Characterising the surface roughness of AFM grown SiO2 on Si

The reliability of AFM grown SiO₂ as a gate oxide needs to be examined if nanodevices fabricated from the oxide are to be integrated into standard microelectronic technology. In this article we present our preliminary results on AFM fabrication and topographical characterisation of large area oxide, electrical characterisation is to follow. Roughness is the central issue of this work due to its importance in relation to the quality of ultra thin dielectrics.     

Tunneling of electrons from Si into thermally grown SiO2

Accurate measurements of electron tunneling at the SiSiO₂ interface were performed using the decay of surface potential following charging of the exposed oxide surface by positive corona ions. The surface potential was measured by an automated Kelvin-probe arrangement. Comparison of results for various substrate dopings, crystallographic orientations and oxide film thicknesses is presented. A model for tunneling based on electrons being confined within the lowest subband at the SiSiO₂ interface is also discussed and compared to the Fowler-Nordheim expression.     

Flat-field spectrograph in SiO2/Si

The operation of a flat-field spectrograph in silica glass on silicon (SiO₂/Si) as a demultiplexer with 4-nm channel spacing in the 1.5-μm waveguide length region is demonstrated. The concept allows fabrication tolerances to be compensated simultaneously with the adjustment of fan-out. Fiber-to-fiber insertion loss of 10.1 dB and crosstalk attenuation >15 dB have been achieved     

The doped Si/SiO2 interface

A study is reported of the influence of dopant atoms on the SiSiO₂ interface states of thermally oxidized silicon. It was found that acceptor or donor atoms induce interface states and oxide charges. The effect is largest in the case of acceptor dopants and is independent of the doping process. The influence of the dopant atoms on oxide charge is probably related to the different segregation coefficients of acceptors and donors.     

An epitaxial Si/SiO2 superlattice barrier

An epitaxial strain layer Si/SiO₂ superlattice barrier (SLSB) for silicon formed by monolayers of adsorbed oxygen, sandwiched between adjacent thin silicon layers deposited with molecular beam, showed good epitaxy with an effective barrier height of 1.7 eV. Such a barrier should be important for future quantum devices in silicon, as well as new applications in conventional MOS technology.     

Visible light emitting Si/SiO2 superlattices

Six-period superlattices of Si/SiO₂ have been grown at room temperature using molecular beam epitaxy. With this mature technology, the ultra-thin (1–3 nm) Si layers were grown to atomic layer precision. These layers were separated by 1 nm thick SiO₂ layers whose thickness was also well controlled by using a rate-limited oxidation process. The chemical and physical structures of the multilayers were characterized by cross-sectional TEM, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Auger sputter-profile, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis showed that the Si layer is free of impurities and is amorphous, and that the SiO₂/Si interface is sharp (0.5 nm). Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were made at room temperature using 457.9 nm excitation. The PL peak occurred at wavelengths across the visible range for these multilayers. The peak energy position E was found to be related to the Si layer thickness d by E (eV) = 1.60+0.72d⁻² in accordance with a quantum confinement mechanism and the bulk amorphous-Si band gap.     

Interface states in SiSiO2 interfaces

Interface state parameters were studied in MOS capacitors over a wide range of energy by conductance and capacitance measurements at various temperatures from room temperature to liquid nitrogen temperature. A new technique was developed for analysis of the data which allows to obtain the density of states, the capture cross section, the surface potential and the dispersion parameter from the conductance and capacitance vs. frequency curves. The density of interface states as well as the electron capture cross section were found to be a function of energy only and to be independent of temperature. Maxima in the density of states have not been found.     

Laser-induced self-organization of nano-wires on SiO2/Si interface

Original observation of new graded band gap structures formed on the surface of elementary Si semiconductor at studying the optical properties of Si nano-hills formed at the SiO₂/Si interface by pulsed Nd:YAG laser irradiation is reported. The self-organized nano-hills on Si surface are characterized by a strong photoluminescence in the visible range of spectrum with a shoulder extended to the long-wave part of the spectrum. The feature is explained by the quantum confinement effect in nano-hills-nano-wires of gradually changing diameter.     

