Roughness Analysis In Strained Silicon-on-insulator Wires And Films

Strained silicon is used to enhance performance in state-of-the-art CMOS. Under device operating conditions, the effect of strain is to reduce the carrier scattering at the channel by a smoother semiconductor surface. This has never been completely understood. This paper gives first evidence of the variation in surface roughness under realistic strained conditions. At the nanoscale, the SiO2/Si interface roughness is dependent on the scale of observation (self-affinity). To date, there is no experimental study of the SiO2/Si interface roughness scaling with strain. This work presents the effect of uniaxial and biaxial strains on the surface roughness of strained silicon-on-insulator films and wires using atomic force microscopy. Levels of strain ranging from 0% to 2.3%, encompassing those used in present CMOS devices have been investigated. It is shown that the silicon surface is affected by uniaxial and biaxial strains differently. Three surface roughness parameters have been analyzed: root mean square roughness, correlation length, and the Hurst exponent, which is used to describe the scaling behavior of a self-affine surface. The results show that the root mean square roughness decreases (up to ∼ 40%) with increasing tensile strain, whereas the correlation length increases (up to ∼ 63nm/%) with increasing tensile strain. The Hurst exponent also varies with strain and with the undulation wavelength regime (between ∼ 0.8 and 0.2). This dependency explains why some models used to determine the carrier mobility from experiments fit the data better with a Gaussian form, whereas other models fit the data better with an exponential form.11612EPSRC; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research CouncilSong, Y., Zhou, H., Xu, Q., Luo, J., Yin, H., Yan, J., Zhong, H., (2011) J. Electron. Mater., 40, p. 1584Lee, M.L., Fitzgerald, E.A., Bulsara, M.T., Currie, M.T., Lochtefeld, A., (2005) J. Appl. Phys., 97, p. 011101Chu, M., Sun, Y.K., Aghoram, U., Thompson, S.E., (2009) Annu. Rev. Mater. Res., 39, p. 203Zhao, Y., Takenaka, M., Takagi, S., (2009) IEEE Electron Device Lett., 30, p. 987Cheng, Z.Y., Currie, M.T., Leitz, C.W., Taraschi, G., Fitzgerald, E.A., Hoyt, J.L., Antoniadas, D.A., (2001) IEEE Electron Device Lett., 22, p. 321Rim, K., Hoyt, J.L., Gibbons, J.F., (2000) IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, 47, p. 1406Fischetti, M.V., Gamiz, F., Hansch, W., (2002) J. Appl. Phys., 92, p. 7320Bonno, O., Barraud, S., Mariolle, D., Andrieu, F., (2008) J. Appl. Phys., 103, p. 063715Escobedo-Cousin, E., Olsen, S.H., Pardoen, T., Bhaskar, U., Raskin, J.-P., (2011) Appl. Phys. Lett., 99, p. 241906Pirovano, A., Lacaita, A.L., Ghidini, G., Tallarida, G., (2000) IEEE Electron Device Lett., 21, p. 34Goodnick, S.M., Ferry, D.K., Wilmsen, C.W., Liliental, Z., Fathy, D., Krivanek, O.L., (1985) Phys. Rev. B, 32, p. 8171Mazzoni, G., Lacaita, A.L., Perron, L.M., Pirovano, A., (1999) IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, 46, p. 1423Zhao, Y., Matsumoto, H., Sato, T., Koyama, S., Takenaka, M., Takagi, S., (2010) IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, 57, p. 2057Ishihara, T., Matsuzawa, K., Takayanagi, M., Takagi, S.I., (2002) Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part 1, 41, p. 2353Pirovano, A., Lacaita, A.L., Zandler, G., Oberhuber, R., Int. Electron Devices Meet. Tech. Dig., 1999, p. 527Yoshinobu, T., Iwamoto, A., Sudoh, K., Iwasaki, H., (1995) J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 13, p. 1630Mandelbrot, B.B., (1982) The Fractal Geometry of Nature: Updated and Augment, , (W. H. Freeman and Company)Pelliccione, M., Lu, T.-M., (2007) Evolution of Thin-film Morphology: Modeling and Simulations, , (Springer, Dordrecht)Zhao, Y.P., Wang, G.C., Lu, T.-M., Graef, M.D., Lucatorto, T., (2000) Characterization of Amorphous and Crystalline Rough Surface: Principles and Applications, , (Elsevier Science)Sinha, S.K., Sirota, E.B., Garoff, S., Stanley, H.B., (1988) Phys. Rev. B, 38, p. 2297Stommer, R., Martin, A.R., Geue, T., Goebel, H., Hub, W., Pietsch, U., (1999) Adv. X-Ray Anal., 41, p. 101Vicsek, T., Cserzo, M., Horváth, V.K., (1990) Physica A, 167, p. 315Arnault, J.C., Knoll, A., Smigiel, E., Cornet, A., (2001) Appl. Surf. Sci., 171, p. 189Bhaskar, U.K., Passi, V., Houri, S., Escobedo-Cousin, E., Olsen, S.H., Pardoen, T., Raskin, J.-P., (2012) J. Mater. Res., 27, p. 571Passi, V., Bhaskar, U.K., Pardoen, T., Sodervall, U., Nilsson, B., Petersson, G., Hagberg, M., Raskin, J.P., (2012) J. Microelectromech. Syst., 21, p. 822Bhaskar, U.K., Pardoen, T., Passi, V., Raskin, J.-P., (2013) Appl. Phys. Lett., 102, p. 031911Liu, X.H., Chen, J., Chen, M., Wang, X., (2002) Appl. Surf. Sci., 187, p. 187Vicsek, T., (1992) Fractal Growth Phenomena, , 2nd ed. (World Scientific)Silva, J.B.D., Jr., Vasconcelos, E.A.D., Santos, B.E.C.A.D., Freire, J.A.K., Freire, V.N., Farias, G.A., Silva, E.F.D., Jr., (2005) Microelectron. J., 36, p. 1011Liu, Z.J., Jiang, N., Shen, Y.G., Mai, Y.W., (2002) J. Appl. Phys., 92, p. 3559Gravier, S., Coulombier, M., Safi, A., Andre, N., Boe, A., Raskin, J.-P., Pardoen, T., (2009) J. Microelectromech. Syst., 18, p. 555Bunshah, R.F., (1994) Handbook of Deposition Technologies for Films and Coatings - Science, Technology and Applications, , 2nd ed. (William Andrew Publishing/Noyes)Ureña, F., Olsen, S.H., Šiller, L., Bhaskar, U., Pardoen, T., Raskin, J.-P., (2012) J. Appl. Phys., 112, p. 114506Ureña, F., Olsen, S.H., Raskin, J.-P., (2013) J. Appl. Phys., 114, p. 144507Ghyselen, B., Hartmann, J.M., Ernst, T., Aulnette, C., Osternaud, B., Bogumilowicz, Y., Abbadie, A., Mazure, C., (2004) Solid-State Electron., 48, p. 1285Lai, L., Irene, E.A., (1999) J. Appl. Phys., 86, p. 1729Schwarzenbach, W., Daval, N., Kerdilès, S., Chabanne, G., Figuet, C., Guerroudj, S., Bonnin, O., Maleville, C., (2012) Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Integrated Circuit Design and Technology, , (Austin, TX, USA)Xie, Y.H., Gilmer, G.H., Roland, C., Silverman, P.J., Buratto, S.K., Cheng, J.Y., Fitzgerald, E.A., Citrin, P.H., (1994) Phys. Rev. Lett., 73, p. 3006Michielis, M.D., Conzatti, F., Esseni, D., Selmi, L., (2011) IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, 58, p. 321

