Structural and electrical properties of swift heavy ion beam irradiated Co/Si interface

Synthesis of swift heavy ion induced metal silicide is a new advancement in materials science research. We have investigated the mixing at Co/Si interface by swift heavy ion beam induced irradiation in the electronic stopping power regime. Irradiations were undertaken at room temperature using 120 MeV Au ions at the Co/Si interface for investigation of ion beam mixing at various doses: 8 × 10¹², 5 × 10¹³ and 1 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻². Formation of different phases of cobalt silicide is identified by the grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) technique, which shows enhancement of intermixing and silicide formation as a result of irradiation.I–V characteristics at Co/Si interface were undertaken to understand the irradiation effect on conduction mechanism at the interface.     

Nitrogen ion implantation effects on the structural,optical and electrical properties of CdSe thin film

In the present study, thin films of cadmium selenide (CdSe) are deposited on ITO substrate by electrodeposition method using aqueous solution of 3CdSO₄·8H₂O and SeO₂. These films are implanted with 40 keV N⁺ ions with different fluencies i.e. 1?×?10¹⁵, 5?×?10¹⁵, 1?×?10¹⁶ and 5?×?10¹⁶ ions/cm² using a beam current of 0.9 µA. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of pristine and nitrogen ion-implanted CdSe thin films are analyzed using XRD, SEM, AFM, UV-PL Spectrophotometer and I–V four probes setup. XRD analysis revealed the effects of nitrogen ions on the structural parameters such as grain size, FWHM, micro strain and dislocation density etc. Crystallanity of the material increased with increase in implantation dose. SEM and AFM analysis show decrease in the surface roughness with implantation. From the optical studies, band gap value decreased from 2.50 to 2.29 eV with increase in N⁺ implantation doses. Noticeable changes in the electrical properties are also reported. The effect of N⁺ ion implantation on the properties of CdSe thin films are discussed on the basis of lattice disorder.     

Structural modification of tantalum crystal induced by nitrogen ion implantation

This paper investigates the effect of nitrogen ion implantation on tantalum surface structure. In this experiment, nitrogen ions which had an energy of 30 keV and doses of 1 × 10¹⁷ to 10 × 10¹⁷ ions cm^?2 were used. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was applied for both the metallic Ta substrate and the study of new structures that have been created through the nitrogen ion implantation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was also used to check the roughness variations prior to and also after the implantation phase. The experimental results show the formation of hexagonal tantalum nitride (TaN_0.43) in addition to the fact that by increasing the ion dose, the nitrogen atoms occupy more interstitial spaces in the target crystal. The nitride phase also seen for 3 × 10¹⁷ and 5 × 10¹⁷ ions cm^?2, while it disappeared for higher dose of 7 × 10¹⁷ and 1 × 10¹⁸ ions cm^?2. The FWHM of the dominant peak of tantalum nitride suggest the growth of the crystallite’s size, which is in agreement with the AFM results of the grains.     

Preparation of rare earth CeO<Subscript>2</Subscript> thin films using metal organic decomposition method for metal-oxide–semiconductor capacitors

Investigation of metal organic decomposed rare earth cerium oxide thin films deposited on Si substrate by sol–gel spin coating technique was carried out. The structural properties have been examined by using XRD, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The XRD confirms the cubic phase of CeO₂ thin films with (111) plane observed at 28.54°. The FTIR and EDAX spectra confirm the formation of CeO₂ films with atomic percentage of 19.39 and 54.82% of Ce and O₂, respectively. Thickness of 60.11 nm of CeO₂ film measured by cross sectional FESEM image, the average roughness of ~0.6 nm of 400?°C annealed CeO₂ films were observed from AFM micrograph. The MOS capacitors were fabricated by using Ti/Au bilayer metal contact depositing by E-beam evaporator on CeO₂/Si thin film for electrical measurements. Capacitance and conductance voltage measurement was carried out to determine the effective oxide charges (Q_eff), interface trap density (D_it) and dielectric constant (k) and are 2.48?×?10¹² cm^?2, 1.26?×?10¹² eV^?1cm^?2 and ~39, respectively. The effective metal work function of 5.68 for Ti/Au bilayer is observed to be higher than the work function of Ti or Au metals in vacuum.     

