High performance infra-red detectors based on Si/SiGe multilayers quantum structure

Recently, single crystalline (Sc) Si/SiGe multi quantum structure has been recognized as a new low-cost thermistor material for IR detection. Higher signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) than existing thermistor materials have converted it to a candidate for infrared (IR) detection in night vision applications. In this study, the effects of Ge content, C doping and the Ni silicidation of the contacts on the performance of SiGe/Si thermistor material have been investigated. Finally, an uncooled thermistor material with TCR of −4.5%/K for 100 μm × 100 μm pixel sizes and low noise constant (K_1/f) value of 4.4 × 10⁻¹⁵ is presented. The outstanding performance of the devices is due to Ni silicide contacts, smooth interfaces, and high quality multi quantum wells (MQWs) containing high Ge content.     

Effects of neutron irradiation on SiGe HBT and Si BJT devices

The change of electrical performance of SiGc HBT and Si BJT is studied after irradiation with 1.3×10¹³ and 1.0×10¹⁴ reactor fast neutrons cm^–2. I _c and decrease, while I _b increases generally with an increasing neutron irradiation fluence for SiGe HBT. For Si BJT, I _c increases at low V _be bias, decreases at high V _be bias; I _b increases; and decreases much more than a SiGe HBT at the same fluence. It is shown that a SiGe HBT has much better anti-radiation performance than a Si BJT. The mechanism of performance changes induced by irradiation is discussed.     

Effect of silicidation on silicon-based thin film resistors in SiGe integrated circuits

The resistance variation of the silicon–germanium (SiGe) thin film resistor caused by the fabrication process of SiGe integrated circuits (ICs) was investigated. The SiGe resistor and the Si resistor were made of the thin films identical with the p-type SiGe base layer and the n-type Si emitter layer of the SiGe hetero-junction bipolar transistor, respectively. The range of the resistance value of the SiGe resistor was much larger than that of the Si resistor, and an abnormally high resistance of the SiGe resistor was often observed. Ti–B precipitates and Ti(Si_1−x Ge _x )₂ protrusions were created as the result of the Ti silicidation of the p-type SiGe layer, whereas no precipitates and protrusions were generated in the case of the n-type Si layer. It was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy that the nonuniform resistance of the SiGe resistor was induced by the removal of the protrusions and underlying field oxides in the contact window. Resistance uniformity of the SiGe resistor was much improved by increasing the contact size. The simulation result of the detrimental influence of the resistance change on ICs indicated that the fabrication process and the structure of the thin film resistor should be optimized for enhancing IC reliability.     

Characterization of lead zirconate titanate thin film deposition onto Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates

Lead zirconate titanate, (Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃PZT) thin films were deposited onto a Pt/Ti/SiO_2/Si substrate using radio frequency (r.f.) planar magnetron sputtering in this study. The deposited PZT thin films were almost amorphous before the annealing processes and developed a perovskite structure after the annealing process. If the annealing temperature was too low or annealing time too short, pyrochlore would form. However, if the annealing temperature was too high or annealing time too long, the thin film structure would degrade due to the volatilization of PbO. The significant finding in this experiment is that high quality perovskite PZT thin films on Pt/Ti/SiO_2/Si substrates can be obtained by adjusting the annealing temperature to a range of 650 °C to 850 °C and annealing time to a range from 5 to 80 min. In this experiment, the optimal annealing condition was an annealing temperature of 650 °C and time of 20 min. The properties of PZT thin film annealed at 650 °C for 20 min were dielectric constant _r = 869 free dielectric constant ^T ₃₃ = 893 piezoelectric constant d₃₃ = 2.03p m V^-1 piezoelectric constant g₃₃ = 2.57 x 10^-4 V m N^-1, remanent polarization P₁ = 112.5 nC cm^-2 and coercive field E_c= 0.061 kV cm^-1.     

