Characterisation of sol-gel prepared (HfO2)x(SiO2)1-x (x=0.1, 0.2 and 0.4) by 1H, 13C, 17 O and 29Si MAS NMR, FTIR and TGA

The HfO2-SiO2 system is attracting interest as a possible new dielectric material in semiconductor devices. Knowledge of the location of hafnium within the silica network and the effect hafnium has on the structure will be central to the successful use of this material system in this application. Here, sol-gel techniques have been used to manufacture (HfO2)x(SiO2)1-x samples (x=0.1, 0.2 and 0.4, each heat treated at 250, 500 and 750 degrees C) and these have been characterised by magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR (1H, 13C, 17 O, 29Si), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis. 29Si MAS NMR showed that increasing the hafnia content decreases the connectivity of the silicate network, i.e. increases the range of differently connected SiO4 (Qn) units with more having increased numbers of non-bridging oxygens (i.e. lower n). FTIR and 17 O MAS NMR showed unequivocally that the x=0.4 sample phase-separated at higher temperatures, while in the x=0.1 sample the hafnium was homogeneously mixed into the SiO2 phase without any phase separation.     

Low-temperature deposition of stoichiometric HfO2 on silicon: Analysis and quantification of the HfO2/Si interface from electrical and XPS measurements

An understanding of the exact structural makeup of dielectric interface is crucial for development of novel gate materials. In this paper a study of the HfO₂/Si interface created by the low-temperature deposition ultrathin stoichiometric HfO₂ on Si substrates by reactive sputtering is presented. Analysis, quantification and calculation of layer thickness of an HfO₂/Hf-Si-O_x/SiO₂ gate stack dielectrics have been performed, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profile method, angle resolved XPS and interface modeling by XPS data processing software. The results obtained were found to be in good agreement with the high frequency capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The results suggest a development of a complex three layer dielectric stack, including hafnium dioxide layer, a narrow interface of hafnium silicate and broad region of oxygen diffusion into silicon wafer. The diffusion of oxygen was found particularly detrimental to the electrical properties of the stack, as this oxygen concentration gradient leads to the formation of suboxides of silicon with a lower permittivity, κ.     

Comparative studies of Ge and Si p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors with HfSiON dielectric and TaN metal gate

Ge and Si p-channel metal--oxide--semiconductor field-effect-transistors (p-MOSFETs) with hafnium silicon oxynitride (HfSiON) gate dielectric and tantalum nitride (TaN) metal gate are fabricated. Self-isolated ring-type transistor structures with two masks are employed. W/TaN metal stacks are used as gate electrode and shadow masks of source/drain implantation separately. Capacitance--voltage curve hysteresis of Ge metal--oxide--semiconductor (MOS) capacitors may be caused by charge trapping centres in GeO7340Q, 7325http://cpb.iphy.ac.cn/CN/10.1088/1674-1056/19/5/057302https://cpb.iphy.ac.cn/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=111774Ge substrate, transistor, HfSiON, hole mobilityProject supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No.~2006CB302704).Ge and Si p-channel metal--oxide--semiconductor field-effect-transistors (p-MOSFETs) with hafnium silicon oxynitride (HfSiON) gate dielectric and tantalum nitride (TaN) metal gate are fabricated. Self-isolated ring-type transistor structures with two masks are employed. W/TaN metal stacks are used as gate electrode and shadow masks of source/drain implantation separately. Capacitance--voltage curve hysteresis of Ge metal--oxide--semiconductor (MOS) capacitors may be caused by charge trapping centres in GeO$_{x}$ ($1Ge;substrate;transistor;HfSiON;hole;mobilityGe and Si p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors(p-MOSFETs) with hafnium silicon oxynitride(HfSiON) gate dielectric and tantalum nitride(TaN) metal gate are fabricated.Self-isolated ring-type transistor structures with two masks are employed.W/TaN metal stacks are used as gate electrode and shadow masks of source/drain implantation separately.Capacitance-voltage curve hysteresis of Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor(MOS) capacitors may be caused by charge trapping centres in GeOx(1 < x < 2).Effective hole mobilities of Ge and Si transistors are extracted by using a channel conductance method.The peak hole mobilities of Si and Ge transistors are 33.4 cm2/(V.s) and 81.0 cm2/(V.s),respectively.Ge transistor has a hole mobility 2.4 times higher than that of Si control sample.     

Dielectric constants of Zr silicates: a first-principles study

Using density-functional theory, we compute the optical and static dielectric constants for a set of Zr silicates modeled by various SiO2 crystals, with Zr atoms substitutional to Si, and by an amorphous structure. We then derive a microscopic scheme that relates the dielectric constants to structural units centered on Si and Zr atoms through the definition of characteristic parameters. Applied to amorphous (ZrO2)(x)(SiO2)(1-x), these schemes describe the observed dependence of the dielectric constants on the Zr concentration and highlight the role of ZrO6 units.     

