Magnetic resonance studies of trapping centers in high-/spl kappa/ dielectric films on silicon

The electrical properties of high dielectric constant materials being considered for replacements of SiO/sub 2/ in metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) field effect transistors are dominated by point defects. These point defects play important roles in determining the response of these films in almost any imaginable reliability problem. A fundamental understanding of these defects may help to alleviate the problems which they can cause. The best known methods for determining the structure of electrically active defects in MOS materials and devices are conventional electron spin resonance (ESR) and electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR). In this paper, we review the limited ESR and EDMR work performed to date on high-/spl kappa/ materials. A discussion of magnetic resonance techniques as well as a brief overview of the extensively studied Si/SiO/sub 2/ system is also included.     

Conductive atomic force microscopy application on leaky contact analysis and characterization

Conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) is a popular technique for the electrical characterization of dielectric film and gate-oxide integrity. In this paper, we describe the application of C-AFM to fault identification at the contact level. We show that current mapping using C-AFM can easily isolate faulty contacts. In addition, C-AFM can also provide I/V characterization for root cause analysis of failures.     

Nanoscale Bias-Annealing Effect in Postirradiated Thin Silicon Dioxide Films Observed by Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

This paper investigated the reliability of thin silicon dioxide (SiO₂) subjected to irradiation followed by stress, using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). The I-V characteristics of localized spots on thin oxide films were measured before and after Co⁶⁰gamma-ray irradiation. The oxide films were then subjected to a ramped voltage stress simultaneously during the I-V measurements. By taking advantage of a small contact area, we report for the first time the nanoscale postirradiation bias-annealing effect in thin SiO₂ film using C-AFM. Based on the number of fluctuating current peaks appearing in the I-V curves of the pre- and posttreatment oxide films, as well as the calculated effective barrier height from the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling theory, we found that the trapped charge in the oxide films, but not the charge at the interface caused by Co⁶⁰gamma-ray irradiation, can be effectively annealed out by a postirradiation ramped voltage.     

沿面击穿型触发真空开关的热传导模型分析

介绍了沿面击穿型触发真空开关的基本结构和工作过程。从沿面击穿型触发真空开关场致发射击穿机理的分析出发,通过数学建模,引入热力学运动方程,建立了沿面型触发真空开关的真空放电阴极斑点热传导模型,它可以用来描述和估算沿面放电方式下触发真空开关的时延特性。然后以初始等离子体的产生与扩展机理为重点,讨论了沿面型触发真空开关的时延特性,对于采用氢化钛作为涂敷材料的沿面击穿型触发真空开关,进行了具体的分析计算。研究表明,以所建立的阴极斑点热传导模型为基础计算得到的时延结果和Lafferty及Farrall的经典实验数据相吻合,证明了计算模型的正确性。     

Insulation optimization by electrode contour modification based onbreakdown area/volume effects

This paper shows how to determine the electrode contour with the best insulation performance on the basis of an area effect and a volume effect in the breakdown field strength. Previous electric field optimization techniques have provided us only with an optimum electric field distribution, For the design of power apparatus insulation, we have to consider the dielectric breakdown characteristics rather than the electric field distribution. As a first step, we developed a new optimization technique which enables us to obtain an optimum electrode contour with the highest breakdown strength while taking into account the area and volume effects of breakdown strength of insulating media. From the results, we have confirmed that the proposed optimization method improved the breakdown voltage more than did the electric field optimization. This leads to an effective insulation design of electric power apparatus     

Effects of hot SF/sub 6/ on post-arc circuit breaker design

SF/sub 6/ is blown through the arc during interruption of an SF/sub 6/ puffer circuit breaker. This hot gas flows down an exhaust tube into the chamber of a dead tank circuit breaker where it can lower the dielectric withstand between the exhaust tube and the tank of the circuit breaker, leading to dielectric breakdown during the transient recovery voltage after clearing. This paper presents experimental evidence that any such breakdown is controlled by the hot gas near the exhaust tube, with cold gas in the remainder of gap having little effect on the breakdown voltage. This experimental conclusion is supported by a detailed theory for conditions under which breakdown can occur.     