Si/SiGe异质结双极晶体管的研制

通过理论分析计算，计算机模拟和工艺实验，对Si/SiGe异质结双极晶体管（HBT）的结构参数进行了精细的优化设计，特别是采用了本征间隔层和新颖的Ge分布曲线，有效地削弱了基区杂质外扩散，基区复合和异质结势垒效应的不利影响。开发了兼容于硅工艺的锗硅HBT工艺，并据此试制出了Si/SiGeHBT，测量结果表明，器件的直流和交流特性均较好，电流放大系数为50，截止频率fT为5.1GHz。     

Mesa and planar SiGe-HBTs on MBE-wafers

SiGe-HBTs have the potential for outstanding analog and digital or mixed-signal high frequency circuits widely based on standard Si technology. Here we review on MBE grown transistors and circuits. Processes and results of a research-like SiGe HBT and two possible production relevant HBT versions are presented. The high frequency results with f_max and f_T up to 120 GHz and a minimum noise figure of 0.9 dB at 10 GHz demonstrate the advantage of using MBE samples with steep and high base doping and high germanium contents. A comparison to the concept of reported low doped, low germanium and triangular profiled SiGe base layers, realized by UHV-CVD, is given. In addition, some circuit demonstrators of SiGe-ICs will be presented.     

SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor issues towards high cryogenic performances

The performances increase at low temperature make the SiGe HBT a masterpiece for cryogenic circuits. The time-progressive enhancement of f_T and f_MAX toward the THz frequency at room and at cryogenic temperatures is presented along with STMicroelectronics and IBM successive HBTs generations. The influence of the Ge content and graduality into the base is discussed, highlighting the keys for best high-frequency cryogenic operation. This is shown with eight different cases and addressed on f_T, f_MAX, the transit time, the minimum noise figure and the equivalent noise resistance.     

High-performance strained Si/SiGe pMOS devices with multiple quantum wells

This paper describes the fabrication and results of the electrical characterization of buried channel Si/SiGe pMOS devices using double and single quantum wells. The devices have been fabricated in an almost standard CMOS technology including shallow trench isolation, rapid thermal annealing, and standard Co/Ti silicidation. The incorporation of 15% and 32% channels provides a strong enhancement (up to 85%) in long-channel mobility. This increased mobility behavior is translated into a 55% higher on-state current for the long-channel devices and a 13% higher on-state current (V/sub gs/-V/sub T/= -1 V and V/sub ds/= -1.5 V) for devices down to L/sub mask/=70 nm while maintaining low leakage and good short-channel and drain induced barrier lowering behavior.     

Electrical Performance of Electron Irradiated SiGe HBT and Si BJT

The change of electrical performances of 1 MeV electron irradiated silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) and Si bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was studied. After electron irradiation, both the collector current IC and the base current IB changed a little, and the current gain β decreased a little for SiGe HBT. The higher the electron irradiation fluence was, the lower the IC decreased. For conventional Si BJT, IC and IB increased as well as /? decreased much larger than SiGe HBT under the same fluence. The contribution of IB was more important to the degradation of β for both SiGe HBT and Si BJT. It was shown that SiGe HBT had a larger anti-radiation threshold and better anti-radiation performance than Si BJT. The mechanism of electrical performance changes induced by irradiation was preliminarily discussed.     

Interfacial reactions for the non-stoichiometric TiB x /(100)Si system

In order to evaluate the interfacial reactions in the TiB _x /(100)Si system and the thermal stability of non-stoichiometric TiB _x films (0 B/Ti 2.5), TiB _x /Si samples prepared by a co-evaporation process were annealed in vacuum at temperatures between 300 and 1000°C. The solid phase reactions were investigated by means of sheet resistance, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy, and stress measurement. For TiB _x samples with a ratio of B/Ti 2.0, an apparent structural change is not observed even after annealing at 1000°C for 1 h. For samples with a ratio of B/Ti < 2.0, however, there are two competitive solid phase reactions: the formation of a titanium silicide layer at the interface and the formation of a stoichiometric TiB₂ layer at the surface, indicating the salicide process. The sheet resistance and the film stress in the Ti/Si and TiB _x /Si systems are well explained by the solid phase reactions.     

Formation of SiGe/β-FeSi2 superstructures from amorphous Si/FeSiGe layers

Growth of SiGe/β-FeSi₂ superstructures by annealing of a-Si/a-FeSiGe layered structures was investigated for control of the strains in β-FeSi₂ by Ge doping. The [a-SiGe/β-FeSi₂(Ge)]_n multi-layered structures were formed after annealing at 700 °C. From the analysis of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra, it was found that β-FeSi₂(Ge) was strained by 0.4-0.5% for the sample with n=1. The strains decreased with increasing n, which was due to that the segregation of the Ge atoms from the a-Fe_0.4Si_0.5Ge_0.1 layers to the a-Si layers became large with increasing n. After annealing at 800 °C, agglomeration of β-FeSi₂ occurred, and nanocrystals of relaxed β-FeSi₂ and c-Si_0.7Ge_0.3 were formed. These demonstrate that the SiGe/β-FeSi₂ superstructures were formed by the Ge segregation. These new structures are useful for formation of opto-electrical devices.     

