High-performance p-channel poly-Si TFT's using electron cyclotronresonance hydrogen plasma passivation

This letter presents a summary of the first detailed investigation of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) hydrogen plasma exposure treatments of p-channel poly-Si thin film transistors (TFT's). It is shown that ECR hydrogenation can be much more efficient than RF hydrogenation. Poly-Si p-channel TFT's fabricated at low temperatures (⩽625°C) and passivated with the ECR hydrogenation treatment are shown to exhibit ON/OFF current ratios of 7.6×10⁷, subthreshold swings of 0.62 V/decade, threshold voltages of -4.6 V, and hole mobilities over 18 cm²/V.s     

High performance poly-Si TFTs fabricated using pulsed laserannealing and remote plasma CVD with low temperature processing

Key technologies for fabricating polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) at a low temperature are discussed. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon films were crystallized by irradiation of a 30 ns-pulsed XeCl excimer laser. Crystalline grains were smaller than 100 nm. The density of localized trap states in poly-Si films was reduced to 4×10¹⁶ cm^-3 by plasma hydrogenation only for 30 seconds. Remote plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using mesh electrodes realized a good interface of SiO ₂/Si with the interface trap density of 2.0×10¹⁰ cm^-2 eV^-1 at 270°C. Poly-Si TFTs were fabricated at 270°C using laser crystallization, plasma hydrogenation and remote plasma CVD. The carrier mobility was 640 cm²/Vs for n-channel TFTs and 400 cm²/Vs for p-channel TFTs. The threshold voltage was 0.8 V for n-channel TFTs and -1.5 V for p-channel TFTs. The leakage current of n-channel poly-Si TFTs was reduced from 2×10^-10 A/μm to 3×10^-13 A/μm at the gate voltage of -5 V using an offset gate electrode with an offset length of 1 μm     

Effects of trap-state density reduction by plasma hydrogenation inlow-temperature polysilicon TFT

The reduction of trap-state densities by plasma hydrogenation in n-channel polysilicon thin-film transistors (poly-TFTs) fabricated using a maximum temperature of 600°C has been studied. Hydrogenated devices have a mobility of ~40 cm²/V×5, a threshold voltage of ~2 V, an inverse subthreshold of ~ 0.55 V/decade, and a maximum on/off current ratio of 5×10⁸. The effective channel length decreases by ~0.85 μm after a short hydrogenation which may be attributed to the activation of donors at trap states near the source/drain junctions. Trap-state densities decrease from 1.6×10¹² to 3.5×10¹¹ cm^-2 after hydrogenation, concomitant with the reduction of threshold voltage. Using the gate lengths at which the trap-state densities deviate from the long-channel values as markets for the leading edge of passivation, the apparent hydrogen diffusivity is found to be 1.2×10^-11 cm²/s at 350°C in the TFT structure     

Effect of ion energy on hydrogen diffusion in n- and p-GaAs

The ion energy during electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma hydrogenation is found to have a strong effect on both the effective diffusivity and solubility of hydrogen in n⁺ and p⁺ GaAs. For fixed plasma exposure conditions (30 min, 250°C) the diffusion depths for -150 V acceleration voltage are ~50 and ~100% larger, respectively, in p⁺- and n⁺-GaAs compared to 0 V acceleration voltage. The smaller incorporation depths at lower ion energy coincide with much larger peak hydrogen concentrations and higher apparent thermal stability of passivated dopants     

High performance low temperature polysilicon thin film transistorusing ECR plasma thermal oxide as gate insulator

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma thermal oxide has been investigated as a gate insulator for low temperature (⩽600°C) polysilicon thin-film transistors based on solid phase crystallization (SPC) method. The ECR plasma thermal oxide films grown on a polysilicon film has a relatively smooth interface with the polysilicon film when compared with the conventional thermal oxide and it shows good electrical characteristics. The fabricated poly-Si TFT's without plasma hydrogenation exhibit field-effect mobilities of 80 (60) cm²/V·s for n-channel and 69 (48) cm²/V·s for p-channel respectively when using Si₂ H₆(SiH₄) source gas for the deposition of active poly-Si films     

