Atomic and Electronic Structures of Traps in Silicon Oxide and Silicon Oxynitride

Silicon oxide (SiO₂) and silicon oxynitride (SiO_xN_y) are two key dielectrics used in silicon devices. The excellent interface properties of these dielectrics with silicon have enabled the tremendous advancement of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) technology. However, these dielectrics are still found to have pronounced amount of localized states which act as electron or hole traps and lead to the performance and reliability degradations of the MOS integrated circuits. A better understanding of the nature of these states will help to understand the constraints and lifetime performance of the MOS devices. Recently, due to the available of ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations and some synchrotron radiation experiments, substantial progress has been achieved in understanding the atomic and electronic nature of the defects in these dielectrics. In this review, the properties, formation and removal mechanisms of various defects in silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride films will be critically discussed. Some remarks on the thermal ionization energies in connection with the optical ionization energies of electron and hole traps, as well as some of the unsolved issues in these materials will be highlighted.     

Strong water repellency effect on SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> films processed at a nanometric scale

The present study deals with the creation of nano-rough surfaces with stable and controlled high hydrophobicity. These surfaces were obtained by combining the ion track etching technique with a simple functionalization by grafting perfluoroctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS) molecules. Surface morphology was investigated by AFM observations which evidenced a self-affine fractal structure with a fractal dimension D_f ~ 2.6. The study of the wetting properties of these surfaces allowed to elucidate the conditions for observing a high hydrophobicity phenomenon and to predict the contact angle values for surfaces designed at a nanometric scale.     

EXAFS spectroscopy,from one perspective

Summary Extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be a most useful probe of short-range interatomic correlations in a wide variety of materials. The theory of the EXAFS is presented in its simplest form so as to provide the basis for a discussion about the kind and quality of the structural information which can be extracted from EXAFS data. The adequacy of several of the approximations commonly incorporated in this theory is examined with emphasis on those areas of the theory which bear most directly on the analysis of EXAFS data. Paper presented at the Workshop on ?EXAFS Data Analysis in Disordered Systems?, held in Parma, October 5–7, 1981.     

Electric fields in the rheology of disperse systems

In the present survey, the influence of electric fields on the structure and rheological properties of disperse systems as well as the effect of deformations on their electrical characteristics are discussed. The properties of these systems are considered in terms of the dielectric permittivity and electrification potential. The considerable thickness of the double electric layer around the disperse phase particles, which is characteristic of disperse systems with nonpolar hydrocarbon dispersion media, provides the possibility for strong electric fields to produce an electric nonuniformity on the surface of the disperse phase particles. The formation of hydrate layers on the particles creates the possibility of polarization of the disperse phase. In plastic disperse systems such as greases, a strong orientation effect is observed, which contributes to the creation of frozen flow patterns when the flow is suddenly stopped. The survey is concluded with a consideration of the process of formation of chain structures in the direction of the lines of force of the electric field whose orientation is normal to the direction of flow, which can lead to complete stoppage of the flow.     

Mode structure in wideband waveguide radiofrequency CO2 lasers

We have analysed the mode structure of a wideband radiofrequency excited waveguide CO₂ laser by using different waveguide diameters and optical cavities. In particular we have observed the phase shift of some linear polarized waveguide modes in the transition region between the guided and the free Gaussian propagation.     

Angular auto-correlation functions in molecular crystals and liquids: application to incoherent neutron scattering law

The effect of the local hindered molecular motion in the incoherent neutron scattering spectra in crystals and liquids is studied theoretically on the basis of the angular auto-correlation functions symmetrized on the dynamical point groups. The extended angular jump model simulates the motion. The microscopic properties of the matter, the time scale and the point symmetry of the molecule motion as well as the site symmetry of the molecule, are taken into account with the help of the dynamical variables of the model. The incoherent neutron scattering function is anisotropic in a monocrystalline sample. The scattering function consists of elastic plus quasi-elastic components. The shape of the quasi-elastic scattering spectrum is expressed by the sum of the weighted Lorentzian curves symmetrized with respect to the non-identical irreducible representations of the molecule motion point symmetry group. The elastic part of the intensity is increased by the contribution arising from the molecule motion of the identity representation symmetry. The scattering expression related to the molecule motion symmetry of a perfect cubic group is similar to the well-known expression derived for the scattering from the spherical top molecules exhibiting rotation diffusion.     

Radiative transfer in fine structures of solar prominences

In the first part we used Ambartsumains method of addition of layers to show that various problems of radiative transfer in a plane-parallel inhomogeneous atmosphere may be reduced to the solution of the cauchy problems for linear differential equations. The idea of the approach is that we start with the determining of the reflection and transmission coefficients of an atmosphere by solving the initial-value problem for a set of linear differential equations of the first order. After that the internal radiation field is found immediately without solving any new equation.There are some solar prominence fine structures which are not observable. Thus, we need to use theoretical methods to study their geometric and physical properties. It is believed that observed intensities and their fluctuations are related to such fine structures in the line of sight. Regarding the fact that the spectrum line corresponding to the transition will not be sharp and will have a spread in frequency that can be described by absorption profiles. So, the second part of the present study is an attempt to determine the intensity fluctuations in the frequency-dependent case with different absorption profiles such as Doppler, Voigt and Lorentz profiles. It became evident that the intensity fluctuations vary with absorption profile and optical depth variations in the line of sight. It should be noted that the present study focuses on the LTE absorbing atmosphere.     

The photocatalytic mechanism of BiOI with oxygen vacancy and iodine self-doping

The photocatalytic mechanism of BiOI with an oxygen vacancy and iodine self-doping is investigated by studying their structural, electronic and optical properties. The results of the first-principle calculations indicate that the utilization of the visible light region is broadened, and thus the photocatalytic performance is improved, via introducing an oxygen vacancy or I dopant. Among them, I-Bi doped BiOI shows the best photocatalytic performance, and it is also the preferred one of the three structures due to its better stability. The occurrence of I-Bi or I-I interactions in the original double iodine layer along with the introduction of I dopant leads to a planar localization of the photocatalytic mechanism. Then it is expected that the photo-generated carriers will transfer to the catalyst surface more easily; the photocatalytic activity of BiOI relies on the planar localization to a great degree.     

Turbulent structures in an optimal Taylor–Couette flow between concentric counter-rotating cylinders

The turbulent structures formed in a Taylor–Couette (TC) flow established between two concentric counter-rotating cylinders were explored numerically. The shear Reynolds number was set to Re_shear = 8000 and the radius ratio was set to r_i/r_o = 0.5. An optimal flow corresponding to the maximal angular velocity transport between the cylinders was selected for the TC flow. The mean velocity profile reached its steepest value near the cylinders in the optimal TC flow. The streamwise velocity correlations at the outer cylinder in the gap exceeded those at the inner cylinder. The large convective transport of angular velocity in the gap generated a maximal angular velocity flux to achieve the optimal flow. The angular velocity flux generated by the momentum source exceeded that generated by the momentum sink. The vorticity dispersion was larger near the inner cylinder than near the outer cylinder, but vorticity stretching near the outer cylinder exceeded than that near the inner cylinder. The skin friction coefficient budgets were plotted using the velocity–vorticity correlation. The vortex stretching contributions dominated the skin friction budgets. The area near the inner cylinder was populated by stronger vortices, but their population density was smaller than the population density of the vortices near the outer cylinder. The probability density functions of the wall-normal and streamwise velocity fluctuations delineated the presence of the large wall-normal velocity fluctuations near the outer cylinder.