Swift heavy ion irradiation induced modification of structure and surface morphology of BiFeO3 thin film

BiFeO₃ (BFO) thin films of thickness about 800 nm deposited on Si (100) substrates by sol–gel spin coating method were irradiated by 200 MeV Ag ions. Modification of structure and surface morphology of the films under irradiation was studied using glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Fluence dependence of GIXRD peak intensity indicated formation of 10 nm diameter cylindrical amorphous columns in crystalline BFO due to 200 MeV Ag ion irradiation. AFM analysis indicated that the pristine film consists of agglomerated grains with diffuse grain boundary. Irradiation led to reduced agglomeration of the grains with the formation of sharper grain boundaries. The rms roughness (σ _rms) estimated from AFM analysis increased from 6·2 in pristine film to 12·7 nm when the film irradiated at a fluence of 1 × 10¹¹ ions cm ^???2 . Further irradiation led to decrease of σ _rms which finally saturated at a value of 7–8 nm at high ion fluences. The power spectral density analysis indicated that the evolution of surface morphology of the pristine film is governed by the combined effect of evaporation condensation and volume diffusion processes. Swift heavy ion irradiation seems to increase the dominance of volume diffusion in controlling surface morphology of the film at high ion fluences.     

Effect of annealing time on the structural,optical and electrical characteristics of DC sputtered ITO thin films

Using an Indium tin oxide (ITO) ceramic target (In₂O₃:SnO₂, 90:10 wt%), ITO thin films were deposited by conventional direct current magnetron sputtering technique onto glass substrates at room temperature. The obtained ITO films were annealed at 400 °C for different annealing times (1, 2, 5, 7, and 9 h). The effect of annealing time on their structural, optical and electrical properties was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microcopy (AFM), ultra violet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrometer, and temperature dependence Hall measurements. XRD data of obtained ITO films reveal that the films were polycrystalline with cubic structure and exhibit (222), (400) and (440) crystallographic planes of In₂O₃. AFM and Scanning Electron Microscopy SEM have been used to probe the surface roughness and the morphology of the films. The refractive index (n), thickness and porosity (%) of the films were evaluated from transmittance spectra obtained in the range 350–700 nm by UV–Vis. The optical band gap of ITO film was found to be varying from 3.35 to 3.47 eV with the annealing time. The annealing time dependence of resistivity, carrier concentration, carrier mobility, sheet resistance, and figure of merit values of the films at room temperature were discussed. The carrier concentration of the films increased from 1.21 × 10²⁰ to 1.90 × 10²⁰ cm^?3, the Hall mobility increased from 11.38 to 18 cm² V^?1 s^?1 and electrical resistivity decreased from 3.97 × 10^?3 to 2.13 × 10^?3 Ω cm with the increase of annealing time from 1 to 9 h. Additionally, the temperature dependence of the carrier concentration, and carrier mobility for the as-deposited and 400 °C annealed ITO films for 2 and 9 h were analysed in the temperature range of 80–350 K.     

Structural, electrical and optical properties of Si doped ZnO films grown by atomic layer deposition

Si doped ZnO (SZO) films with various Si concentrations were deposited by atomic layer deposition at 300 °C using triethyzinc, tris(dimethylamino)silane and H₂O₂ as the precursors. The influences of Si doping concentration on structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO films have been investigated. All the films exhibited a highly preferential c-axis orientation. A minimum resistivity of 9.2 × 10^?4 Ω cm, with a carrier concentration of 4.3 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 and a Hall mobility of 15.8 cm²/Vs, was obtained for SZO film prepared with the Si concentration of 2.1 at%. The increase of conductivity with Si doping was attributed to the presence of Si in +3 valence state acting as donor in ZnO and the increases of oxygen vacancies with Si concentration as proven by XPS measurements. The optical bandgap of SZO films initially increased from 3.25 to 3.55 eV with increasing of Si concentration to 2.1 at%, then decreased with further increase of Si concentration. The blue shift of band gap of SZO films with increasing carrier concentration can be explained by the Burstein-Moss (B-M) effects.     

Mixage ionique sur des structures Au/InP

The reactions induced by Zn⁺ implantations near the interface of Au/InP contacts have been studied by using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, He⁺ Rutherford backscattering, secondary ion mass spectrometry and current-voltage measurements. A 5 × 10¹⁴ Zn ions cm^-2 dose does not induce compound formation but accelerates the growth of Au₃In and Au₂P₃ patches during post-annealing treatment. After a 5 × 10¹⁵ Zn ions cm^-2 implantation, many compounds, different from those obtained by a thermal anneal, are detected. These compounds, which depend on the implantation temperature (25 or 200°C), have a layered structure. In this case no Au₂P₃ is observed. However, for the range of doses (from 10¹⁴ to 5 × 10¹⁵ Zn ions cm^-2), the temperatures of implantation (25 and 200°C) and the range of annealing temperatures (from 320 to 450°C) that were studied, no contact with a low resistivity is formed. The electrical properties are in fact limited by an InP layer damaged by the ion implantation in which the zinc atoms are trapped in an electrically inactive form.     

