4,300 research outputs found
Dielectric Breakdown in Chemical Vapor Deposited Hexagonal Boron Nitride
Insulating films are essential in multiple electronic devices because they can provide essential functionalities, such as capacitance effects and electrical fields. Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials have superb electronic, physical, chemical, thermal, and optical properties, and they can be effectively used to provide additional performances, such as flexibility and transparency. 2D layered insulators are called to be essential in future electronic devices, but their reliability, degradation kinetics, and dielectric breakdown (BD) process are still not understood. In this work, the dielectric breakdown process of multilayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is analyzed on the nanoscale and on the device level, and the experimental results are studied via theoretical models. It is found that under electrical stress, local charge accumulation and charge trapping/detrapping are the onset mechanisms for dielectric BD formation. By means of conductive atomic force microscopy, the BD event was triggered at several locations on the surface of different dielectrics (SiO2, HfO2, Al2O3, multilayer h-BN, and monolayer h-BN); BD-induced hillocks rapidly appeared on the surface of all of them when the BD was reached, except in monolayer h-BN. The high thermal conductivity of h-BN combined with the one-atom-thick nature are genuine factors contributing to heat dissipation at the BD spot, which avoids self-accelerated and thermally driven catastrophic BD. These results point to monolayer h-BN as a sublime dielectric in terms of reliability, which may have important implications in future digital electronic devices.Fil: Jiang, Lanlan. Soochow University; ChinaFil: Shi, Yuanyuan. Soochow University; China. University of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Hui, Fei. Soochow University; China. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Tang, Kechao. University of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Wu, Qian. Soochow University; ChinaFil: Pan, Chengbin. Soochow University; ChinaFil: Jing, Xu. Soochow University; China. University of Texas at Austin; Estados UnidosFil: Uppal, Hasan. University of Manchester; Reino UnidoFil: Palumbo, Félix Roberto Mario. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lu, Guangyuan. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Wu, Tianru. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Wang, Haomin. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Villena, Marco A.. Soochow University; ChinaFil: Xie, Xiaoming. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de China. ShanghaiTech University; ChinaFil: McIntyre, Paul C.. University of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Lanza, Mario. Soochow University; Chin
Evidence for anisotropic dielectric properties of monoclinic hafnia using high-resolution TEM valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy and ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory
The effect of nanocrystal orientation on the energy loss spectra of
monoclinic hafnia (m-HfO) is measured by high resolution transmission
electron microscopy (HRTEM) and valence energy loss spectroscopy (VEELS) on
high quality samples. For the same momentum-transfer directions, the dielectric
properties are also calculated ab initio by time-dependent density-functional
theory (TDDFT). Experiments and simulations evidence anisotropy in the
dielectric properties of m-HfO, most notably with the direction-dependent
oscillator strength of the main bulk plasmon. The anisotropic nature of
m-HfO may contribute to the differences among VEELS spectra reported in
literature. The good agreement between the complex dielectric permittivity
extracted from VEELS with nanometer spatial resolution, TDDFT modeling, and
past literature demonstrates that the present HRTEM-VEELS device-oriented
methodology is a possible solution to the difficult nanocharacterization
challenges given in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Dielectric constant boost in amorphous sesquioxides
High-kappa dielectrics for insulating layers are a current key ingredient of
microelectronics. X2O3 sesquioxide compounds are among the candidates. Here we
show for a typical material of this class, ScO3, that the relatively modest
dielectric constant of its crystalline phase is enhanced in the amorphous phase
by over 40% (from ~15 to ~22). This is due to the disorder-induced activation
of low frequency cation-related modes which are inactive or inefficient in the
crystal, and by the conservation of effective dynamical charges (a measure of
atomic polarizability). The analysis employs density-functional energy-force
and perturbation-theory calculations of the dielectric response of amorphous
samples generated by pair-potential molecular dynamics.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to AP
Limits on Fundamental Limits to Computation
An indispensable part of our lives, computing has also become essential to
industries and governments. Steady improvements in computer hardware have been
supported by periodic doubling of transistor densities in integrated circuits
over the last fifty years. Such Moore scaling now requires increasingly heroic
efforts, stimulating research in alternative hardware and stirring controversy.
To help evaluate emerging technologies and enrich our understanding of
integrated-circuit scaling, we review fundamental limits to computation: in
manufacturing, energy, physical space, design and verification effort, and
algorithms. To outline what is achievable in principle and in practice, we
recall how some limits were circumvented, compare loose and tight limits. We
also point out that engineering difficulties encountered by emerging
technologies may indicate yet-unknown limits.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Negative oxygen vacancies in HfO as charge traps in high-k stacks
We calculated the optical excitation and thermal ionization energies of
oxygen vacancies in m-HfO using atomic basis sets, a non-local density
functional and periodic supercell. The thermal ionization energies of
negatively charged V and V centres are consistent with values
obtained by the electrical measurements. The results suggest that negative
oxygen vacancies are the likely candidates for intrinsic electron traps in the
hafnum-based gate stack devices.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure
The interface between silicon and a high-k oxide
The ability to follow Moore's Law has been the basis of the tremendous
success of the semiconductor industry in the past decades. To date, the
greatest challenge for device scaling is the required replacement of silicon
dioxide-based gate oxides by high-k oxides in transistors. Around 2010 high-k
oxides are required to have an atomically defined interface with silicon
without any interfacial SiO2 layer. The first clean interface between silicon
and a high-K oxide has been demonstrated by McKee et al. Nevertheless, the
interfacial structure is still under debate. Here we report on first-principles
calculations of the formation of the interface between silicon and SrTiO3 and
its atomic structure. Based on insights into how the chemical environment
affects the interface, a way to engineer seemingly intangible electrical
properties to meet technological requirements is outlined. The interface
structure and its chemistry provide guidance for the selection process of other
high-k gate oxides and for controlling their growth. Our study also shows that
atomic control of the interfacial structure can dramatically improve the
electronic properties of the interface. The interface presented here serves as
a model for a variety of other interfaces between high-k oxides and silicon.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures (one color
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