Facile technique for the removal of metal contamination from graphene

Metal contamination deposited on few-layer graphene (3 ± 1 monolayers) grown on SiC(0001) was successfully removed from the surface, using low cost adhesive tape. More than 99% of deposited silver contamination was removed from the surface via peeling, causing minimal damage to the graphene. A small change in the adhesion of graphene to the SiC(0001) substrate was indicated by changes observed in pleat defects on the surface; however, atomic resolution images show the graphene lattice remains pristine. Thin layers of contamination deposited via an electron gun during Auger electron spectroscopy/low energy electron diffraction measurements were also found to be removable by this technique. This contamination showed similarities to “roughened” graphene previously reported in the literature

The neural engine: a reprogrammable low power platform for closed-loop optogenetics

Brain-machine Interfaces (BMI) hold great potential for treating neurological disorders such as epilepsy. Technological progress is allowing for a shift from open-loop, pacemaker-class, intervention towards fully closed-loop neural control systems. Low power programmable processing systems are therefore required which can operate within the thermal window of 2° C for medical implants and maintain long battery life. In this work, we developed a low power neural engine with an optimized set of algorithms which can operate under a power cycling domain. By integrating with custom designed brain implant chip, we have demonstrated the operational applicability to the closed-loop modulating neural activities in in-vitro brain tissues: the local field potentials can be modulated at required central frequency ranges. Also, both a freely-moving non-human primate (24-hour) and a rodent (1-hour) in-vivo experiments were performed to show system long-term recording performance. The overall system consumes only 2.93mA during operation with a biological recording frequency 50Hz sampling rate (the lifespan is approximately 56 hours). A library of algorithms has been implemented in terms of detection, suppression and optical intervention to allow for exploratory applications in different neurological disorders. Thermal experiments demonstrated that operation creates minimal heating as well as battery performance exceeding 24 hours on a freely moving rodent. Therefore, this technology shows great capabilities for both neuroscience in-vitro/in-vivo applications and medical implantable processing units

In Situ SR-XPS Observation of Ni-Assisted Low-Temperature Formation of Epitaxial Graphene on 3C-SiC/Si

Low-temperature (~1073 K) formation of graphene was performed on Si substrates by using an ultrathin (2 nm) Ni layer deposited on a 3C-SiC thin film heteroepitaxially grown on a Si substrate. Angle-resolved, synchrotron-radiation X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (SR-XPS) results show that the stacking order is, from the surface to the bulk, Ni carbides(Ni(3)C/NiC(x))/graphene/Ni/Ni silicides (Ni(2)Si/NiSi)/3C-SiC/Si. In situ SR-XPS during the graphitization annealing clarified that graphene is formed during the cooling stage. We conclude that Ni silicide and Ni carbide formation play an essential role in the formation of graphene