Improved Electrical Properties of Ge p-MOSFET With $ hbox{HfO}_{2}$ Gate Dielectric by Using $hbox{TaO}_{x} hbox{N}_{y}$ Interlayer

The electrical characteristics of germanium p-metal-oxide-semiconductor (p-MOS) capacitor and p-MOS field-effect transistor (FET) with a stack gate dielectric of HfO₂/TaOxNy are investigated. Experimental results show that MOS devices exhibit much lower gate leakage current than MOS devices with only HfO₂ as gate dielectric, good interface properties, good transistor characteristics, and about 1.7-fold hole-mobility enhancement as compared with conventional Si p-MOSFETs. These demonstrate that forming an ultrathin passivation layer of TaOxNy on germanium surface prior to deposition of high-k dielectrics can effectively suppress the growth of unstable GeOx, thus reducing interface states and increasing carrier mobility in the inversion channel of Ge-based transistors.     

A Comparative NBTI Study of $hbox{HfO}_{2}$, $hbox{HfSiO}_{x}$, and SiON p-MOSFETs Using UF-OTF $I_{rm DLIN}$ Technique

The time, temperature, and oxide-field dependence of negative-bias temperature instability is studied in $hbox{HfO}_{2}/hbox{TiN}$, $ hbox{HfSiO}_{x}/hbox{TiN}$, and SiON/poly-Si p-MOSFETs using ultrafast on-the-fly $I_{rm DLIN}$ technique capable of providing measured degradation from very short (approximately microseconds) to long stress time. Similar to rapid thermal nitrided oxide (RTNO) SiON, $hbox{HfO}_{2}$ devices show very high temperature-independent degradation at short (submilliseconds) stress time, not observed for plasma nitrided oxide (PNO) SiON and $hbox{HfSiO}_{x}$ devices. $hbox{HfSiO}_{x}$ shows lower overall degradation, higher long-time power-law exponent, field acceleration, and temperature activation as compared to $hbox{HfO}_{2}$, which are similar to the differences between PNO and RTNO SiON devices, respectively. The difference between $ hbox{HfSiO}_{x}$ and $hbox{HfO}_{2}$ can be attributed to differences in N density in the $hbox{SiO}_{2}$ IL of these devices.      

Equivalent Circuit Model for the Gate Leakage Current in Broken Down $hbox{HfO}_{2}/hbox{TaN/TiN}$ Gate Stacks

We propose an equivalent circuit model for the post-breakdown (BD) current–voltage ( $I$–$V$) characteristics in $hbox{HfO}_{2}/hbox{TaN/TiN}$ gate stacks in n-MOSFETs. The model consists of two opposite-biased diodes with series resistances and a shunt leakage path. The circuit admits analytical solution using the Lambert $W$-function and is tested for both negative and positive gate biases in the voltage range of $-$1.5 to $+$1.5 V. We also show the versatility of the proposed approach to deal with the post-BD $I$– $V$ when source and drain contacts are grounded or floating and analyze the obtained results in terms of the charge available for conduction.      

Impacts of $hbox{N}_{2}$ and $hbox{NH}_{3}$ Plasma Surface Treatments on High-Performance LTPS-TFT With High-$kappa$ Gate Dielectric

Low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon thin-film transistors (LTPS-TFTs) with high- $kappa$ gate dielectrics and plasma surface treatments are demonstrated for the first time. Significant field-effect mobility $mu_{rm FE}$ improvements of $sim$86.0% and 112.5% are observed for LTPS-TFTs with $hbox{HfO}_{2}$ gate dielectric after $hbox{N}_{2}$ and $ hbox{NH}_{3}$ plasma surface treatments, respectively. In addition, the $hbox{N}_{2}$ and $ hbox{NH}_{3}$ plasma surface treatments can also reduce surface roughness scattering to enhance the field-effect mobility $mu_{rm FE}$ at high gate bias voltage $V_{G}$, resulting in 217.0% and 219.6% improvements in driving current, respectively. As a result, high-performance LTPS-TFT with low threshold voltage $V_{rm TH} sim hbox{0.33} hbox{V}$, excellent subthreshold swing S.S. $sim$0.156 V/decade, and high field-effect mobility $mu_{rm FE} sim hbox{62.02} hbox{cm}^{2}/hbox{V} cdot hbox{s}$ would be suitable for the application of system-on-panel.      