Ion implantation effects of negative oxygen on copper nanowires

Copper nanowires of diameter 80 nm were synthesized in polycarbonate membrane using template technique. Samples were then implanted with 160 keV O^?1 ion beam with varying particle fluence of 1?×?10¹², 5?×?10¹² and 1?×?10¹³ ions/cm². The SRIM (Stopping and range of ions in matter) software was used to study the processes involved. Compositional analysis confirms implantation of oxygen ions and the stoichiometry of Cu:O was found to be 6:1 by weight % when implanted at 1?×?10¹³ ions/cm². Scanning electron microscopy reveals no changes in morphology of nanowires on implantation. X-ray diffraction analysis showed no shifting in the ‘2θ’ position of diffraction peaks however some new diffraction peaks of oxygen were seen. Implantation with oxygen ion led to the increased crystallite size and reduced strain. The conductivity of the nanowires was found to increase linearly with the ion fluence presenting constructive effect of negative ion implantation on copper nanowires.     

Influence of substrate temperature on the growth and properties of reactively sputtered In-rich InAlN films

Indium-rich InAlN films were prepared on Si (111) substrates by using reactive co-sputtering in a mixed Ar-N₂ atmosphere. The substrate temperature was varied from room temperature to 300 °C to investigate the film’s growth and properties at different temperatures. Structural and optical properties of the films were evaluated through high resolution XRD and Raman spectroscopy respectively, surface morphology and roughness analysis was performed by using FE-SEM and AFM respectively, whereas the electrical characterizations were made through resistivity and current–voltage (I–V) measurements respectively. Highly c-axis oriented nanocrystalline InAlN films with wurtzite structure were obtained at a substrate temperature of 100 °C and above. Structural quality of the films was improved with increase of the substrate temperature. The Raman spectroscopy revealed A₁ (LO) modes which became more intense by the increasing the substrate temperature. The electrical studies indicated n-type nature of InAlN film having electron concentration in the range 3 × 10¹⁹–20 × 10¹⁹ cm^?3. The electrical resistivity exhibited a decreasing trend with increase of the deposition temperature. The I–V measurements showed a noticeable increase in the value of current by increasing the substrate temperature to 300 °C.     

Effect of annealing on magnetic properties and silicide formation at Co/Si interface

The interaction of Co (30 nm) thin films on Si (100) substrate in UHV using solid state mixing technique has been studied. Cobalt was deposited on silicon substrate using electron beam evaporation at a vacuum of 4×10^?8 Torr having a deposition rate of about 0·1 Å/s. Reactivity at Co/Si interface is important for the understanding of silicide formation in thin film system. In the present paper, cobalt silicide films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) in terms of the surface and interface morphologies and depth profile, respectively. The roughness of the samples was found to increase up to temperature, 300°C and then decreased with further rise in temperature, which was due to the formation of crystalline CoSi₂ phase. The effect of mixing on magnetic properties such as coercivity, remanence etc at interface has been studied using magneto optic Kerr effect (MOKE) techniques at different temperatures. The value of coercivity of pristine sample and 300°C annealed sample was found to be 66 Oe and 40 Oe, respectively, while at high temperature i.e. 748°C, the hysteresis disappears which indicates the formation of CoSi₂ compound.     

Defect compensation at the interface between directly bonded silicon wafers

Abstract

In smart power applications, the Si/Si bonded interface must be electrically transparent for the high voltage bipolar transistor. The bonded interface resistance variation (measured by spreading resistance analysis) is consistent with a potential barrier due to positively charged interface states, whatever the semiconductor type. With a proper preimplanted boron dose, the potential barrier can be reduced and even removed, probably by defect compensation. For a p/p bonded interface, a 7 × 10¹¹ at cm^?2 boron preimplantation leads to no resistance variation near the interface. The ion dose must be adjusted depending upon the substrate type, its resistivity, its flatness and the quality of the prebonding etching. Comparing the spreading resistance results and SUPREM simulations, the interface states density is calculated to be roughly 5 × 10¹⁰ cm^?2 and it does not drastically affect the boron diffusion length.     

