264 research outputs found
1-octadecene monolayers on Si(111) hydrogen-terminated surfaces: effects of substrate doping
We have studied the electronic properties, in relation to their structural
properties, of monolayers of 1-octadecene attached on a hydrogen-terminated
(111) silicon surface. The molecules are attached using the free-radical
reaction between C=C and Si-H activated by an ultraviolet illumination. We have
compared the structural and electrical properties of monolayers formed on
silicon substrate of different types (n-type and p-type) and different doping
concentrations from low-doped (~1E14 cm-3) to highly doped (~1E19 cm-3) silicon
substrates. We show that the monolayers on n-, p- and p+ silicon are densely
packed and that they act as very good insulating films at a nanometer thickness
with leakage currents as low as ~1E-7 A.cm-2 and high quality
capacitance-voltage characteristics. The monolayers formed on n+-type silicon
are more disordered and therefore exhibit larger leakage current densities
(>1E-4 A.cm-2) when embedded in a silicon/monolayer/metal junction. The
inferior structural and electronic properties obtained with n+-type silicon
pinpoint the important role of surface potential and of the position of the
surface Fermi level during the chemisorption of the organic monolayers.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, to be published J. Appl. Phy
Gate Stack Dielectric Degradation of Rare-Earth Oxides Grown on High Mobility Ge Substrates
We report on the dielectric degradation of Rare-Earth Oxides (REOs), when
used as interfacial buffer layers together with HfO2 high-k films (REOs/HfO2)
on high mobility Ge substrates. Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) devices with
these stacks,show dissimilar charge trapping phenomena under varying levels of
Constant- Voltage-Stress (CVS) conditions, which also influences the measured
densities of the interface (Nit) and border (NBT) traps. In the present study
we also report on C-Vg hysteresis curves related to Nit and NBT. We also
propose a new model based on Maxwell-Wagner instabilities mechanism that
explains the dielectric degradations (current decay transient behavior) of the
gate stack devices grown on high mobility substrates under CVS bias from low to
higher fields, and which is unlike to those used for other MOS devices.
Finally, the time dependent degradation of the corresponding devices revealed
an initial current decay due to relaxation, followed by charge trapping and
generation of stress-induced leakage which eventually lead to hard breakdown
after long CVS stressing.Comment: 19pages (double space), 7 figures, original research article,
Submitted to JAP (AIP
Study of X-ray Radiation Damage in Silicon Sensors
The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) will deliver 30,000 fully
coherent, high brilliance X-ray pulses per second each with a duration below
100 fs. This will allow the recording of diffraction patterns of single complex
molecules and the study of ultra-fast processes. Silicon pixel sensors will be
used to record the diffraction images. In 3 years of operation the sensors will
be exposed to doses of up to 1 GGy of 12 keV X-rays. At this X-ray energy no
bulk damage in silicon is expected. However fixed oxide charges in the
insulating layer covering the silicon and interface traps at the Si-SiO2
interface will be introduced by the irradiation and build up over time.