Study of reactions between HfO2 and Si in thin films with precise identification of chemical states by XPS

Reactions between HfO₂ and Si in HfSiO films during deposition and post-annealing have been studied. Intermixing of HfO₂ and Si is achieved by radio frequency sputtering with HfO₂/Si compound targets, and post-annealing is used to promote the reaction at different temperatures. The structural characteristics of the mixture, HfSiO films, are analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, and a careful assessment of chemical states is performed for precise identification. XPS results show that with ratios of Si:Hf ranging from 0 to 0.3 in HfSiO films, Si fully reacts with HfO₂ to form silicate during deposition. However, SiO₂ appears when the ratio of Si:Hf rises to 1.2. When the annealing temperature reaches 600 °C, decomposition of hafnium silicate is observed and hafnium silicide forms in the bulk of the films. XRD results reveal that HfSiO films remain amorphous with the annealing temperature below 600 °C but crystallize at 800 °C.     

Structural, dielectric and electromechanical study of Hf-substituted BaTiO3 thin films fabricated by CSD

Hafnium-substituted barium titanate thin films were deposited on platinized silicon substrates. Two different concentrations of solutions (0.1 M and 0.3 M) were used to deposit films of various compositions Ba(Ti_1-x,Hf_x)O₃ (x=0.03, 0.05, 0.07, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4). The microstructure of the films depended on the concentration of the solution. Lower concentration (0.1 M) solutions led to columnar films, but with higher hafnium percent compositions the columnar structure was lost. The films which were derived from the 0.1 M concentration solutions had better dielectric and electrical properties compared to the films derived from a higher concentration (0.3 M). All the films were found to be polycrystalline in nature. The dielectric constant of the films was found to decrease with higher amounts of hafnium substitution. From the I–V characteristics it is noticed that the leakage decreases by almost four orders of magnitude with a hafnium substitution of 40%. The d₃₃ values of the films were between 23 and 5.6 pm/V for the different films. PACS 68.55.-a; 81.20.Fw; 77.84.Dy; 77.55.+f     

X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy at the Hf L1 edge of hafnium-(silicon)-oxide ultra-thin films

X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopic study at the Hf L₁ edge was applied to investigate the local structure around hafnium atoms in Hf(Si)O_x ultra-thin films, which are the most promising candidates for the high-k gate dielectric material of next generation CMOS devices. HfSiO_x showed an extra absorption above the Hf-L₁ threshold, which is not seen in HfO_x. HfSiO_x also had stronger Compton scattering peak in Hf-Lγ emission region, and smaller Hf-Lγ₂/Lγ₃ ratio, compared with those of HfO_x. These differences should be caused by partial replacements of hafnium atoms by silicon atoms as the second nearest neighbors of a hafnium atom.     

Electro-optic and dielectric properties of Hafnium-doped congruent lithium niobate crystals

We report the optical and dielectric properties in hafnium (Hf)-doped lithium niobate (LN) crystals. We investigated samples of congruent composition with various doping concentration varying from 0 to 8 mol%. The clamped and unclamped values of the electro-optic coefficient r ₂₂ of Hf-doped LN and the corresponding dielectric permittivity as well, have been experimentally determined and compared with the results obtained in undoped congruent LN crystals. We show that the electro-optic and dielectric properties are only slightly affected by the introduction of hafnium ions, and therefore Hf-doped LN has the advantage of low photorefractive damage compared with the undoped congruent LN.     

Structure and electrical properties of HfO<Subscript>2</Subscript> high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis> films prepared by pulsed laser deposition on Si (100)

High-k gate dielectric hafnium dioxide films were grown on Si (100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition at room temperature. The as-deposited films were amorphous and that were monoclinic and orthorhombic after annealed at 500°C in air and N₂ atmosphere, respectively. After annealed, the accumulation capacitance values increase rapidly and the flat-band voltage shifts from −1.34 V to 0.449 V due to the generation of negative charges via post-annealing. The dielectric constant is in the range of 8–40 depending on the microstructure. The I–V curve indicates that the films possess of a promising low leakage current density of 4.2×10⁻⁸ A/cm² at the applied voltage of −1.5 V.     

Self-doping of gold chains on silicon: a new structural model for Si(111)-(5 x 2)-Au

A new structural model for the Si(111)-(5 x 2)-Au reconstruction is proposed and analyzed using first-principles calculations. The basic model consists of a "double honeycomb chain" decorated by Si adatoms. The 5 x 1 periodicity of the honeycomb chains is doubled by the presence of a half-occupied row of Si atoms that partially rebonds the chains. Additional adatoms supply electrons that dope the parent band structure and stabilize the period doubling; the optimal doping corresponds to one adatom per four 5 x 2 cells, in agreement with experiment. All the main features observed in scanning tunneling microscopy and photoemission are well reproduced.     