AlGaN/GaN MOS-HEMT With $hbox{HfO}_{2}$ Dielectric and $hbox{Al}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ Interfacial Passivation Layer Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition

We have developed a novel AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron mobility transistor using a stack gate HfO₂/Al₂O₃ structure grown by atomic layer deposition. The stack gate consists of a thin HfO₂ (30-A) gate dielectric and a thin Al₂O₃ (20- A) interfacial passivation layer (IPL). For the 50-A stack gate, no measurable C-V hysteresis and a smaller threshold voltage shift were observed, indicating that a high-quality interface can be achieved using a Al₂O₃ IPL on an AlGaN substrate. Good surface passivation effects of the Al₂O₃ IPL have also been confirmed by pulsed gate measurements. Devices with 1- mum gate lengths exhibit a cutoff frequency (fT) of 12 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation (f _MAX) of 34 GHz, as well as a maximum drain current of 800 mA/mm and a peak transconductance of 150 mS/mm, whereas the gate leakage current is at least six orders of magnitude lower than that of the reference high-electron mobility transistors at a positive gate bias.     

Fabrication of Self-Aligned Enhancement-Mode $ hbox{In}_{0.53}hbox{Ga}_{0.47}hbox{As}$ MOSFETs With $ hbox{TaN/HfO}_{2}hbox{/AlN}$ Gate Stack

In this letter, we report the fabrication and characterization of self-aligned inversion-type enhancement-mode In_0.53Ga_0.47As metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). The In_0.53Ga_0.47As surface was passivated by atomic layer deposition of a 2.5-nm-thick AIN interfacial layer. In_0.53Ga_0.47As MOS capacitors showed an excellent frequency dispersion behavior. A maximum drive current of 18.5 muA/mum was obtained at a gate overdrive of 2 V for a MOSFET device with a gate length of 20 mum. An I_on/_off ratio of 104, a positive threshold voltage of 0.15 V, and a subthreshold slope of ~165 mV/dec were extracted from the transfer characteristics. The interface-trap density is estimated to be ~7-8 times 10¹² cm^-2 ldr eV^-1 from the subthreshold characteristics of the MOSFET.     

High Density and Low Leakage Current in $ hbox{TiO}_{2}$ MIM Capacitors Processed at 300 $^{circ} hbox{C}$

We report Ir/TiO₂/TaN metal-insulator-metal capacitors processed at only 300degC, which show a capacitance density of 28 fF/mum² and a leakage current of 3 times 10^-8 (25degC) or 6 times 10^-7 (125degC) A/cm² at -1 V. This performance is due to the combined effects of 300degC nanocrystallized high-kappa TiO₂, a high conduction band offset, and high work-function upper electrode. These devices show potential for integration in future very-large-scale-integration technologies.     

High-Performance Metal-Induced Laterally Crystallized Polycrystalline Silicon P-Channel Thin-Film Transistor With $hbox{TaN/HfO}_{2}$ Gate Stack Structure

In this letter, high-performance low-temperature poly-Si p-channel thin-film transistor with metal-induced lateral- crystallization (MILC) channel layer and TaN/HfO₂ gate stack is demonstrated for the first time. The devices of low threshold voltage V_TH ~ 0.095 V, excellent subthreshold swing S.S. ~83 mV/dec, and high field-effect mobility mu_FE ~ 240 cm²/V ldr s are achieved without any defect passivation methods. These significant improvements are due to the MILC channel film and the very high gate-capacitance density provided by HfO₂ gate dielectric with the effective oxide thickness of 5.12 nm.     

