Design optimization of semiconductor piezoresistors with Schottky diode contacts

A modeling theory is developed to predict the performance of piezoresistors which incorporate Schottky diode electrical contacts. This new theory allows the design of high performance gauges which can be fabricated using Non-Lithographically-Based Microfabrication (NLBM) techniques. These semiconductor piezoresistors can be designed in customizable sizes and fabricated in parallel in order to integrate position sensing into MEMS flexural positioners. Customizable sensing for nanopositioning platforms will enable advances in a range of nano-scale fabrication and metrology applications. A semiconductor piezoresistor with Schottky diode contacts was fabricated and attached to a titanium flexure. This device is shown to match predicted electrical performance within about 8% and to show a gauge factor of 116, within 2% of the predicted value. Optimized performance limits for Schottky diode semiconductor piezoresistors are identified to be about 127 dB full noise dynamic range for a quarter bridge over a 10 kHz sensor bandwidth on a 600 μm width titanium flexure, making them ideal for sensing on meso-/micro-scale flexural positioners. Methods are suggested for achieving the performance limits indicated above and the impact of these methods on the sensor dynamic range are studied.     

Efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution over Cu and Cu3P co-modified TiO2 nanosheet

Schottky junction and p-n heterojunction are widely employed to enhance the charge transfer during the photocatalysis process. Herein, Cu and Cu₃P co-modified TiO₂ nanosheet hybrid (Cu–Cu₃P/TiO₂) was fabricated using an in situ hydrothermal method. The ternary composite achieved the superior H₂ evolution rate of 6915.7 μmol g^?1 h^?1 under simulated sunlight, which was higher than that of Cu/TiO₂ (4643.4 μmol g^?1 h^?1) and Cu₃P/TiO₂ (6315.8 μmol g^?1 h^?1) and pure TiO₂ (415.7 μmol g^?1 h^?1). The enhanced activity can be attributed to the collaboration effect of Schottky junction and p-n heterojunction among Cu/TiO₂ and Cu₃P/TiO₂, which can harvest the visible light, reduce the recombination of charge carriers and lower the overpotential of H₂ evolution, leading to a fast H₂ evolution kinetics. This work develops a feasible method for the exploration of H₂ evolution photocatalyst with outstanding charge separation properties.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly (linoleic acid)-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) graft copolymer with applying in Au/PLiMMA/n-Si diode

Poly (linoleic acid)-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PLiMMA) graft copolymer was synthesized and characterized. PLiMMA graft copolymer was synthesized from polymeric linoleic acid peroxide (PLina) possessing peroxide groups in the main chain by free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate. Later, PLiMMA was characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Furthermore, Au/PLiMMA/n-Si diode was fabricated for the purpose of investigating PLiMMA׳s conformity in diodes. The main electrical characteristics of this diode were investigated using experimental current–voltage (I–V) measurements in dark and at room temperature. Obtained results, such as sufficiently high rectifying ratio of 4.5×10⁴, indicate that PLiMMA is a promising organic material for electronic device applications.     

Current–voltage and capacitance–voltage characteristics of Al Schottky contacts to strained Si-on-insulator in the wide temperature range

The electrical characteristics of Al/strained Si-on-insulator (sSOI) Schottky diode have been investigated using current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements in the wide temperature range of 200–400 K in steps of 25 K. It was found that the barrier height (0.57–0.80 eV) calculated from the I–V characteristics increased and the ideality factor (1.97–1.28) decreased with increasing temperature. The barrier heights determined from the C–V measurements were higher than those extracted from the I–V measurements, associated with the formation of an inhomogeneous Schottky barrier at the interface. The series resistance estimated from the forward I–V characteristics using Cheung and Norde methods decreased with increasing temperature, implying its strong temperature dependence. The observed variation in barrier height and ideality factor could be attributed to the inhomogeneities in Schottky barrier, explained by assuming Gaussian distribution of barrier heights. The temperature-dependent I–V characteristics showed a double Gaussian distribution with mean barrier heights of 0.83 and 1.19 eV and standard deviations of 0.10 and 0.16 eV at 200–275 and 300–400 K, respectively. From the modified Richardson plot, the modified Richardson constant were calculated to be 21.8 and 29.4 A cm⁻² K⁻² at 200–275 and 300–400 K, respectively, which were comparable to the theoretical value for p-type sSOI (31.6 A cm⁻² K⁻²).     

Precursor self-derived Cu@TiO2 hybrid Schottky junction for enhanced solar-to-hydrogen evolution

Solar-to-hydrogen production has attracted increasing attention since it possesses great potential in alleviating energy and environmental crises to some extent. The key issue is to develop efficient photocatalysts exhibiting superior hydrogen production capability. In this work, Cu@TiO₂ hybrid (Cu nanoparticles encapsulated in TiO₂) has been successfully prepared by Cu₂O self-template reduction through solvothermal treatment in ethylene glycol-water mixed solvent. When octahedral Cu₂O is involved in the reaction system, the Cu₂O@Ti-precursor octahedral structure is first formed and subsequently the Cu@TiO₂ hybrid is prepared with the reduction of ethylene glycol (EG). The Cu@TiO₂ hybrid derived with different mass of Cu exhibits improved photocatalytic hydrogen production performance compare to pure TiO₂ and P25. Among those photocatalysts, the Cu@TiO₂-10% (the copper content is 10 wt%) shows the highest hydrogen evolution rate of 4336.7 μmol g^?1 h^?1, and it is twice as much as the pure TiO₂ and 1.9 times as much as P25, respectively. Based on the photo/electrochemical results, an efficient photo-generated electron-hole separation contributes to the enhancement of photocatalytic H₂ evolution upon the Cu@TiO₂ hybrid. When replacing octahedral Cu₂O with cubic and truncated octahedrons ones, the Cu@TiO₂ hybrid photocatalysts are also obtained and they also display superior solar-to-hydrogen evolution than pure TiO₂ and P25. It is expected this work could develop an approach to design Cu-encapsulated hybrid photocatalysts for hydrogen generation.     