Structural and electronic model of negative electron affinity on the Si/Cs/O surface

Structural and electronic models are proposed which correlate Goldstein's LEED, Auger, photo-emission, plasmon, and desorption data for negative electron affinity (NEA) on Si(100) surfaces. In the structural model, the surface Si atoms group into adjacent rows of surface “pedestals” and surface “caves”. Their density is 3.4 × 10¹⁴ cm^?2 each, as inferred from the LEED 2 × 2 reconstruction pattern and other data. Adsorbed Cs resides in fourfold coordination with Si atop the pedestals. Adsorbed oxygen is completely submerged in the caves of aperture 2.98Å to give a Cs-O dipole length of 2.9Å. Similar structural arguments show why Cs must be adsorbed before O₂, and why Si(111) does not exhibit NEA. In the electronic model, the surface dielectric constant, 5.3. obtained from the surface plasmon energy, 7 eV, is used to compute the dipole length from the final work function, 0.9 eV. It is 2.8Å in excellent agreement with the dipole length computed from the above structural model. Some properties of the “induced” surface states in the presence of Cs and O are also described.     

X-ray spectroscopic examination of thin HfO<Subscript>2</Subscript> films ALD- and MOCVD-grown on the Si(100) surface

HfO₂ films 5 nm thick grown on Si(100) substrates by the methods of MOCVD hydride epitaxy and atomic layer deposition (ALD) are studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy combined with Ar⁺ ion etching and X-ray reflectometry. It is found that (i) the ALD-grown HfO₂ films are amorphous, while the MOCVD-grown films show signs of a crystal structure; (ii) the surface of the ALD-grown films is more prone to contamination and/or is more reactive; and (iii) the amount of interfacial silicon dioxide in the case of the MOCVD-grown film is greater than in the case of the films synthesized by ALD. It is also shown that the argon ion etching of the HfO₂ film results in the formation of a metallic hafnium layer at the interface. This indicates that HfO₂ can be used not only as a gate dielectric but also as a material suitable for fabricating nanodimensional conductors by direct decomposition.     

电感耦合等离子体-质谱法测定纯铪或氧化铪中的25种杂质元素

建立了用电感耦合等离子体-质谱法(ICP-MS)测定纯铪或氧化铪中的Mg、Al、Si、P、Ca、Ti、V、Cr、Mn、Fe、Ni、Co、Cu、Zn、As、Zr、Nb、Mo、Cd、Sn、Sb、Ta、W、Pb和Bi等25种杂质元素含量的方法。铪金属室温条件下混酸溶解后可直接进样分析,氧化铪采用微波消解,辅助溶解后用ICP-MS测定。利用建立的方法,对铪及氧化铪中的杂质元素进行测定,加标回收率为86%—120%。各金属杂质含量均为10ng/mL的混合标准溶液平行7次进样的相对标准偏差均小于5%。方法操作简便、快速,检出限低,能够满足纯度为99.99%的铪金属或氧化铪中杂质分析的需要。     

Characteristics of high-quality HfSiON gate dielectric prepared by physical vapour deposition

This paper presents a method using simple physical vapour deposition to form high-quality hafnium silicon oxynitride (HfSiON) on ultrathin SiO₂ buffer layer. The gate dielectric with 10? (1?= 0.1 nm) equivalent oxide thickness is obtained. The experimental results indicate that the prepared HfSiON gate dielectric exhibits good physical and electrical characteristics, including very good thermal stability up to 1000℃, excellent interface properties, high dielectric constant (k=14) and low gate-leakage current (I_g=1.9×10^-3A/cm² @V_g=V_fb-1V for EOT of 10?). TaN metal gate electrode is integrated with the HfSiON gate dielectric.The effective work function of TaN on HfSiON is 4.3eV, meeting the requirements of NMOS for the metal gate. And, the impacts of sputtering ambient and annealing temperature on the electrical properties of HfSiON gate dielectric are investigated.     

Soft phonon, dynamical fluctuations, and a reversible phase transition: indium chains on silicon

The In/Si(111)-(4 x 1) surface is a paradigmatic example of a quasi-one-dimensional system showing a reversible structural and electronic (metal-insulator) phase transition when the temperature is lowered. In this work, we use first-principles simulation techniques to uncover the atomic and electronic origin of this controversial transition. Our calculations show that the ground state consists of insulating (4 x 2) indium chains with a weak interchain coupling that induces opposite shear distortions in alternate chains. First-principles molecular dynamics simulations show that the (4 x 1) <--> (8 x 2) phase transition is due to the "dynamical fluctuations" the system undergoes when, at high temperature, it fluctuates chaotically between degenerate ground states. The metallicity of the In/Si(111)-(4 x 1) surface is related to the low energy cost for the shear distortion.     