Breakdown conditioning characteristics of long gap electrodes in a vacuum

An improvement in dielectric strength is required in vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) intended for use in higher voltage systems. In order to develop higher voltage VCBs, it is important to improve the dielectric strength in a vacuum based on consideration of the vacuum breakdown mechanism. Particularly for gaps longer than 10 mm, little is known about the breakdown mechanisms and their quantitative analyses in a vacuum. This paper discusses the breakdown conditioning characteristics of long gap electrodes, under a non-uniform electric field in a vacuum. We treat gap lengths of up to 50 mm in this paper. The conditioning characteristics are investigated under impulse voltage applications. A negative standard lightning impulse voltage was applied to rod-plane electrodes made of Cu-Cr and SUS304 for different tip radii and gap distances until the conditioning effect was completed. We observed illumination spots on electrodes at each breakdown during the conditioning process and calculated the corresponding breakdown field strengths. Experimental results revealed that the tendency of breakdowns associated with long gaps is different from that for the short gaps. As a result, we clarified that the breakdown field strengths are nearly constant at 110-120 kV/mm at the distances longer than 10 mm, and the breakdown field strength is at its maximum when the gap distance is about 5 mm.     

Physics-based drain current modeling of gate-all-around junctionless nanowire twin-gate transistor (JN-TGT) for digital applications

Vertically stacked dielectric separated independently controlled gates can be used to realize dual-threshold voltage on a single silicon channel MOS device. This approach significantly reduces the effective layout area and is similar to merging two transistors in series. This multiple independent gate device enables the design of new class of compact logic gates with low power and reduced area. In this paper, we present the junctionless concept based twin gate transistor for digital applications. To analyse the appropriate behaviour of device, this paper presents the modeling, simulation and digital overview of novel gate-all-around junctionless nanowire twin-gate transistor for advanced ultra large scale integration technology. This low power single MOS device gives the full functionality of “AND” gate and can be extended to full functionality of 2-input digital “NAND” gate. To predict accurate behaviour, a physics based analytical drain current model has been developed which also includes the impact of gate depleted source/drain regions. The developed model is verified using ATLAS 3D device simulator. This single channel device can function as “NAND” gate even at low operating voltage.     

Breakdown behavior of oil-impregnated polypropylene as dielectricin film capacitors

The dielectric breakdown behavior of thin metalized PP films for use in HV capacitors was studied as function of temperature with and without rape-seed oil as impregnation medium. The impregnating oil penetrates into the amorphous regions of the dielectric. With oil impregnation, the dielectric breakdown strength of the PP film is increased by >25%. A correlation between the breakdown strength and the degree of impregnation was found. With increasing temperature the breakdown strength of PP films decreases. Moreover, the measurements showed abrupt changes of slope in the breakdown strength at defined temperatures. From these results a correlation was established between the dielectric breakdown strength of PP films and temperature induced structure changes. It was shown that the abrupt changes of slope in the breakdown strength occurring at defined temperatures are due to the additives contained in the PP capacitor films used. Finally, guidelines for further development of impregnated PP films as dielectrics for high power capacitor applications are presented     

Dielectric strength of a vacuum interrupter contact gap after making current operations

Experimental results concerning the breakdown voltage and prebreakdown current of a vacuum interrupter contact gap, after making current operations, are presented. The dielectric strength of the contact gap is lowest for a switching sequence during which a making of high current is followed by a no-load contact opening. The breakdown voltage is much lower than after making operation, followed by interruption of a sufficiently high current. The basic process of breakdown initiation appears to be field electron emission from a specific structure on the contact surface, created by weld rupture.     

Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown of 4H-SiC/$ hbox{SiO}_{2}$ MOS Capacitors

Time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) is one of the major issues concerning long-range reliability of dielectric layers in SiC-based high-power devices. Despite the extensive research on TDDB of $hbox{SiO}_{2}$ layers on Si, there is a lack of high-quality statistical TDDB data of $hbox{SiO}_{2}$ layers on SiC. This paper presents comprehensive TDDB data of 4H-SiC capacitors with a $ hbox{SiO}_{2}$ gate insulator collected over a wide range of electric fields and temperatures. The results show that at low fields, the electric field acceleration parameter is between 2.07 and 3.22 cm/MV. At fields higher than 8.5 MV/cm, the electric field acceleration parameter is about 4.6 cm/MV, indicating a different failure mechanism under high electric field stress. Thus, lifetime extrapolation must be based on failure data collected below 8.5 MV/cm. Temperature acceleration follows the Arrhenius model with activation energy of about 1 eV, similar to thick $hbox{SiO}_{2}$ layers on Si. Based on these experimental data, we propose an accurate model for lifetime assessment of 4H-SiC MOS devices considering electric field and temperature acceleration, area, and failure rate percentile scaling. It is also demonstrated that temperatures as high as 365 $^{circ}hbox{C}$ can be used to accelerate TDDB of SiC devices at the wafer level.      