Plasma-assisted epitaxial growth of GaAs and GaSb layers in hydrogen plasma

Plasma-assisted epitaxy has been successfully applied to grow device-quality GaAs and GaSb layers on semi-insulating GaAs at relatively low substrate temperatures. Nondoped GaAs layers deposited in argon and hydrogen plasma showed p- and n-type conduction, respectively. The mobility in As-grown nondoped n-layers deposited in hydrogen plasma at a substrate temperature of 550°C is 3200 cm²/V . s. Nondoped GaSb layers deposited in argon and hydrogen plasma both showed p-type conduction. Hole concentration and Hall mobility of an undoped GaSb layer deposited in hydrogen plasma at a substrate temperature of 410°C are about6 times 10^{16}cm^-3and 750 cm²/V . s, respectively, which are comparable to those obtained by other methods like MBE, MOCVD, etc., in spite of a lower substrate temperature in PAE. As the substrate temperature is decreased, optimum plasma power for the growth of good epitaxial layers shifts to higher value. PAE in hydrogen plasma was found to give much better results than in argon plasma, as indicated by lower carrier concentration, higher Hall mobility, and clear edge emission in photoluminescence.     

Stability of hydrogen in ScAlMgO4

Hydrogen as ²H was incorporated into ScAlMgO₄ by both ion implantation and by exposure to a plasma at 250°C. In the implanted material diffusion begins at 500°C and most of the hydrogen is lost by ≤ 750°C. This thermal stability for hydrogen retention is considerably lower than for other substrate materials for GaN epilayer growth, such as Al₂O₃ and SiC. There is minimal permeation of ²H from a plasma at 250°C (D_H ≤ 5 × 10⁻¹⁶ cm² s⁻¹) in ScAlMgO₄, and thus unintentional hydrogen incorporation into GaN overlayers should be minimal at typical growth temperatures.     

High-performance laser-processed polysilicon thin-film transistors

We present electrical results from hydrogenated laser-processed polysilicon thin-film transistors (TFT's) fabricated using a simple four-mask self-aligned aluminum top-gate process. Transistor field-effect mobilities of 280-450 cm²/Vs and on/off current ratios of more than 10⁸ are measured in these devices. Except for the amorphous-silicon deposition step, the highest processing temperature that the substrate was subjected to was 350°C. Such good performance is attributed to an optimized laser-crystallization process combined with hydrogenation     

Effects of hydrogenation on the performance and hot-carrierendurance of polysilicon thin-film transistors

Statistical analysis was performed to investigate the performance and reliability of hydrogenated polysilicon thin-film transistors (TFTs) in relation to the hydrogenation process. The hydrogenation was performed in pure H₂ plasma and in plasma of 4% H₂ diluted in Ar or He gas. TFTs hydrogenated in H₂/Ar or H₂/He plasma have lower on-voltage and better uniformity compared to the nonhydrogenated devices due to passivation of grain boundary dangling bonds. Hot-carrier experiments demonstrate that electron trapping is the dominant mechanism at the early stages of the degradation process and generation of interface and grain boundary traps as the stress proceeds further. The overall results indicate that devices hydrogenated in H₂/He plasma are the most reliable in terms of uniformity and hot-carrier stress     

Performance and off-state current mechanisms of low-temperatureprocessed polysilicon thin-film transistors with liquid phase depositedSiO2 gate insulator

Polysilicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFT's) with liquid phase deposition (LPD) silicon dioxide (SiO₂) gate insulator were realized by low-temperature processes (<620°C). The physical, chemical, and electrical properties of the new dielectric layer were clarified. The low-temperature processed (LTP) poly-Si TFT's with W/L=200 μm/10 μm had an on-off current ratio of 4.95×10 ⁶ at V_D=5 V, a field effect mobility of 25.5 cm ²/V·s at V_D=0.1 V, a threshold voltage of 6.9 V, and a subthreshold swing of 1.28 V/decade at V_D=0.1 V. Effective passivation of defects by plasma hydrogenation can improve the characteristics of the devices. The off-state current (I_L) mechanisms of the LTP poly-Si TFT's were systematically compared and clarified. The I_L is divided into three regions; the I_L is attributable to a resistive current in region I (low gate bias), to pure thermal generation current in region II (low drain bias), and to Frenkel-Poole emission current in region III (high gate bias and drain bias)     

