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.     

Analysis on the temperature dependent electrical properties of graphene/Al–ZnO Schottky contact

The electrical characteristics of the graphene/Al–ZnO schottky contact with the temperature of 180 K–300 K have been discussed in detail. Based on the TE model, the barrier height increased and the ideal factor decreased with the increasing of temperature from 180 K to 300 K, which can be interpreted by the lateral inhomogeneities of schottky barrier height. Combined with the single gauss distribution function of barrier height, the lateral inhomogeneities distribution of barrier height at the interface was confirmed. By DLTS measurement, one electron trap centers were observed at the interface.     

The discovery of polyacetylene film – the dawning of an era of conducting polymers

This lecture is not directly related to our discovery and development of conducting polymers to which the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000 was awarded. However, I would like to present my previous work that I had carried out just before we reached the discovery of chemical doping. I do hope my talk will be of use for you the audience to deepen your understandings by learning what had happened before and how we did reach the idea of chemical doping.     

Experimental study of the Plasma Fluorination of Y—Ba—Cu—O Thin Films

We have experimentally studied the surface mjodifications of Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) thin films using CF4 plasma.The intensity of the plasma fluorination was controlled by controlled by changing the biasing voltage and the time of the plasma treatment.Microstructural analyses reveal that the oxygen content of the YBCO thin films was changed.Transport measurements of sufficient fluorinated YBCO films imply that the films changed totally into an oxygen-deficient semi-conducting state.From these experimental results,we believe that plasma fluorination is quite a useful method to form controllable a thin barrier layer in fabricating interface engineered junctions and to form a stable narrow weak-link region in fabricating planar superconductor-normal-superconductor junctions.     

The influence of SiNx substrate on crystallinity of μc-Si film used in thin film transistors

This paper found that the crystalline volume ratio （Xc） of μc-Si deposited on SiNx substrate is higher than that on 7059 glass. At the same silane concentration （SC） （for example, at SC=2%）, the Xc of μc-Si deposited on SiNx is more than 64%, but just 44% if deposited on Conning 7059. It considered that the ‘hills＇ on SiNx substrate would promote the crystalline growth of μc-Si thin film, which has been confirmed by atomic force microscope （AFM） observation. Comparing several thin film transistor （TFT） samples whose active-layer were deposited under various SC, this paper found that the appropriate SC for the μc-Si thin film used in TFT as active layer should be more than 2%, and Xc should be around 50%. Additionally, the stability comparison of μc-Si TFT and a-Si TFT is shown in this paper.     

Effects of annealing temperature on the electrical property and microstructure of aluminum contact on n-type 3C–SiC

The 3C-SiC thin films used herein are grown on Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition. A1 contacts with differ- ent thickness values are deposited on the 3C-SiC/Si （100） structure by the magnetron sputtering method and are annealed at different temperatures. We focus on the effects of the annealing temperature on the ohmic contact properties and mi- crostructure of A1/3C-SiC structure. The electrical properties of A1 contacts to n-type 3C-SiC are characterized by the transmission line method. The crystal structures and chemical phases of A1 contacts are examined by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. It is found that the A1 contacts exhibit ohmic contact behaviors when the annealing temperature is below 550 ℃, and they become Schottky contacts when the annealing tem- perature is above 650 ℃. A minimum specific contact resistance of 1.8 × 10-4 Ω cm2 is obtained when the A1 contact is annealed at 250 ℃.     

The effect of gamma-ray irradiation on the electrical conductivity of CuO–PbO glasses

The effect of gamma-ray irradiation on the dc electrical conductivity of CuO–PbO glasses has been studied as a function of temperature. A 33% CuO–67% PbO glass composition has been prepared, using the melt-quenching technique. The samples have been irradiated to a dose of 0.5 MGy using a ⁶⁰Co γ-source. The electrical conductivity of this glass composition was investigated before and after gamma-ray irradiation. The values of the dc electrical conductivity have been measured from 303 to 373 K, and the activation energy of samples before and after gamma irradiation has been calculated. The observed data show that the electrical conductivity increases with temperature and following gamma irradiation. The electrical conductivity of CuO–PbO can be interpreted in terms of mixed ionic–electronic conduction.     

The anomalous low temperature resistivity of thermally evaporated α-Mn thin film

Electrical resistivity measurements have been carried out on thermally evaporated α-Mn thin film between 300 and 1.4 K using the van der Pauw four probe technique. The film was grown on a glass substrate held at a temperature of 373 K, in an ambient pressure of 5×10⁻⁶ Torr. The results show a resistance minimum, a notable characteristic of α-Mn but at a (rather high) temperature of 194±1 K. Below the resistivity maximum which corresponds to 70 K, the resistivity drops by only 0.02 μΩm indicating a rather short range magnetic ordering. The low temperature results show a tendency towards saturation of the resistivity as the temperature approaches zero suggesting a Kondo scattering.     

Thin disk laser—Energy scaling

A time resolved numerical model of the interaction between pump absorption, excitation and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) for the Thin Disk laser design was developed. The model accounts for the spectral distribution of the spontaneous emission, the spectral and spatial distribution of emission and absorption and the spectral and angular transmission of surfaces or coatings.     

Improvement in electrical properties of high-κ film on Ge substrate by an improved stress relieved pre-oxide method

High-κ /Ge gate stack has recently attracted a great deal of attention as a potential candidate to replace planar silicon transistors for sub-22 generation. However, the desorption and volatilization of GeO hamper the development of Ge-based devices. To cope with this challenge, various techniques have been proposed to improve the high-κ /Ge interface. However,these techniques have not been developed perfectly yet to control the interface. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an improved stress relieved pre-oxide(SRPO) method to improve the thermodynamic stability of the high-κ /Ge interface. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and atomic force microscopy(AFM) results indicate that the GeO volatilization of the high-κ /Ge gate stack is efficiently suppressed after 500℃ annealing, and the electrical characteristics are greatly improved.     