We have investigated the microscopic defects in test structures and the
macroscopic electrical properties of segmented detectors as a function of the
X-ray dose. From the test structures we determine the oxide charge density and
the densities of interface traps as a function of dose. We find that both
saturate (and even decrease) for doses between 10 and 100 MGy. For segmented
sensors the defects introduced by the X-rays increase the full depletion
voltage, the surface leakage current and the inter-pixel capacitance. We
observe that an electron accumulation layer forms at the Si-SiO2 interface. Its
width increases with dose and decreases with applied bias voltage. Using TCAD
simulations with the dose dependent parameters obtained from the test
structures, we are able to reproduce the observed results. This allows us to
optimize the sensor design for the XFEL requirements
Gold nanoparticle-pentacene memory-transistors
We demonstrate an organic memory-transistor device based on a pentacene-gold
nanoparticles active layer. Gold (Au) nanoparticles are immobilized on the gate
dielectric (silicon dioxide) of a pentacene transistor by an amino-terminated
self-assembled monolayer. Under the application of writing and erasing pulses
on the gate, large threshold voltage shift (22 V) and on/off drain current
ratio of ~3E4 are obtained. The hole field-effect mobility of the transistor is
similar in the on and off states (less than a factor 2). Charge retention times
up to 4500 s are observed. The memory effect is mainly attributed to the Au
nanoparticles
Box traps on an atom chip for one-dimensional quantum gases
We present the implementation of tailored trapping potentials for ultracold
gases on an atom chip. We realize highly elongated traps with box-like
confinement along the long, axial direction combined with conventional harmonic
confinement along the two radial directions. The design, fabrication and
characterization of the atom chip and the box traps is described. We load
ultracold (K) clouds of Rb in a box trap, and demonstrate
Bose-gas focusing as a means to characterize these atomic clouds in arbitrarily
shaped potentials. Our results show that box-like axial potentials on atom
chips are very promising for studies of one-dimensional quantum gases.Comment: 9 pages 4 figure
Frequency dispersion reduction and bond conversion on n-type GaAs by in situ surface oxide removal and passivation
The method of surface preparation on n-type GaAs, even with the presence of an amorphous-Si interfacial passivation layer, is shown to be a critical step in the removal of accumulation capacitance frequency dispersion. In situ deposition and analysis techniques were used to study different surface preparations, including NH4OH, Si-flux, and atomic hydrogen exposures, as well as Si passivation depositions prior to in situ atomic layer deposition of Al2O3. As–O bonding was removed and a bond conversion process with Si deposition is observed. The accumulation capacitance frequency dispersion was removed only when a Si interlayer and a specific surface clean were combined
Low-voltage operation of metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor diodes incorporating a ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer Langmuir-Blodgett film
We report the electrical characteristics of metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor structures, where the ferroelectric layer is a Langmuir-Blodgett film of a copolymer of 70% vinylidene fluoride and 30% trifluoroethylene. The 36-nm thick copolymer films were deposited on thermally oxidized (10 nm SiO2) p-type silicon and covered with a gold gate electrode. Polarization-field hysteresis loops indicate polarization switching in the polymer film. The device capacitance shows hysteresis when cycling the applied voltage between ±3 V, exhibiting a zero-bias on/off capacitance ratio of over 3:1 and a symmetric memory window 1 V wide, with little evidence of bias that can arise from traps in the oxide. Model calculations are in good agreement with the data and show that film polarization was not saturated. The capacitance hysteresis vanishes above the ferroelectric- paraelectric transition temperature, showing that it is due to polarization hysteresis. The retention time of both the on and off states was approximately 15 min at room temperature, possibly limited by leakage or by polarization instability in the unsaturated film. These devices provide a basis for nonvolatile data storage devices with fast nondestructive readout
Design and Tests of the Silicon Sensors for the ZEUS Micro Vertex Detector
To fully exploit the HERA-II upgrade,the ZEUS experiment has installed a
Micro Vertex Detector (MVD) using n-type, single-sided, silicon micro-strip
sensors with capacitive charge division. The sensors have a readout pitch of
120 micrometers, with five intermediate strips (20 micrometer strip pitch). The
designs of the silicon sensors and of the test structures used to verify the
technological parameters, are presented. Results on the electrical measurements
are discussed. A total of 1123 sensors with three different geometries have
been produced by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. Irradiation tests with reactor
neutrons and Co-60 photons have been performed for a small sample of sensors.
The results on neutron irradiation (with a fluence of 1 x 10^{13} 1 MeV
equivalent neutrons / cm^2) are well described by empirical formulae for bulk
damage. The Co-60 photons (with doses up to 2.9 kGy) show the presence of
generation currents in the SiO_2-Si interface, a large shift of the flatband
voltage and a decrease of the hole mobility.Comment: 33 pages, 25 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in NIM
Direct Observation of Site-specific Valence Electronic Structure at Interface: SiO2/Si Interface
Atom specific valence electronic structures at interface are elucidated
successfully using soft x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy. In order to
demonstrate the versatility of this method, we investigated SiO2/Si interface
as a prototype and directly observed valence electronic states projected at the
particular atoms of the SiO2/Si interface; local electronic structure strongly
depends on the chemical states of each atom. In addition we compared the
experimental results with first-principle calculations, which quantitatively
revealed the interfacial properties in atomic-scale.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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