Optical properties of Si/CaF2 superlattices

We present a first-principle theoretical study of the dielectric functions of Si/CaF₂ superlattices. In particular, we investigate how the optical response depends on the thickness of the Si layers. Our results show that for very thin Si slabs (well width less than 20 Å) optical excitation peaks are present in the visible range. These peaks are related to strong transitions between localized states. Moreover, the static dielectric costant is considerably reduced. From the comparison made with recent experimental data on similar systems we conclude that the quantum confinement, a good surface passivation and the presence of localized states are the key ingredients in order to have photoluminescence in confined silicon based systems.     

Atomic dipole moment distribution of Si atoms on a Si111-(7 x 7) surface studied using noncontact scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy

A local atomic electric dipole moment distribution of Si atoms on Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface is clearly resolved by using a new technique called noncontact scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy. The dc-bias voltage dependence of the atomic dipole moment on the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface is measured. At the weak applied voltage of -0.5 V, a positive dipole moment is detected on the Si adatom sites, whereas a negative dipole moment is observed at the interstitial sites of inter Si adatoms. Moreover, the quantitative dependence of the surface dipole moment as a function of the applied dc voltage is also revealed at a fixed point above the sample surface. This is the first successful demonstration of direct atomic dipole moment observation achieved in the field of capacitance measurement.     

Electroluminescence of silicon nanocrystals in MOS structures

We have studied the structural, electrical and optical properties of MOS devices, where the dielectric layer consists of a substoichiometric SiO_x (x<2) thin film deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. After deposition the samples were annealed at high temperature (>1000 °C) to induce the separation of the Si and the SiO₂ phases with the formation of Si nanocrystals embedded in the insulating matrix. We observed at room temperature a quite intense electroluminescence (EL) signal with a peak at ∼850 nm. The EL peak position is very similar to that observed in photoluminescence in the very same device, demonstrating that the observed EL is due to electron–hole recombination in the Si nanocrystals and not to defects. The effects of the Si concentration in the SiO_x layer and of the annealing temperature on the electrical and optical properties of these devices are also reported and discussed. In particular, it is shown that by increasing the Si content in the SiO_x layer the operating voltage of the device decreases and the total efficiency of emission increases. These data are reported and their implications discussed. Received: 31 August 2001 / Accepted: 3 September 2001 / Published online: 17 October 2001     

Two-dimensional silicon-carbon hybrids with a honeycomb lattice: New family for two-dimensional photovoltaic materials

We predict a series of new two-dimensional(2D) inorganic materials made of silicon and carbon elements(2D SixC1?x) based on density functional theory. Our calculations on optimized structure, phonon dispersion, and finite temperature molecular dynamics confirm the stability of 2D SixC1?x sheets in a two-dimensional, graphene-like, honeycomb lattice. The electronic band gaps vary from zero to 2.5 e V as the ratio x changes in 2D SixC1?x changes, suggesting a versatile electronic structure in these sheets. Interestingly, among these structures Si0.25C0.75 and Si0.75C0.25 with graphene-like superlattices are semimetals with zero band gap as their ? and ?* bands cross linearly at the Fermi level. Atomic structural searches based on particle-swarm optimization show that the ordered 2D SixC1?x structures are energetically favorable. Optical absorption calculations demonstrate that the 2D silicon-carbon hybrid materials have strong photoabsorption in visible light region, which hold promising potential in photovoltaic applications. Such unique electronic and optical properties in 2D SixC1?x have profound implications in nanoelectronic and photovoltaic device applications.     

高压下稳态六方Ge2Sb2Te5结构、电子和光学性质的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的广义梯度近似方法研究了稳态六方petrov原子序列结构Ge2Sb2Te5的结构、电子和光学性质。计算所得的平衡态晶格参数与实验数据和先前的理论结果吻合很好。基态的能带结构和态密度表明了稳态六方petrov原子序列结构的Ge2Sb2Te5持有金属性。从压强影响下体积的变化趋势发现稳态六方Ge2Sb2Te5在17 GPa和34 GPa 出现不稳定,暗示在此压强下的相变发生,这与2009年Krbal等人的实验结果相吻合。同时,还系统地研究了稳态六方petrov原子序列结构的Ge2Sb2Te5高压下的光学性质,得到了高压下介电函数、吸收率、光反射率、折射率、消光系数和电子能量损失谱在20 eV内的变化情况。