原子级分散负载催化剂的扫描透射电子显微学研究

球差校正扫描透射电子显微镜(STEM)因其原子级的空间分辨率和元素解析能力,在纳米功能材料的结构和成分分析中得到广泛使用.扫描透射电子显微镜高角环形暗场像技术(STEM-HAADF)凭借独特的原子序数衬度(Z衬度)和电子通道效应,在负载型纳米催化剂的结构研究中有着显著优势.通过STEM-HAADF成像,研究人员不仅可以...     

Hf基高K栅介质材料研究进展

随着微电子技术的不断发展,MOSFET的特征尺寸已缩小至100nm以下,SiO2作为栅介质材料已不能满足技术发展的需求,因此必须寻求一种新型高K的介质材料来取代SiO2.当今普遍认为Hf基栅介质材料是最有希望取代SiO2而成为下一代MOSFET的栅介质材料.综述了高K栅介质材料的意义、Hf基高K栅介质材料的最新研究进展和Hf基高K栅介质材料在克服自身缺陷时使用的一些技术;介绍了一款由Hf基高K介质材料作为栅绝缘层制作的MOSFET.     

高k栅介质薄膜材料研究进展

金属-氧化物-半导体场效应晶体管(MOSFET),要求其器件特征尺寸越来越小,当光刻线宽小于100nm尺度范围后,栅介质氧化物层厚度开始逐渐接近(1～1.5)nm,这时电子的直接隧穿而导致栅极漏电流随栅氧化层厚度的下降而指数上升,此外,当栅氧化层薄到一定程度后,其可靠性问题,尤其是与时间相关的击穿及栅电极中的杂质向衬底的扩散等问题,将严重影响器件的稳定性和可靠性.因此需要寻找一种具有高介电常数的新型栅介质材料来替代SiO2,在对沟道具有相同控制能力的条件下(栅极电容相等),利用具有高介电常数的介质材料(一般称为高k材料)作为栅介质层可以增加介质层的物理厚度,这将有效减少穿过栅介质层的直接隧穿电流,并提高栅介质的可靠性.本文介绍了高k栅介质薄膜材料的制备方法,综述了高k栅介质薄膜材料研究的应用要求及其研究发展动态.     

多孔PZT95/5铁电陶瓷材料研究进展

基于铁电材料冲击波去极化效应的高功率脉冲电源在国防和高新技术领域具有重要应用。PZT95/5铁电陶瓷是目前铁电体高功率脉冲电源应用的理想材料。近年来, 多孔PZT95/5铁电陶瓷被发现具有更优异的综合性能而引起广泛关注。本文概述了多孔PZT95/5铁电陶瓷在微结构与性能调控、冲击波加载下的响应行为以及抗冲击损伤机制等方面的最新进展。研究发现, 具有合适气孔率和气孔分布的多孔PZT95/5铁电陶瓷具有优异的抗冲击损伤和耐电击穿性能; 多孔脆性材料中破碎介质的“滑移与转动”变形机制增强了材料的塑性变形, 从而提高了多孔材料的抗冲击损伤性能。最后, 简要介绍了BNT基无铅铁电陶瓷以及PIN-PMN铁电单晶在高功率脉冲电源方面应用的研究进展, 并对未来研究工作提出展望。     

羟基磷灰石超长纳米线/植物纤维纳米复合“宣纸”及其防霉性能

宣纸是中国书画作品必不可少的载体, 具有优良的耐久性和防霉性能, 因此赢得了“纸中之王”的美誉。2009年, 宣纸被联合国教科文组织列入《人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录》。羟基磷灰石具有优良的生物相容性, 环境友好, 白度高, 是一种具有良好应用前景的生物材料。羟基磷灰石超长纳米线具有高柔韧性, 可用于构建具有不同功能的新型耐火纸。本研究发展了一种新型纳米复合“宣纸”, 由羟基磷灰石超长纳米线和植物纤维复合制成。所制备的纳米复合“宣纸”的白度随着羟基磷灰石超长纳米线含量增加而得到提高, 当羟基磷灰石超长纳米线重量比为25%时, 其白度为76.1%, 高于商品生宣纸(71.9%)或商品熟宣纸(70.3%)。采用三种霉菌(球毛壳霉菌、长枝木霉菌、黑曲霉菌)研究了新型纳米复合“宣纸”的抗霉菌性能。实验结果显示, 与传统宣纸相比, 所制备的纳米复合“宣纸”的防霉性能得到显著改善, 与空白样品和商品宣纸相比, 纳米复合“宣纸”对霉菌的生长具有更好的抑制能力, 在其表面三种霉菌的生长速率明显较低, 并且随着羟基磷灰石超长纳米线含量的增加而降低。在恒温恒湿箱内培养过程中, 商品宣纸表面生长出霉菌, 但是纳米复合“宣纸”表面上没有观察到明显的霉菌生长。预期所制备的纳米复合“宣纸”有助于书画艺术品的长久安全保存, 在书法和绘画艺术中具有良好的应用前景。     