Ni(Zr)Si薄膜热稳定性及其肖特基势垒二极管的电学特性

提出在Ni中掺入夹层Zr的方法来提高NiSi的热稳定性．具有此结构的薄膜,600～800℃快速热退火后,薄层电阻保持较低值,小于2Ω/□．经XRD和Raman光谱分析表明,薄膜中只存在低阻NiSi相,而没有高阻NiSi2相生成．Ni(Zr)Si的薄层电阻由低阻转变为高阻的温度在800℃以上,比没有掺Zr的镍硅化物的转变温度上限提高了100℃．Ni(Zr)Si/Si肖特基势垒二极管能够经受650～800℃不同温度的快速热退火,肖特基接触特性良好,肖特基势垒高度为0.63eV,理想因子接近于1．     

一种有机/金属肖特基二极管的实验研究

提出了一种简单有效的有机/金属肖特基二极管的制备方法:通过简单的真空气相沉积工艺,依次将有机材料PTCDA(C24H8O6)薄膜和金属电极Au蒸镀在透明导电玻璃ITO上.通过在室温条件下对该二极管的电流-电压(I-V)特性的测试发现,其整流系数可达104.根据标准肖特基理论以及实验所得电容-频率(C-f)和电容-电压(C-V)的测试结果,得到该有机肖特基势垒高度在0.2～0.3eV范围内.     

金刚石半导体器件的研究进展

金刚石因其优异的物理化学特性,被视为下一代电力电子器件的终极材料,金刚石半导体器件的制备受到了科研工作者的广泛关注。文章对金刚石基二极管、开关器件和边缘终止效应等方面的研究成果进行了概述。着重阐述了金刚石半导体器件的电学特性,尤其是,在500 ℃高温条件下得到高正向电流密度,阻断能力大于10 kV,并展现出长程稳定性的肖特基势垒二极管;在金属半导体场效应晶体管与金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管上制得阻断电压超过2 kV的开关器件。同时,针对加工技术带来的表面缺陷,详细讨论了金刚石器件的表面终止技术和缺陷对器件性能的影响,并展望了金刚石半导体在肖特基势垒二极管及场效应晶体管等领域的应用前景。     

Simultaneously improving the electrical properties and long-term stability of ZnO varistor ceramics by reversely manipulating intrinsic point defects

Excellent electrical properties and the improved long-term stability of ZnO varistor ceramics were simultaneously achieved by doping NiO. The microstructural features were investigated using X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy, while the intrinsic point defects were characterized using frequency domain dielectric spectroscopy and verified by photoluminescence and Raman spectra. The results indicated that in the ZnO varistor ceramics, a reverse manipulation of donor point defects, i.e., suppressing mobile zinc interstitial but increasing stable oxygen vacancy, was achieved. The long-term stability of NiO-doped ZnO ceramics was improved via a decrease in zinc interstitial density, with a degradation rate of 0.064 μA cm^?2 h^?0.5. Meanwhile, due to an increase in oxygen vacancy density, the excellent nonlinear current–voltage performance, i.e., a high nonlinear coefficient (72.9), low leakage current density (0.08 μA cm^?2), and low grain resistivity (13.43 × 10^?3 Ω m), was maintained. The findings of this study provide a possible method for developing high-performance ZnO varistor ceramics by manipulating point defects.     

Origin of significantly enhanced dielectric response and nonlinear electrical behavior in Ni2+-doped CaCu3Ti4O12: Influence of DC bias on electrical properties of grain boundary and associated giant dielectric properties

CaCu_3-xNi_xTi₄O₁₂ (x?=?0, 0.05, and 0.10) powders were synthesized using a solid state reaction method. Phase structure and microstructure analyses revealed that all sintered CaCu_3-xNi_xTi₄O₁₂ ceramics were of a pure phase. The CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ ceramics had a dense microstructure and grain sizes were enlarged by doping with Ni²⁺. Interestingly, the dielectric permittivity was significantly enhanced, whereas the loss tangent was greatly suppressed to ～0.046–0.034 at 1?kHz. All sintered ceramics exhibited non-Ohmic characteristics. Clarification of the influences of DC bias showed that the dielectric permittivity and loss tangent values were increased by DC bias. The resistance of grain boundaries and the associated conduction activation energy of CaCu_3-xNi_xTi₄O₁₂ ceramics were reduced as the DC bias voltage increased. Therefore, the observed non-Ohmic behavior and significantly enhanced dielectric properties should be closely related to variation in the Schottky barriers at the grain boundaries.