Impulse Breakdown Characteristics of Coated Electrodes in SF6 Gas

The authors investigated the impulse breakdown characteristics of coated high-voltage electrodes in SF6 gas with a varying nonuniform factor, electrode area, and coating material. From the viewpoint of the relation between breakdown stress and the stressed electrode area, it was clarified that with coated electrodes, breakdown voltage remains, with an increasing electrode area, nearly at the theoretically estimated level for SF6 gas breakdown without showing any decrease due to the area effect (in contrast to bare electrodes). Moreover, it was also recognized that repeated breakdown characteristics of coated electrodes differed depending on the coating materials.     

Double gate graphene nanoribbon field effect transistor with electrically induced junctions for source and drain regions

In this paper a novel graphene nanoribbon transistor with electrically induced junction for source and drain regions is proposed. An auxiliary junction is used to form electrically induced source and drain regions beside the main regions. Two parts of same metal are implemented at both sides of the main gate region. These metals which act as side gates are connected to each other to form auxiliary junction. A fixed voltage is applied on this junction during voltage variation on other junctions. Side metals have smaller workfunction than the middle one. Tight-binding Hamiltonian and nonequilibrium Green’s function formalism are used to perform atomic scale electronic transport simulation. Due to the difference in metals workfunction, additional gates create two steps in potential profile. These steps increase horizontal distance between conduction and valance bands at gate to drain/source junction and consequently lower band to band tunneling probability. Current ratio and subthreshold swing improved at different channel lengths. Furthermore, device reliability is improved where electric field at drain side of the channel is reduced. This means improvement in leakage current, hot electron effect behavior and breakdown voltage. Application to multi-input logic gates shows higher speed and smaller power delay product in comparison with conventional platform.     

茂金属聚乙烯改善低密度聚乙烯的介电性能

针对高压、超高压直流塑料电缆中存在的空间电荷效应,大多数直流电力电缆常采用改性方法提高其介电性能,如空间电荷特性、体积电阻率和击穿强度等。常用的改性方法主要有添加剂、共混、接枝和二元共聚4种。共混技术较广泛用以改性聚乙烯电缆,提高其介电性能。因此用电声脉冲法(PEA)测量了MPE与LDPE共混试样中的空间电荷分布;用高阻计测量了共混物的体积电阻率,用阶梯电压测量了共混物的交流击穿场强。试验结果表明,1%MPE与LDPE共混能有效降低空间电荷效应,提高交流击穿场强7.9%,略降低体积电阻率。最后讨论了共混物的物质结构、电荷陷阱及介电性能间的关系。     

Influence of electrode area on the conditioning effect in vacuum

Using three types of copper electrodes with different surface areas, experiments were performed to investigate the influence of electrode area on the conditioning effect,which is a characteristic of dielectric breakdown in vacuum gaps. The conditioning process varied with electrode area: the smaller the electrode area, the sooner conditioning ended. Breakdown voltages after completion of conditioning also depended on electrode area: the smaller the electrode area, the higher the breakdown voltage     

Electrical characterization of benzocyclobutene polymers for electric micromachines

An approach using interdigitated capacitors for electrical characterization of CYCLOTENE, a spin-on low-k benzocyclobutene (BCB)-based polymer is introduced and the effect of moisture uptake is investigated. The dielectric constant of CYCLOTENE is extracted from capacitance measurements with a systematic error less than 0.1%, giving an average value of 2.49 with a standard deviation of 1.5%. The dielectric constant increases by 1.2% after a humidity stress of 85% RH at 85/spl deg/C. The I-V characteristics of CYCLOTENE show a dependency of breakdown strength and leakage current on the geometrical dimensions of the device under test. A breakdown strength of 225V//spl mu/m and 320 V//spl mu/m for 2-/spl mu/m and 3-/spl mu/m finger spacing, respectively, and a leakage current of a few to tens of pA are measured. The I-V characteristics degrade drastically after the humidity stress, showing a breakdown strength of 100 V//spl mu/m and 180 V//spl mu/m for 2-/spl mu/m and 3-/spl mu/m finger spacing, respectively, and a maximum increase in the leakage current as large as one order of magnitude. The maximum performance and long-term reliability of an electric micromachine are adversely affected by the degradation of the breakdown voltage and the leakage current after moisture absorption. It is expected, however, that the electrical efficiency is improved using BCB-based polymers with negligible dependency on moisture absorption.     