Effect of SiO2/Si interface roughness on gate current

In many theoretical investigations of the electric-tunnel effect through an ultrathin oxide in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure, it is commonly assumed that the oxide is of uniform thickness. One example of nonuniformity in oxides is interface roughness. Interface roughness effects on direct tunneling current in ultrathin MOS structures are investigated theoretically in this article. The roughness at SiO₂/Si interface is described in terms of Gauss distribution. It is shown that the transmission coefficient increases with root-mean-square (rms) roughness increasing, and the effect of rms roughness on the direct tunneling current decreases with the applied voltage increasing and increases with rms roughness increasing.     

Temperature dependent resistivity of platinum-carbon composite nanowires grown by focused ion beam on SiO2/Si substrate

Experimental studies of the temperature dependent resistivity of platinum nanowires grown on an oxidised silicon wafer by using focused ion beam (FIB) have been made. A series of 4-terminal resistivity measurements were carried out in the temperature range 50-300 K on single nanowires of width and thickness ∼100 nm grown by decomposition of an organometallic precursor using Ga⁺ ions of different accelerating voltages from 10 keV to 30 keV. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed the nanowires to be composed of more than 60% by volume of carbon, the remainder being principally platinum and gallium. The exact composition depends on the accelerating voltage of the ions used. There is clear evidence from cross-sectional microscopy that the material is a composite consisting of a metallic phase present in the form of nanoscale clusters, randomly distributed in a matrix of carbon. Electrical measurements are consistent with this, showing a critical volume concentration for conduction, which is typical of electron transport in composites with percolating metal phase. Results show an unexpectedly high sensitivity of the temperature dependence of resistivity near the critical volume concentration, which has been explained to arise from thermal strain effects. The anomalous temperature/strain effects observed in this investigation might be exploited in temperature measurement and strain sensor applications.     

Electroluminescence from Au/Si/SiO2/p-Si structure

Si/SiO₂ films have been grown using the two-target alternation magnetron sputtering technique. The thickness of the SiO₂ layer in all the films was 8 nm and that of the Si layer in five types of the films ranged from 4 to 20 nm in steps of 4 nm. Visible electroluminescence (EL) has been observed from the Au/Si/SiO₂/p-Si structures at a forward bias of 5 V or larger. A broad band with one peak 650–660 nm appears in all the EL spectra of the structures. The effects of the thickness of the Si layer in the Si/SiO₂ films and of input electrical power on the EL spectra are studied systematically.     

Determination of Si/SiO2 interface roughness using weaklocalization

The interface roughness of intentionally textured Si/SiO₂ interfaces was measured using the quantum weak localization (WL) correction to the electrical conductivity at low temperatures. The deduced roughness was confirmed by observation of the Si surface replicas by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Quantitative agreement between the two methods was found (Δ=1.2 to 1.4 Å from WL and 1.35 Å from AFM). For a surface with artificially induced texture, it is found that WL can easily distinguish a significant increase in roughness relative to the smooth surfaces. AFM confirms this qualitative conclusion     

Surface charge and stress in the Si/SiO2 system

A model for the stress distribution in thermally oxidised silicon slices has been developed using beam theory and bimetallic strip theory. The stresses have been confirmed by making lattice parameter measurements on oxidised silicon using the APEX X-ray diffraction technique. The often suggested relationship between the surface charge density at the Si/SiO₂ interface and the stress in the silicon surface has been investigated and shown to be inconsistent. Finally, analysis of the variation of surface charge density with oxide thickness has caused us to postulate the presence of both positively and negatively charged centres at the interface.     

