes to p(2×2). This structure is then maintained at V_b?−0.6 V with decreasing the bias voltage from +0.8 V. The area of the structure change can be confined in the single dimer row just under the STM tip using a bias voltage pulse. In particular, the minimum transformed length is four dimers along the dimer row in the transformation from p(2×2) to c(4×2). The observed local change of the reconstruction with hysteresis is attributed to the energy transfer process from the tunneling electron to the Ge lattice in the local electric field due to the STM bias voltage. A phenomenological model is proposed for the structure changes. It is based on a cascade inversion of the dimer buckling orientation along the dimer row.     

High-speed waveguide-integrated Ge/Si avalanche photodetector

Waveguide-integrated Ge/Si heterostructure avalanche photodetectors(APDs) were designed and fabricated using a CMOS-compatible process on 8-inch SOI substrate. The structure of the APD was designed as separate-absorption-chargemultiplication(SACM) using germanium and silicon as absorption region and multiplication region, respectively. The breakdown voltage(V_b) of such a device is 19 V at reverse bias and dark current appears to be 0.71 μA at 90% of the V_b. The device with a 10-μm length and 7-μm width of Ge layer shows a maximum 3-dB bandwidth of 17.8 GHz at the wavelength of 1550 nm. For the device with a 30-μm-length Ge region, gain-bandwidth product achieves 325 GHz.     

高性能SOI基GePIN波导光电探测器的制备及特性研究

本文报道了在SOI衬底上外延高质量单晶Ge薄膜并制备高性能不同尺寸Ge PIN波导光电探测器.通过采用原子力显微镜、X射线衍射、拉曼散射光谱表征外延Ge薄膜的表面形貌、晶体质量以及应变参数,结果显示外延Ge薄膜中存在约0.2%左右的张应变,且表面平整,粗糙度为1.12 nm.此外,通过暗电流、光响应度以及3 dB带宽的测试来研究波导探测器的性能,结果表明尺寸为4μm×20μm波导探测器在-1 V的反向偏压下暗电流密度低至75 mA/cm~2,在1.55μm波长处的响应度为0.58 A/W,在-2 V的反向偏压下的3 dB带宽为5.5 GHz.     

Self-diffusion of (31)Si and (71)Ge in relaxed Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) layers

Self-diffusion of implanted (31)Si and (71)Ge in relaxed Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) layers has been studied in the temperature range 730-950 degrees C by means of a modified radiotracer technique. The temperature dependences of the diffusion coefficients were found to be Arrhenius-type with activation enthalpies of 3.6 eV and 3.5 eV and preexponential factors of 7.5 x 10(-3) m(2) s(-1) and 8.1 x 10(-3) m(2) s(-1) for (31)Si and (71)Ge , respectively. These results suggest that, as in Ge, in Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) both (31)Si and (71)Ge diffuse via a vacancy mechanism. Since in Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) (71)Ge diffuses only slightly faster than (31)Si , in self-diffusion studies on Si-Ge (71)Ge radioisotopes may be used as substitutes for the "uncomfortably" short-lived (31)Si radiotracer atoms.     

Self-limited growth of Si on B atomic-layer formed Ge(1 0 0) by ultraclean low-pressure CVD system

Utilizing BCl₃ reaction on Ge(1 0 0) and subsequent Si epitaxial growth by SiH₄ reaction at 300 °C, B atomic-layer doping in Si/Ge(1 0 0) heterostructure was investigated. Cl atoms on the B atomic-layer formed Ge(1 0 0) scarcely affect upon the SiH₄ reaction. It is also found that Si atom amount deposited by SiH₄ reaction on Ge(1 0 0) is effectively enhanced by the existence of B atomic layer and the deposition rate tends to decrease at around 2-3 atomic layers which is three times larger than that in the case without B. The results of angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy show that most B atoms are incorporated at the heterointerface between the Si and Ge.     

LEED and AES studies of the initial growth of Ge epilayers on GaAs(100)

The initial stages of growth of epitaxial Ge overlayers on the GaAs(100) surface have been studied by LEED and AES on overlayers from 0.1 monolayers (ML) to 10 ML in thickness. It is found that a coverage of about 0.2 ML converts the initial clean surface reconstruction into a single domain (1 × 2) reconstruction with a surface atomic geometry very similar to that of clean Ge. Further growth does not significantly change the arrangement of atoms at the surface. Growth from 1 to 4 ML proceeds by a double layer growth mechanism which maintains the single (1 × 2) domain. Auger measurements indicate that the growing surface has a $\text{1}\text{2}$ ML As enrichment, and that the interface is not abrupt, but has a mixed GeGa or GeAs transition layer.     

Structural origin of the Sn 4d core level line shape in Sn/Ge(111)-(3x3)

High-resolution photoemission of the Sn 4d core level of Sn/Ge(111)-(3x3) resolves three main components in the line shape, which are assigned to each of the three Sn atoms that form the unit cell. The line shape found is in agreement with an initial state picture and supports that the two down atoms are inequivalent. In full agreement with these results, scanning tunnel microscopy images directly show that the two down atoms are at slightly different heights in most of the surface, giving rise to an inequivalent-down-atoms (3x3) structure. These results solve a long-standing controversy on the interpretation of the Sn 4d core-level line shape and the structure of Sn/Ge(111)-(3x3).     

Formation of pits during growth of Si/Ge nanostructures

Alternating deposition of Ge and Si in the step-flow growth regime using Bi acting as a surfactant can lead to a spontaneous formation of one atomic layer deep pits in the area of surface covered by Ge. During Si growth Ge atoms of the epitaxial 2D Ge layer move to Si step edges where stronger bonds with Si atoms are formed. Appropriate growth conditions can suppress or enhance the pit formation effect and consequently a new type of self-organized nanostructures can be formed.     

Surface dangling-bond States and band lineups in hydrogen-terminated Si, Ge, and Ge/si nanowires

We report an ab initio study of the electronic properties of surface dangling-bond (SDB) states in hydrogen-terminated Si and Ge nanowires with diameters between 1 and 2 nm, Ge/Si nanowire heterostructures, and Si and Ge (111) surfaces. We find that the charge transition levels epsilon(+/-) of SDB states behave as a common energy reference among Si and Ge wires and Si/Ge heterostructures, at 4.3+/-0.1 eV below the vacuum level. Calculations of epsilon(+/-) for isolated atoms indicate that this nearly constant value is a periodic-table atomic property.     

Voltage-controlled electroluminescence from SiO2 films containing Ge nanocrystals and its mechanism

Luminescent SiO₂ films containing Ge nanocrystals are fabricated by using Ge ion implantation, and metal–oxide–semiconductor structures employing these films as the active layers show yellow electroluminescence (EL) under both forward and reverse biases. The EL spectra are strongly dependent on the applied voltage, but slightly on the mean size of Ge nanocrystals. When the forward bias increases towards 30 V, the EL spectral peak shifts from 590 nm to 485 nm. It is assumed that the EL originates from the recombination of injected electrons and holes in Ge nanocrystals near the Si/SiO₂ interface, or through luminescent centers in the SiO₂ matrix near the SiO₂/metal interface. The mismatch of the injection amounts between holes and electrons results in the low EL efficiency. Received: 28 February 2000 / Accepted: 28 March 2000 / Published online: 5 July 2000