Structural and electrical properties of swift heavy ion beam irradiated Fe/Si interface

The present work deals with the mixing of iron and silicon by swift heavy ions in high-energy range. The thin film was deposited on a n-Si (111) substrate at 10⁻⁶ torr and at room temperature. Irradiations were undertaken at room temperature using 120 MeV Au⁺⁹ ions at the Fe/Si interface to investigate ion beam mixing at various doses: 5 × 10¹² and 5 × 10¹³ ions/cm². Formation of different phases of iron silicide has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, which shows enhancement of intermixing and silicide formation as a result of irradiation. I-V measurements for both pristine and irradiated samples have been carried out at room temperature, series resistance and barrier heights for both as deposited and irradiated samples were extracted. The barrier height was found to vary from 0·73–0·54 eV. The series resistance varied from 102·04–38·61 kΩ.     

Comparison of corrosion behavior of zirconium bombarded with self-ion and molybdenum ion

In order to study the effects of zirconium and molybdenum ion bombardment on the aqueous corrosion behavior of zirconium, one group of specimens was implanted with zirconium ions with ions surface densities ranging from 1 × 10¹⁵ to 2 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm² at about 170 °C, using a metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) source operated at an extraction voltage of 50 kV. The other group of specimens was bombarded with molybdenum ion with ions surface densities ranging from 1 × 10¹⁶ to 5 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm² at about 160 °C, using a MEVVA source operated at an extraction voltage of 40 kV. The valence states and depth distribution of elements in the surface of the samples were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), respectively. Polarization curves measurement was employed to evaluate the aqueous corrosion resistance of the zirconium samples in a 1N H₂SO₄ solution. It was found that the aqueous corrosion resistance of zirconium implanted with 5 × 10¹⁶ Zr ions/cm² is the best in first group samples. For molybdenum ion implantation, the aqueous corrosion resistance of samples declined with raising ions surface densities. The natural corrosion potentials of zirconium samples bombarded with self-ions are more negative than that of the as-received zirconium. While, as for molybdenum ion implantation, the results are opposite. Finally, the mechanisms of the corrosion behavior of the zirconium samples implanted with zirconium and molybdenum ions are discussed.     

Role of diffusion-annealing time on the superconducting, microstructural and mechanical properties of Cu-diffused bulk MgB2 superconductor

In this study, the effect of various annealing time (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 h) on microstructural, mechanical and superconducting properties of the Cu-diffused bulk MgB₂ superconducting samples is investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Vickers microhardness (H _v ) and dc resistivity measurements for the first time. The critical transition temperature, grain size, phase purity, lattice parameter, surface morphology, crystallinity and room temperature resistivity values of the bulk samples prepared are compared with each other. Electrical-resistivity measurements show that the sample (annealed at 850 °C for 1 h), exhibiting the highest room temperature resistivity, obtains the maximum zero resistivity transition temperature (T _c ). From the XRD results, all the samples contain MgB₂ as the main phase with a very small amount of Mg₂Cu phase. Moreover, SEM investigations conducted for the microstructural characterization illustrate that not only does the grain size of the samples studied enhance gradually, but the surface morphology and grain connectivity also improve with the increase in the diffusion-annealing time up to 1 h beyond which all the properties obtained start to degrade. Indeed, the worst surface morphology is observed for the Cu-diffused bulk MgB₂ superconductor exposed to 2 h annealing duration. At the same time, Vickers microhardness, elastic modulus, load independent hardness, yield strength, fracture toughness and brittleness index values are calculated separately for the pure and Cu-diffused samples. It is found that the microhardness values depend strongly on the diffusion-annealing time. Furthermore, the diffusion coefficient of the Cu ion in the bulk MgB₂ superconductor is obtained to change from 1.63 × 10^?7 to 2.58 × 10^?7 cm² s^?1. The maximum diffusion coefficient is observed for the sample prepared at 850 °C for 1 h whereas the minimum one is noted for the sample annealed at 850 °C for 2 h, confirming that the annealing-time of 1 h is the best ambient to improve the mechanical, microstructural and superconducting properties of the samples produced.     

Ion irradiation-induced modifications of diamond nanorods synthesised by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition

Diamond nanorods (DNRs) synthesised by the high methane content in argon rich microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition (MPCVD) have been implanted with nitrogen ions. The nanorods were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The DNRs consist of single-crystalline diamond cores of 3–5?nm in diameter and several tens of nanometres in length. For purification from non-diamond contents, hydrogen plasma etching of DNRs was performed. Structural modifications of etched DNRs were studied after irradiating with 50?keV nitrogen ions under the fluence of 5?×?10¹⁴, 1?×?10¹⁵, 5?×?10¹⁵ and 1?×?10¹⁶?ions?cm^?2. Nitrogen-ion implantation changes the carbon–carbon bonding and structural state of the nanocrystalline diamond (NCD). Raman spectroscopy was used to study the structure before and after ion irradiation, indicating the coexistence of diamond and graphite in the samples. The results indicated the increase in graphitic and sp²-related content, at the expense of decrease in diamond crystallinity, for ion implantation dose of 5?×?10^15?cm^?2 and higher. The method proves valuable for the formation of hybrid nanostructures with controlled fractions of sp³–sp² bonding.     