An a-Si:H/SiGe/Si punchthrough heterojunction phototransistors with an thin-Al film

An a-Si:H/SiGe/Si punchthrough heterojunction phototransistors (PTHPTs), responding to a wavelength of 850 nm, have been proposed and demonstrated in this work. The dramatic difference between PTHPTs and conventional heterojunction phototransistors is that the base is completely depleted in the PTHPTs, thus a larger optical gain is achieved due to the lack of a neutral base. Furthermore, the use of low-temperature a-Si:H instead of conventional crystalline silicon, a strained SiGe can be preserved at the interface of base and emitter, allowing ultrashallow junctions and abrupt doping profiles. Another advantage is that the a-Si:H can provide large valence-band discontinuity between base and emitter, avoiding photogenerated holes injected from base to emitter, and hence a larger collector current. In addition, we employed a thin Al-coating covered on the surface of emitter to enhance the collection of photogenerated holes. In comparison to the PTHPTS without the thin-Al coating, the optical gain of PTHPTs with thin-Al coating is increased from 922 to 3970 at 5-V bias voltage, responding to a light source of 850 nm with 0.028 mW.     

Growth,structure and electrical characteristics of epitaxial nickel silicide from chemically electroless Ni deposition on Si

The epitaxial NiSi₂ has been successfully grown on (100) and (111) silicon single crystals by chemical electroless deposition and isothermal annealing for the first time. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was applied to study the structure and orientation relationship of the films and substrates. The nickel silicide formed on both (100) and (111) Si substrates was identified to be NiSi₂ and was found to have epitaxial relationship with the substrates by bright field imaging and selected area diffraction pattern analysiS. Square, hexagonal and irregular dislocation networks were observed. The orientation relationships of silicide phase with respect to (100)Si substrate were identified to be (220)Si (220)NiSi₂, (400)Si (400)NiSi₂ and (001) Si (001)NiSi₂. The orientation relationships of silicide phase with respect to (111)Si substrate were identified to be (220)Si (02¯2)NiSi₂, (3¯11) Si (31¯1) NiSi₂ and [1¯1¯4]Si [1¯1¯2]NiSi₂. The average spacing of interfacial dislocations was about 90 nm for epitaxial silicide formed on (100)Si at 800° C, which is narrower than that on (111)Si. These spacings decreased with increasing annealing temperature.Sheet resistances were measured to be lower than that of poly-NiSi₂ produced from electron gun evaporation with the same annealing condition. A linear relationship between resistivity and thickness was found and discussed.     

Study on electroplated copper thin film and its interfacial reactions in the EPCu/IMPCu/IMPTaN/SiO2/Si multilayer structure

Electroplated Cu film on a thin seed layer of IMP deposited Cu has been investigated in the EPCu (1 m)/IMPCu (150 nm)/TaN (25 nm)/SiO₂(500 nm)/Si multi-layer structure. The characteristics of Electroplated-Cu films before and after annealing were investigated by means of sheet resistance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS). Annealing at temperatures of higher than 750°C resulted in slightly higher sheet resistance, larger grain sizes and rougher surface. SEM micrograph showed that the agglomeration of EP-Cu film occurred only at annealing temperatures higher than 850°C. During annealing, the EP-Cu grain grew normally and their sizes increased to about five times larger than the thickness of the EP-Cu film but the (111) preferred orientation was maintained up to 950°C. Furthermore, the interfacial reactions between Cu layer and IMP-TaN diffusion barrier were also detected at annealing temperatures of higher than 750°C.     

Interfacial properties and characterization of Sc/Si multilayers

We investigate the intermixing of layers in Sc/Si and Sc/B₄C/Si/B₄C multilayers using electron and synchrotron excited soft X-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy. The multilayers are annealed at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 °C after preparation by magnetron sputtering. Silicon K_β emission and reflectivity measurements verify that the non-annealed multilayer systems are composed of distinct layers with only a minor interdiffusion in Sc/Si samples whereas annealing Sc/Si multilayers at 400 °C leads to a degradation of the multilayer structure and the formation of intermittent scandium silicide, ScSi. The presence of B₄C barriers in Sc/B₄C/Si/B₄C hinders this degradation from developing for the entire temperature range considered. The barrier layers continue to be effective for the entire temperature range even after an extended shelf-life.     