High-quality polycrystalline Si TFTs fabricated on stainless-steelfoils by using sputtered Si films

We have developed a low-temperature fabrication process (⩽ 200°C for high-quality polycrystalline Si thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) on flexible stainless-steel foils. The fabrication processes is realized through sputter deposition of thin films, including active-Si and gate-SiO₂ films, crystallization of Si films by KrF excimer laser irradiation, and inductively coupled plasma hydrogenation. High-quality n- and p-channel poly-Si TFTs are successfully fabricated without suffering from problems of substrate bending, film ablation, or cracking in films. The resulting n- and p-channel poly-Si TFTs showed mobilities of 106 and 122 cm²/V·s, respectively. This paper describes the deposition and properties of the sputtered Si films and the fabrication process and electrical characteristics of the poly-SiTFTs     

Optical Kerr shutter performance of a solution of organic nonlinearoptical material

An optical Kerr shutter with much higher efficiency than the conventional CS₂ liquid is demonstrated, utilizing a solution of π-conjugated monomer material. Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility χ⁽³⁾ of the solution is evaluated by the efficiency of the Kerr shutter operation. The χ⁽³⁾ value of the solution depends on the molecular density, the molecular orientation behavior, and the dielectric constant of the solvent. To utilize these effects most efficiently, 4'-dimethylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium methylsulfate is dissolved in formamide to the saturation concentration. This results in χ⁽³⁾ =3.0×10^-12 esu and a Kerr shutter transmission of four times that of CS₂     

Study on hydrogenation of polysilicon thin film transistors by ionimplantation

Hydrogenation of polysilicon (poly-Si) thin film transistors (TFT's) by ion implantation has been systematically studied. Poly-Si TFT performance was dramatically improved by hydrogen ion implantation followed by a forming gas anneal (FGA). The threshold voltage, channel mobility, subthreshold swing, leakage current, and ON/OFF current ratio have been studied as functions of ion implantation dose and FGA temperature. Under the optimized conditions (H⁺ dose of 5×10¹⁵ cm^-2 and FGA temperature at 375°C), NMOS poly-Si TFT's fabricated by a low temperature 600°C process have a mobility of ~27 cm ²/V·s, a threshold voltage of ~2 V, a subthreshold swing of ~0.9 V/decade, and an OFF-state leakage current of ~7 pA/μm at V_DS=10 V. The avalanche induced kink effect was found to be reduced after hydrogenation     

Hydrogenation of polysilicon thin-film transistor in a planarinductive H2/Ar discharge

A planar inductive discharge is used to hydrogenate polysilicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs). Experimental results indicate that inductive discharges operate at higher plasma densities, thereby capable of shortening the hydrogenation time, in addition, to promote the ionization of hydrogen, Ar gas is also introduced to H₂ plasma during hydrogenation. Furthermore, we discuss the mechanism of Ar enhanced hydrogenation and the characteristics of H₂/Ar mixed plasma. Moreover, the post-hydrogenation anneal is utilized to further enhance passivation efficiency and improve the reliability of poly-Si TFTs     

High-performance submicrometer undergated thin-film transistorswithout high-temperature rapid thermal annealing or plasma hydrogenation

High-performance submicrometer undergated thin-film transistors (TFTs) are fabricated without using high-temperature rapid thermal annealing or plasma hydrogenation. These processes are used in the state-of-the-art devices, but avoided in current manufacturing. For a 0.35-μm×0.35-μm device and a 0.7-μm×0.5-μm device, I_ON of 3 and 1.2 μA are obtained with ON/OFF current ratios of 4×10⁵ and 1.2×10⁸ , respectively, very close to that of state-of-the-art devices. A new lightly-doped-drain (LDD) structure is employed to improve I_ON reproducibility, which is difficult to achieve for deep-submicrometer devices with the conventional lightly-doped-offset (LDO) structure     