Effect of implantation and annealing conditions on the photoluminescence emission of Si nanocrystals ion beam synthesised in SiO2

In this article, we present a systematic study of the evolution of photoluminescence (PL) emission of Si nanocrystals with elaboration conditions. Si nanocrystals synthesised in SiO₂ by ion implantation and annealing at 1100°C show a wide (0.3 eV) and a very intense PL emission centred at 1.5–1.7 eV, linked to the presence of the nanocrystals. The intensity of this emission shows a typical behaviour with the annealing time, with a fast transitory increase to reach an asymptotical saturation. There is a linear increase of the PL intensity at saturation with the dose. Two regimes are clearly observed for the evolution of the PL energy position as a function of the annealing time for different peak supersaturations (s): (i) for s<5%, there is a decrease transient followed by a saturation state of the maximum peak energy, and (ii) for s5% the PL energy presents an increase transient followed by a saturation state.     

SOI planar photonic crystal fabrication: Etching through SiO2/Si/SiO2 layer systems using fluorocarbon plasmas

Dry plasma etching of sub-micron structures in a SiO₂/Si/SiO₂ layer system using Cr as a mask was performed in a fluorocarbon plasma. It was determined that the best anisotropy could be achieved in the most electropositive plasma. A gas composition yielding the desired SOI planar photonic crystal structures was optimized from the available process gases, Ar, He, O₂, SF₆, CF₄, c-C₄F₈, CHF₃, using DC bias data sets. Application of the c-C₄F₈/(noble gas) chemistry allowed fabrication of the desired SOI planar photonic crystal. The average etching rates for the pores and ridge waveguide regions were about 71 and 97 nm/min, respectively, while the average SiO₂/Si/SiO₂ to Cr etching selectivity for the ridge waveguide region was about 33:1 in case of the c-C₄F₈/90%Ar plasma with optimized parameters.     

Charge storage peculiarities in poly-Si–SiO2–Si memory devices with Si nanocrystals rich SiO2

The paper focuses on the study of charge trapping processes in non-volatile memory metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) structures with Si nanocrystal floating gate formed by Si ion implantation. Careful electrical studies of the MOS structures based on the analysis of the capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics during pulse charge injection in the oxide enabled the distinguishing of the electron emission from the nanoclusters and the charge trapping in structural defects of the dioxide matrix. The trapping model is discussed.     

Improved reliability of NO-nitrided SiO2 grown on p-type4H-SiC

This letter demonstrates that the reliability of oxides grown on p-type 4H-SiC can be dramatically improved by NO nitridation. High field (-8 Mv/cm) room-temperature stressing and high-temperature negative-bias (250°C, -4 MV/cm) testing were used to investigate the reliability of NO nitrided oxides. Relatively small changes in the flat-band voltage, interface-trap density and leakage current were observed after 5000 s in the case of NO nitrided oxides, while shorter stressing shifted these parameters dramatically in the case of N annealed control samples     

Study on Nitridation-Induced Residual Stress near Si/SiO2 Interface in n-MOSFETs

本文借助氩离子(Ar     

MOS characteristics of ultrathin SiO2 prepared byoxidizing Si in N2O

MOS characteristics of ultrathin gate oxides prepared by furnace oxidizing Si in N₂O have been studied. Compared to control oxides grown in O₂, N₂O oxides exhibit significantly improved resistance to charge trapping and interface state generation under hot-carrier stressing. In addition, both charge to breakdown and time to breakdown are improved considerably. MOSFETs with N₂O gate dielectrics exhibit enhanced current drivability and improved resistance to g_m degradation during channel hot-electron stressing     

Capacitance voltage characterization of poly SiSiO2Si structures

The high frequency C-V characteristics of poly SiSiO₂Si capacitors have been studied. It is shown that the poly SiSiO₂Si capacitor C-V characteristics are significantly different from the corresponding metal-SiO₂Si capacitor due to field penetration into the poly Si layer. A comparison of the theoretical and measured C-V characteristics gives an estimate of the surface state charge density at the poly SiSiO₂ interface and indicates that the surface potential behavior of this interface is trap and surface state dominated up to poly silicon impurity concentrations of approximately 10¹⁷ cm^?3.