Influence of ground and corona currents on dielectric behavior of small air gaps

This paper investigates the influence of grounding on the field distribution and on the dielectric behavior of small rod-plate and rod-rod air gaps. This effect can be attributed to the grounding of one electrode. In the different arrangements with one electrode grounded or with the electrodes symmetrically charged the experimental results of the corona and breakdown are recorded and compared to the simulation results of the field distribution. It is resulted that the grounding influences significantly the electric field distribution, the dc corona and the dc breakdown. The field is less inhomogeneous in grounded rod - plate air gaps and in rod-rod air gaps with symmetrically charged electrodes, and consequently the values of the corona onset and the breakdown voltage are higher. In longer air gaps the corona current influences the field distribution and consequently the dc breakdown. The effect of grounding on the breakdown is weakened when the dc polarity of the voltage is negative, otherwise it is enhanced. In air gaps with lengths > 3 cm (negative dc polarity) or >8 cm (positive dc polarity) it is overlapped by the effect of the corona current. Relations between the field strength, the corona current, the corona onset and the breakdown voltage arise. The principle of action-reaction is valid.     

The role of BaTiO3 in modifying the dc breakdownstrength of LDPE

In the present paper, the effect of the addition of fine particles 1%wt BaTiO₃ to plain low-density polyethylene (LDPE) on the short-term dc breakdown strength of LDPE is investigated. The Weibull plots are used to analyze the breakdown test results. This indicates that the addition of BaTiO₃ to LDPE has reduced the short-term dc breakdown strength of the doped material by ~16% and increased the dispersion of the breakdown data. The results also indicate that the Weibull exponent b has been reduced significantly for the doped material. Earlier measurements on the effects of the incorporation of BaTiO₃ in LDPE on dc current transients and space charge formation in LDPE are presented and correlated with the present results. Results from a variety of measurements using different techniques such as X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy are used in order to establish the effects of the incorporation of the additive in the polymer on its structure and morphology. The multiple role of BaTiO₃ additive in modifying the dc breakdown strength of LDPE is discussed in general terms of the existing breakdown theories in solid dielectrics. The combined effects of the additive on the different factors which influence the breakdown process in solids such as charge carrier mobility, charge carrier injection at the electrodes, space charge formation, polymer structure and morphology is explained and discussed. The present work introduces some novel elements in explaining breakdown processes in polymeric solid dielectrics by using an additive of known effects to provide an insight into the breakdown in LDPE. Moreover, an attempt is made to integrate results from different measurements using a multitude of techniques to yield a meaningful picture of the breakdown mechanism of LDPE     

半导电材料对纳米MgO/XLPE复合介质空间电荷影响的研究

聚合物纳米复合介质中空间电荷的注入与半导电电极材料密切相关,文中采用电声脉冲(PEA)法测量了预压-60 kV/mm电场1 h后,对比研究了六种不同半导电电极材料下交联聚乙烯(XLPE)和MgO/XLPE复合介质中的空间电荷分布;并对不同半导电电极材料下MgO/XLPE复合介质中的平均电荷密度进行了计算。对比实验表明:配方不同的半导电电极材料确实对试样中空间电荷的分布以及空间电荷量影响很大;以乙烯醋酸乙烯共聚物(EVA)为基础材料、添加30wt%炭黑的第二种半导电材料对MgO/XLPE复合介质中空间电荷的抑制效果最好。     

直流电絮凝法处理印染废水的研究

为提高传统化学法和生物法处理色度高、颜色变化频繁、化学需氧量(COD)值大和pH值高的印染废水的效果,试验研究了用直流电絮凝法处理实际印染废水并分析了COD、pH值和COD的变化以及极板和电能的消耗。试验结果表明,电絮凝法处理效果好,对pH值要求低,工艺简单,操作方便,成本低。