Transport of the photoexcited electron-hole plasma in InP

Transport properties of the photoexcited electron-hole plasma in n-type InP have been studied by the spatial-imaged, time-resolved Raman scattering technique with 30μm and 0.1μm spatial resolution for lateral and perpendicular transport, respectively, and on a picosecond time scale. The plasma density ranging from 1 × 10¹⁶ to 2 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ was deduced from fitting of the Raman spectra with the plasmon-LO phonon scattering theory which took into account the contributions from free holes. In contrast to the experimental results of Young and Wan who found that ordinary diffusion equation was sufficient to fit their transient plasma density-time profiles in semi-insulating InP, our experimental measurements have shown that perpendicular transport (i.e., expansion into the bulk crystal) of the plasma in n-type InP can be very well described by a modified diffusion equation including the effect of drifting away from the surface based on a hydrodynamic model. The transient plasma density-time profiles were studied at T = 300K and for an initial injected plasma density n 2 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. The plasma has been found to expand laterally at a velocity V 5 × 10⁴ cm/sec and perpendicularly into the crystal at a velocity Vp 1.5 × 10⁵ cm/sec.     

Submicrometer self-aligned AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolartransistor process suitable for digital applications

A self-aligned process is developed to obtain submicrometer high-performance AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) which can maintain a high current gain for emitter sizes on the order of 1 μm². The major features of the process are incorporation of an AlGaAs surface passivation structure around the entire emitter-base junction periphery to reduce surface recombination and reliable removal of base metal (Ti/W) deposits from the sidewall by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma deposition of oxide and ECR plasma etching by NF₃. A DC current gain of more than 30 can be obtained for HBTs with an emitter-base junction area of 0.5×2 μm² at submilliampere collector currents. The maximum f_T and f_max obtained from a 0.5×2 μm² emitter HBT are 46 and 42 GHz, respectively at I_C=1.5 and more than 20 GHz even at I_C=0.1 mA     

Improvement of the Performance of TiHfO MIM Capacitors by Using a Dual Plasma Treatment of the Lower Electrode

We show that a conventional nitrogen plasma treatment is insufficient to suppress the formation of an interfacial layer at the bottom electrode of TiHfO metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors. However, the capacitance density and leakage current of TaN/TiHfO/TaN MIM capacitors monotonically improve by exposing the lower TaN electrode to an additional oxygen plasma treatment. By performing dual oxygen and nitrogen plasma treatments on the lower electrode, the leakage current was 4.8 times 10^-6 A/cm² (at -1 V) at a 28 fF/ mum² capacitance density.     

An analytical method of evaluating variation of the thresholdvoltage shift caused by the negative-bias temperature stress in poly-SiTFTs

The variation of the threshold voltage shift (V_th shift) caused by negative-bias temperature stress (-BT stress) in poly-crystalline silicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) was investigated. Based on the chemical reaction caused by -BT stress at the poly-Si/SiO₂ interface and the poly-Si grain boundary, an analytical method of evaluating the variation of both the V_th shift and the initial V_th was proposed. It was shown from this analysis that the enlargement of the poly-Si grain, using Si₂ H₆ gas could be a solution for efficient reduction of the easily hydrogenated dangling bonds which resulted in the V_th shift and suppression of the V_th shift and its variation. Moreover, it was suggested that there are two kinds of the dangling bonds; one is hydrogenated by hydrogenation and can be dehydrogenated by -BT stress; the other is not hydrogenated and the variation of its density is much smaller than the former     

Triple correlations

The (auto)triple correlation l⁽³⁾(t1, t2) is defined as the triple function integral, applied to the signal l(t) l⁽³⁾(t1, t2) = ∫ l(t)l(t + t1)l(t + t2) dt. The triple correlation l⁽³⁾(t1, t2) is less popular than the standard (double) correlation l⁽²⁾(t1) for several reasons: l⁽²⁾is sometimes easier to observe and to process, l⁽³⁾is small for many bipolar or complex signals, the mathematics associated with l⁽²⁾is better known. On the other hand, the triple correlation l⁽³⁾knows more about the signal l than does the ordinary autocorrelation l⁽²⁾. Also l⁽³⁾is in some ways more sensitive, in other ways less sensitive to noise, to bias drifts, etc. Hence, there are situations, where it is quite favorable to evaluate one-dimensional signals or two-dimensional pictures by means of their triple correlations. We will review the underlying mathematical tools and report on our projects where triple correlations were employed for studying laser pulse shapes, sound quality, halftone print statistics, mobility of bacteria, and astronomical speckle interferometry. We will mention also how others have used the triple correlation for ocean waves, engine noises, intensity interferometry, and other optical signal processing tasks.