高k栅介质的研究进展

随着集成电路的飞速发展,半导体器件特征尺寸按摩尔定律不断缩小.SiO2栅介质将无法满足Metal-oxide-semniconductor field-effect transistor(MOSFET)器件高集成度的需求.因此,应用于新一代MOSFET的高介电常数(k)栅介质材料成为微电子材料研究热点.介绍了不断变薄的SiO2栅介质层带来的问题、对MOSFET栅介质材料的要求、制备高k薄膜的主要方法,总结了高k材料的研究现状及有待解决的问题.     

新一代栅介质材料--高K材料

介绍了微电子工业的发展趋势和SiO2作为CMOS栅介质减薄所带来的问题,从而引出对高K材料的需求,简单介绍了作为栅极介质的各种高介电常数材料的性能的比较及制备高K薄膜的主要方法,总结了一些高K材料的研究现状,论述了目前有待进一步解决的问题,并展望了高K材料的发展趋势.     

高介电常数栅极电介质材料的研究进展

随着半导体技术的飞速发展,作为硅基集成电路核心器件的MOSFET的特征尺寸正以摩尔定律的速度缩小.然而,当传统栅介质层SiO2的厚度减小到原子尺寸时,由于量子隧穿效应的影响,SiO2将失去介电性能,致使器件无法正常工作.因此,必须寻找新的高介电常数材料来替代它.目前,高介电常数材料是微电子行业最热门的研究课题之一.主要介绍了栅介质层厚度减小所带来的问题(即研究高介电常数材料的必要性)、新型栅电介质材料的性能要求,并简要介绍和评述了近期主要高介电常数栅介质材料的研究状况及其应用前景.     

高K栅介质材料的研究现状与前景

论述了45～32nm技术节点下高K材料取代SiO2的必要性和基本要求,综述了高K栅介质中极具代表性的Hf基材料.研究表明,向HfO2中分别掺杂Al、si、Ta、N等形成的复合Hf基高K栅介质材料具备较Hfo2更加优异的物理结构、晶化温度、热力学稳定性以及电学特性,但与此同时也存在如何优化掺杂量、沟道载流子迁移率下降以及中间层引起的界面退化等难题.针对这些挑战,探讨了新型"堆垛结构"和引起载流子迁移率下降的物理机制,展望了高K材料在未来先进COMS器件中的应用.     

利用原子力显微镜低频声学模式观察氧化锌压敏电阻

介绍在商用原子力显微镜上建立的低频声学成像模式,并利用其对氧化锌压敏电阻陶瓷晶界处进行了弹性性能成像.声学像中晶界处微晶的衬度反映了添加物的分布.而晶界处的衬度增强现象可能说明样品经热处理后发生富铋相的相变.结果显示低频声成像的分辨率达到了纳米量级,在功能材料的微区力学性能表征方面具有良好的应用前景.     

Challenges in Atomic-Scale Characterization of High-k Dielectrics and Metal Gate Electrodes for Advanced CMOS Gate Stacks

The decreasing feature sizes in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistor technology will require the replacement of SiO2 with gate dielectrics that have a high dielectric constant (high-k) because as the SiO2 gate thickness is reduced below 1.4 nm, electron tunnelling effects and high leakage currents occur in SiO2, which present serious obstacles to future device reliability.In recent years significant progress has been made on the screening and selection of high-k gate dielectrics, understanding their physical properties, and their integration into CMOS technology.Now the family of hafnium oxide-based materials has emerged as the leading candidate for high-k gate dielectrics due to their excellent physical properties.It is also realized that the high-k oxides must be implemented in conjunction with metal gate electrodes to get sufficient potential for CMOS continue scaling.In the advanced nanoscale Si-based CMOS devices, the composition and thickness of interfacial layers in the gate stacks determine the critical performance of devices.Therefore, detailed atomicscale understandings of the microstructures and interfacial structures built in the advanced CMOS gate stacks,are highly required.In this paper, several high-resolution electron, ion, and photon-based techniques currently used to characterize the high-k gate dielectrics and interfaces at atomic-scale, are reviewed.Particularly, we critically review the research progress on the characterization of interface behavior and structural evolution in the high-k gate dielectrics by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and the related techniques based on scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), including high-angle annular darkfield (HAADF) imaging (also known as Z-contrast imaging), electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), due to that HRTEM and STEM have become essential metrology tools for characterizing the dielectric gate stacks in the present and future generations of CMOS devices.In Section 1 of this review, the working principles of each technique are briefly introduced and their key features are outlined. In Section 2, microstructural characterizations of high-k gate dielectrics at atomic-scale by electron microscopy are critically reviewed by citing some recent results reported on high-k gate dielectrics.In Section 3, metal gate electrodes and the interfacial structures between high-k dielectrics and metal gates are discussed.The electron beam damage effects in high-k gate stacks are also evaluated, and their origins and prevention are described in Section 4.Finally, we end this review with personal perspectives towards the future challenges of atomic-scale material characterization in advanced CMOS gate stacks.     