Visible electroluminescence from p-n junction porous Si diode with a polyaniline film contact

We have fabricated a light emitting diode using a p-type conducting polyaniline layer deposited on a n-type porous silicon (PS) layer. The contact formed between a p-type conducting polyaniline layer and a n-type PS wafer has rectified behaviour demonstrated clearly by the I-V curves. The series resistance Rs in the p-type conducting polyaniline/n-PS diode is reduced greatly and has a lower onset voltage compared with ITO/n-PS diode. The PS has an orange photoluminescence (PL) band after coating with polyaniline. Visible electroluminescence (EL) has been obtained from this junction when a forward bias is applied. The emission band is very broad extending from 600-803 nm with a peak at 690 nm.     

Effect of moisture on the interlaminar interface of a carbon fiber polymer–matrix composite,studied by contact electrical resistivity measurement

Moisture was found to have a reversible effect on the interlaminar interface of a continuous carbon fiber epoxy–matrix composite. An increase in humidity increased the resistivity. The reversibility was essentially complete after the first cycle of humidity variation. The effect is attributed to expansion of the matrix at the interlaminar interface due to moisture uptake. It allows use of the composite for humidity sensing.     

The future of microstructure technology — The industry view

Downscaling of minimum device and circuit geometries has been the primary engine driving exponential improvements in integrated circuit density, performance and cost for 20 years or more. These improvements have permitted concomitant progress in electronic systems, and and are largely responsible for the growth of the market. Semiconductor device and circuit modeling predicts practical limits on these geometries, and analysis of current trends indicates that these limits will be reached for circuits comprising large portions of the IC market by the mid-90's.The limitations on downscaling are both device- and interconnection-related and encompass noise and reliability issues. The practical limits are in the range 0.3 – 0.5 micrometers, but limits of a somewhat more fundamental nature exist around 0.1 – 0.3 micrometers. Since the practical limits are expected to be reached in the early- to mid-'90's, keeping functional density on its current exponential trend for more than a few years after that will require revolutionary approaches to devices, interconnections, noise immunity, and fault-tolerace.The discontinuity which maturation of the evolutionary transistor-based technology will create will present a rare opportunity to “go back to the well” of science to create a new technology of potentially large and immediate impact. In our view, which we believe to be shared by the industry, this must be a technology which leverages the accumulated experience and investment in semiconductor manufacturing in order to maintain the downward cost trend. Much of the required basic research in semiconductor microstructures in the regimes of quantum size effects and tunneling is yet to be done. Filling in this research gap should be a major priority for the immediate future, and the ability to do this will depend on continued progress in microstructure fabrication.     

Synthesis, structural, optical and electrical properties of metal nanoparticle–rare earth ion dispersed in polymer film

Cu-nanoparticles have been prepared by ablating a copper target submerged in benzene with laser pulses of Nd:YAG (wavelength: 355, 532 nm and 1,064 nm). Colloidal nanoparticles have been characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The obtained radius for the nanoparticles prepared using 1,064 nm irradiation lies in the range 15–30 nm, with absorption peak at 572 nm. Luminescence properties of Tb³⁺ ions in the presence and absence of Cu-nanoparticles have been investigated using 355 nm excitation. An enhancement in luminescence of Tb³⁺ by local field effect causing increase in lifetime of ⁵D₄ level of Tb³⁺ ion has been observed. Frequency and temperature-dependent conductivity of Tb³⁺ doped PVA thin films with and without Cu-nanoparticles have been measured in the frequency range 20 Hz–1 MHz and in the temperature range 318–338 K (well below its melting temperature). Real part of the conductivity spectra has been explained in terms of power law. The electrical properties of the thin films show a decrease in dc conductivity on incorporation of the Cu-nanoparticles.     

Comparisons of electrical and optical properties between graphene and silicene——A review

Two-dimensional(2D) metamaterials are considered to be of enormous relevance to the progress of all exact sciences.Since the discovery of graphene, researchers have increasingly investigated in depth the details of electrical/optical properties pertinent to other 2D metamaterials, including those relating to the silicene. In this review are included the details and comparisons of the atomic structures, energy diagram bands, substrates, charge densities, charge mobilities, conductivities,absorptions, electrical permittivities, dispersion relations of the wave vectors, and supported electromagnetic modes related to graphene and silicene. Hence, this review can help readers to acquire, recover or increase the necessary technological basis for the development of more specific studies on graphene and silicene.     

The kinetics of the formation of a solid solution in an Ag–Pd polycrystalline film system

The kinetics of homogenization of an Ag–Pd film system with a total thickness of 120 nm and a grain size of 5–10 nm has been studied by means of in situ TEM heating. The film system has been formed by the sequential deposition of components in a vacuum on the substrate at room temperature. It has been shown that diffusion processes are activated, starting from the temperature 453 K, resulting in complete homogenization of the film system at 573 K with preservation of its fine-grained structure. The effective diffusion coefficient in the Ag–Pd system was measured as 10^?17–10^?18 m²/s at 553 K. A possible mechanism of homogenization is discussed.     

Density functional theory of a Gay—Berne film between aligning walls

It is shown that the simple Onsager second-virial approximation of density functional theory can successfully describe the orientational structure of a Gay-Berne film confined between aligning plates. The theory takes as input the density profile as determined by computer simulation and semi-quantitatively reproduces the variation in the nematic order parameter throughout the film, at different temperatures and for different surface potential strengths, without any adjustable parameters. In this context the validity of an earlier analytical approach is discussed where the density, order parameter and tilt angle profiles were assumed to be step functions.