Carrier properties of B atomic-layer-doped Si films grown by ECR Ar plasma-enhanced CVD without substrate heating

Abstract

The atomic-layer (AL) doping technique in epitaxy has attracted attention as a low-resistive ultrathin semiconductor film as well as a two-dimensional (2-D) carrier transport system. In this paper, we report carrier properties for B AL-doped Si films with suppressed thermal diffusion. B AL-doped Si films were formed on Si(100) by B AL formation followed by Si cap layer deposition in low-energy Ar plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition without substrate heating. After fabrication of Hall-effect devices with the B AL-doped Si films on unstrained and 0.8%-tensile-strained Si(100)-on-insulator substrates (maximum process temperature 350°C), carrier properties were electrically measured at room temperature. Typically for the initial B amount of 2?×?10¹⁴ cm^?2 and 7?×?10¹⁴ cm^?2, B concentration depth profiles showed a clear decay slope as steep as 1.3 nm/decade. Dominant carrier was a hole and the maximum sheet carrier densities as high as 4?×?10¹³ cm^?2 and 2?×?10¹³ cm^?2 (electrical activity ratio of about 7% and 3.5%) were measured respectively for the unstrained and 0.8%-tensile-strained Si with Hall mobility around 10–13 cm² V^?1 s^?1. Moreover, mobility degradation was not observed even when sheet carrier density was increased by heat treatment at 500–700 °C. There is a possibility that the local carrier (ionized B atom) concentration around the B AL in Si reaches around 10²¹ cm^?3 and 2-D impurity-band formation with strong Coulomb interaction is expected. The behavior of carrier properties for heat treatment at 500–700 °C implies that thermal diffusion causes broadening of the B AL in Si and decrease of local B concentration.     

Electrical properties of boron- and phosphorous-doped microcrystalline silicon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering of heavily doped silicon targets

The boron(B)- and phosphorous(P)-doped microcrystalline silicon (Si) thin films were prepared by magnetron sputtering of heavily B- and P-doped Si targets followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA), their electrical properties were characterized by temperature-dependent Hall and resistivity measurements. It was observed that the dark conductivity and carrier concentration of the 260 nm B-doped Si films annealed at 1,100 °C in Ar were 3.4 S cm^?1 and 1.6 × 10¹⁹ cm^?3, respectively, which were about one order of magnitude higher than that of P-doped Si films. The activation energy of the B- and P-doped Si films were determined to be 0.23 eV and 0.79 eV, respectively. The dark conductivity of B- and P-doped Si films increased with the increase of film thickness, RTA temperature, and the incorporation of H₂ in Ar during RTA. The present work provides an easy and non-toxic method for the preparation of doped microcrystalline Si thin films.     

Electrical characterization of low temperature deposited oxide films on ZnO/<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-Si substrate

Thin films of silicon dioxide are deposited on ZnO/n-Si substrate at a low temperature using tetra-ethylorthosilicate (TEOS). The ZnO/n-Si films have been characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The border trap density (Q_bt) and fixed oxide charge density (Q_f/q) of the SiO₂/ZnO/n-Si films are found to be 3.9 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻² and 1.048 × 10¹¹ cm⁻², respectively. The trapping characteristics and stress induced leakage current (SILC) have also been studied under Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) constant current stressing.     

Modifications induced by silicon and nickel ion beams in the electrical conductivity of zinc nanowires

This paper presents the modification in electrical conductivity of Zn nanowires under swift heavy ions irradiation at different fluences. The polycrystalline Zn nanowires were synthesized within polymeric templates, using electrochemical deposition technique and were irradiated with 80 MeV Si⁷⁺ and 110 MeV Ni⁸⁺ ion beams with fluence varying from 1 × 10¹² to 3 × 10¹³ ions/cm². I–V characteristics of exposed nanowires revealed a decrease in electrical conductivity with increase in ion fluence which was found to be independent of applied potential difference. But in the case of high fluence of Ni ion beam (3 × 10¹³ ions/cm²), electrical conductivity was found to increase with potential difference. The analysis found a significant contribution from grain boundaries scattering of conduction electrons and defects produced by ion beam during irradiation on flow of charge carriers in nanowires.