Direct oxygen imaging in titania nanocrystals

Recently, rutile nanotwins were synthesized using high temperature organic solvent methods, yielding two kinds of common high-quality rutile twinned nanocrystals, (101) and (301) twins, accompanied by minor rutile nanorods (Lu et?al 2012 CrystEngComm 14 3120-4). In this report, the atomic structures of the rutile and anatase nanocrystals are directly resolved with no need for calculation or image simulation using atomic resolution STEM techniques. The locations of the oxygen rows in the rutile twins' boundaries are directly determined from both HAADF images and ABF images. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time oxygen columns have been distinguished in rutile twin boundaries using HAADF and BF imaging.     

纳米负载催化剂的透射电子显微镜表征

利用透射电子显微镜(TEM)的明场、暗场和扫描透射3种表征技术对纳米负载催化剂Cu-Ag/SiO2的微观形貌、结构进行研究表征,并将所得结果进行对比,讨论这3种技术在表征负载催化剂微观结构方面的优缺点。结果表明:STEM不仅能表征纳米颗粒的粒径分布,还能得到样品的元素分布信息,结果最为直观全面。     

A Method for Identifying Variables for Predicting STEM Enrollment

This research examines demographic, academic, attitudinal, and experiential data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) for over 12,000 students at two universities to test a methodology for identifying variables showing significant differences between students intending to major in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) versus non‐STEM subjects. The methodology utilizes basic statistical techniques to identify significant differences between STEM and non‐STEM students within seven population subgroups based upon school attended, race/ethnicity, and gender. The value of individual variables is assessed by how consistently significant differences are found across the subgroups. The variables found to be most valuable in identifying STEM students reflect both quantitative and qualitative measures. Quantitative measures of academic ability such as SAT mathematics score, high school grade point average, and to a lesser extent SAT verbal score are all indicators. Qualitative measures including self‐ratings of mathematical ability, computer skills, and academic ability are also good indicators.     

TEM investigations on layered ternary ceramics

Layered ternary ceramics represent a new class of solids that combine the merits of both metals and ceramics.These unique properties are strongly related to their layered crystal structures and microstructures. The combination of atomic-resolution Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy （STEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, selected area electron diffraction （SAED）, convergent beam electron diffraction （CBED） represents a powerful method to link microstructures of materials to macroscopic properties, allowing layered ternary ceramics to be investigated in an unprecedented detail. Vicrostructural information obtained using TEM is useful in understanding the formation mechanism, layered stacking characteristics, and defect structures for layered ternary ceramics down to atomic-scale level; and thus provides insight into understanding the ＂Processing-Structure-Property＂ relationship of layered ternary ceramics. Transmission electron microscopic characterizations of layered ternary ceramics in Ti-Si-C, Ti-Al-C, Cr-Al-C, Zr-Al-C, Ta-Al-C and Ti-Al-N systems are reviewed.     

Present status and future prospects of spherical aberration corrected TEM/STEM for study of nanomaterials?

The present status of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is described from the viewpoint of the observation of nanomaterials. Characteristic features in TEM and STEM are explained using the experimental data obtained by our group and other research groups. Cs correction up to the 3rd-order aberration of an objective lens has already been established and research interest is focused on correcting the 5th-order spherical aberration and the chromatic aberration in combination with the development of a monochromator below an electron gun for smaller point-to-point resolution in optics. Another fundamental area of interest is the limitation of TEM and STEM resolution from the viewpoint of the scattering of electrons in crystals. The minimum size of the exit-wave function below samples undergoing TEM imaging is determined from the calculation of scattering around related atomic columns in the crystals. STEM does not have this limitation because the resolution is, in principle, determined by the probe size. One of the future prospects of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is the possibility of extending the space around the sample holder by correcting the chromatic and spherical aberrations. This wider space will contribute to the ease of performing in situ experiments and various combinations of TEM and other analysis methods. High-resolution, in situ dynamic and 3D observations/analysis are the most important keywords in the next decade of high-resolution electron microscopy.     