基于高电阻率衬底的Si/SiGe HBT

介绍了一种基于电阻率高达1000Ω·cm的硅衬底的锗硅异质结晶体管的研制.首先根据衬底寄生参数模型分析了衬底对器件高频性能的影响,然后设计了器件的材料与横向结构尺寸,该器件采用掩埋金属自对准技术在3μm工艺线上制备而成,测得其典型直流电流增益为120,BVCEO为9.0V,fT为10.2GHz,fmax为5.3GHz,比同结构尺寸的常规N 衬底Si/SiGe HBT的fT和fmax分别高出3.9GHz和1.5GHz.     

Effects of rapid thermal treatments on Ti/TiN/Si structures for electrical contacts on silicon

Abstract

A possible new technique for metallisations in Si microelectronics technology has been prepared and characterised. Bilayers of TiN_x/Ti were deposited by sputtering over a Si substrate. The samples were annealed in a rapid thermal processing system, and further analysed using Auger electron spectroscopy and electrical measurements (Schottky barrier height and sheet resistance). Significant differences from the more usual silicidiltion process of a Ti/Si structure have been observed. The silicidation process of the TiN_x/Ti structures is mainly controlled by the presence of the intermediate TiN layer. The final structure was determined to be Si/TiSi_x/TiN_y/TiSi_z.

MST/3336     

High-quality n-Si/i-p+-i SiGe/n-Si structure grown by ultra high vacuum chemical molecular epitaxy

The n-Si/i-p⁺-i SiGe/n-Si structure was grown by ultra high vacuum chemical molecular epitaxy, and analysed by high resolution X-ray diffraction, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. A high-quality SiGe base layer with an abrupt interface to the Si was obtained. No defects were observed in the n-Si/i-p⁺-i SiGe/n-Si structure. Both the Ge and boron atoms are uniformly distributed in the p⁺-SiGe layer, and the changes of profile of both boron and Ge atoms are abrupt from the n-Si to the SiGe layer. A high-performance microwave power SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) was made from the n-Si/i-p⁺-i SiGe/n-Si structure. Therefore, device-quality n-Si/i-p⁺-i SiGe/n-Si structures can be grown by ultra high vacuum chemical molecular epitaxy.     

Effects of stress on the interfacial reactions of metal thin films on (0 0 1)Si

The influences of stress on the interfacial reactions of Ti and Ni metal thin films on (0 0 1)Si have been investigated. Compressive stress present in the silicon substrate was found to retard significantly the growth of Ti and Ni silicide thin films. On the other hand, the tensile stress present in the silicon substrate was found to enhance the formation of Ti and Ni silicides. For Ti and Ni on stressed (0 0 1)Si substrates after rapid thermal annealing, the thicknesses of TiSi₂ and NiSi films were found to decrease and increase with the compressive and tensile stress level, respectively. The results clearly indicated that the compressive stress hinders the interdiffusion of atoms through the metal/Si interface, so that the formation of metal silicide films was retarded. In contrast, tensile stress facilitates the interdiffusion of atoms. As a result, the growth of Ti and Ni silicide is promoted.     

Oxidation resistance of diffusion coatings formed by pack-codeposition of Al and Si on γ-TiAl

Oxidation resistance of the aluminide and silicide diffusion coatings pack-deposited on -TiAl were studied in air over the temperature range of 800 and 850°C for up to 4596 h. The oxidation kinetics of the coatings was monitored by intermittent weight gain measurement at room temperature. The XRD and SEM/EDS techniques were used to identify the oxide scales formed during the oxidation process and to assess the thermal stability of the coatings at the oxidising temperatures. It was revealed that the TiAl₃ coating underwent preferential Al oxidation to form the Al₂O₃ scale in the early oxidation stage, which resulted in Al depletion and formation of TiAl₂ in the subsurface of the coating. The Al depletion could not be sufficiently compensated by Al diffusion from the inner layer of the coating and eventually, in the late oxidation stage, led to the Ti oxidation and formation of the TiO₂ phase in the scale. The preferential Si oxidation was the main oxidation mechanism for the coatings with an outer silicide layer and an inner TiAl₃ layer with the formation of SiO₂ as the stable oxide scale. The thermal stability of the coatings over the temperature range up to 850°C was discussed in relation to the high-temperature stability of diffusion couples of different coating layers.