Atomic Spatial and Temporal Imaging of Local Structures and Light Elements inside Zeolite Frameworks

Identifying the atomic structures of porous materials in spatial and temporal dimensions by (scanning) transmission electron microscope ((S)TEM) is significant for their wide applications in catalysis, separation and energy storage. However, the sensitivity of materials to electron beams made it difficult to reduce the electron damage to specimens while maintaining the resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. It is therefore still challenging to capture multiple images of the same area in one crystal to image the temporal changes of lattices. Usings integrated differential phase contrast (iDPC) STEM, atomic-resolution imaging of beam-sensitive zeolite frameworks is achieved with an ultralow dose of 40 e⁻ Å⁻², 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional STEM. Based on the iDPC technique, not only the atomic 3D architecture of ZSM-5 crystals but also the changes of frameworks are observed during in situ experiments. Local structures and light-element aromatics in ZSM-5 crystals can also be revealed directly under iDPC-STEM. These results provided not only an efficient tool to image beam-sensitive materials with ultralow beam current but also a new strategy to observe and investigate the hydrocarbon pools in zeolite catalysts at the single-molecule scale.     

Present status and future prospects of spherical aberration corrected TEM/STEM for study of nanomaterials∗

Abstract

The present status of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is described from the viewpoint of the observation of nanomaterials. Characteristic features in TEM and STEM are explained using the experimental data obtained by our group and other research groups. Cs correction up to the 3rd-order aberration of an objective lens has already been established and research interest is focused on correcting the 5th-order spherical aberration and the chromatic aberration in combination with the development of a monochromator below an electron gun for smaller point-to-point resolution in optics. Another fundamental area of interest is the limitation of TEM and STEM resolution from the viewpoint of the scattering of electrons in crystals. The minimum size of the exit-wave function below samples undergoing TEM imaging is determined from the calculation of scattering around related atomic columns in the crystals. STEM does not have this limitation because the resolution is, in principle, determined by the probe size. One of the future prospects of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is the possibility of extending the space around the sample holder by correcting the chromatic and spherical aberrations. This wider space will contribute to the ease of performing in situ experiments and various combinations of TEM and other analysis methods. High-resolution, in situ dynamic and 3D observations/analysis are the most important keywords in the next decade of high-resolution electron microscopy.     

Predicting STEM Degree Outcomes Based on Eighth Grade Data and Standard Test Scores

Background Early identification of students who are potential candidates for achieving a degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) major would enable educators to offer programs designed to better enhance student interests and capabilities in those areas. Purpose (Hypothesis ) This study uses an integrated model leveraging the strengths of multiple statistical techniques to analyze the educational process from pre‐high school through college and predict which students will achieve a STEM education. Design /Method The probability of earning a STEM degree is modeled using variables available as of the eighth grade as well as standardized test scores from high school. These include demographic, attitudinal, experiential, and academic performance measures derived from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) dataset. The integrated model combines logistic regression, survival analysis, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis to predict whether an individual is likely to obtain a STEM degree. Results Predicted results of the integrated model were compared to actual outcomes and those of a separate logistic regression model. The modeling process identified a set of significant predictive variables and achieved very good predictive accuracy. The integrated model and logistic regression model performed with comparable precision. Conclusions The modeling process was adept at identifying STEM students and a large pool of other degree students that might have been capable of pursuing a STEM degree. The results suggest that it is quite feasible to identify good STEM candidates for a pro‐STEM intervention to engage their interest in STEM and support stronger quantitative skill development.     

Electrical properties of high-κ gate dielectrics: Challenges, current issues, and possible solutions

High-κ gate dielectrics like HfO₂ and HfSiO(N) are considered for the replacement of SiO₂ and SiON layers in advanced complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) devices. Using these gate oxides allows indeed to drastically reduce the leakage current flowing through the device, as required by the specifications of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. However, major problems remain to be solved before the possible use of high-κ gate dielectrics in integrated circuits. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the challenges and issues pertaining to high-κ-based devices. Several issues are discussed in detail, like flat-band and threshold voltage control, carrier mobility degradation, charge trapping, gate dielectric wear-out and breakdown, and bias temperature instabilities. Our current understanding of these issues is presented, with an emphasis on the relationship between the material properties of the gate stack, and the electrical properties of the devices. The combination of metal gates with high-κ gate dielectric appears to be a promising solution for the further scaling down of CMOS devices.