Electrical Properties of Low-$V_{T}$ Metal-Gated n-MOSFETs Using $hbox{La}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}/hbox{SiO}_{x}$ as Interfacial Layer Between HfLaO High- $kappa$ Dielectrics and Si Channel

In this letter, we report that by employing the La₂O₃/SiO_x interfacial layer between HfLaO (La = 10%) high- and Si channel, the Ta₂C metal-gated n-MOSFETs V_T can be significantly reduced by ~350 mV to 0.2 V, satisfying the low-Vy device requirement. The resultant n-MOSFETs also exhibit an ultrathin equivalent oxide thickness (~1.18 nm) with a low gate leakage (J_G = 10 mA/cm² at 1.1 V), good drive performance (I_on = 900 muA/mum at I_soff = 70 nA/mum), and acceptable positive-bias-temperature-instability reliability.     

Characterization of $m$-Sequences of Lengths $2^{2k}-1$ and $2^{k}-1$ With Three-Valued Cross Correlation

Considered is the distribution of the cross correlation between in-sequences of length 2^2k -1, where m = 2k, and m-sequences of shorter length 2^k -1. New pairs of m -sequences with three-valued cross correlation are found and the complete correlation distribution is determined. Finally, we conjecture that there are no more cases with a three-valued cross correlation apart from the ones proven here.     

High-Performance $hbox{In}_{0.7}hbox{Ga}_{0.3}hbox{As}$ -Channel MOSFETs With High-$kappa$ Gate Dielectrics and $alpha$-Si Passivation

Long and short buried-channel $hbox{In}_{0.7}hbox{Ga}_{0.3}hbox{As}$ MOSFETs with and without $alpha$-Si passivation are demonstrated. Devices with $alpha$-Si passivation show much higher transconductance and an effective peak mobility of 3810 $hbox{cm}^{2}/ hbox{V} cdot hbox{s}$. Short-channel MOSFETs with a gate length of 160 nm display a current of 825 $muhbox{A}/muhbox{m}$ at $V_{g} - V_{t} = hbox{1.6} hbox{V}$ and peak transconductance of 715 $muhbox{S}/muhbox{m}$. In addition, the virtual source velocity extracted from the short-channel devices is 1.4–1.7 times higher than that of Si MOSFETs. These results indicate that the high-performance $hbox{In}_{0.7}hbox{Ga}_{0.3} hbox{As}$-channel MOSFETs passivated by an $alpha$ -Si layer are promising candidates for advanced post-Si CMOS applications.      

Reliability Mechanisms of LTPS-TFT With $hbox{HfO}_{2}$ Gate Dielectric: PBTI, NBTI, and Hot-Carrier Stress

In this paper, a comprehensive study of the reliability mechanisms of high-performance low-temperature polycrystalline-Si thin-film transistor (LTPS-TFT) with gate dielectric is reported for the first time. Various bias- and temperature-stress conditions, which correspond to positive-bias stress (PBS), positive-bias temperature instability (PBTI), negative-bias stress (NBS), negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI), and hot-carrier stress, are used to differentiate the distribution and mechanism of trap density states. The generation of deep-trap states of the effective interfacial layer (IL), tail-trap states of poly-Si grain boundaries, and electron trapping of the gate dielectric is observed for the PBS and PBTI of the LTPS-TFT. In addition, both the deep- and tail-trap states of the effective IL are generated under NBS and NBTI of the LTPS-TFT.     

Achieving Low-$V_{T}$ Ni-FUSI CMOS by Ultra-Thin $hbox{Dy}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ Capping of Hafnium Silicate Dielectrics

This letter reports that the effective work function (eWF) of Ni-Fully Silicided (Ni-FUSI) devices with HfSiON gate dielectrics can be modulated toward the silicon conduction band-edge by deposition of an ultra-thin Dy₂O₃ cap layer on the host dielectric. The obtained eWF depends on the deposited cap layer thickness and the Ni-FUSI phase, with 10 Aring Dy₂O₃ cap resulting in DeltaeWF ap 400 meV and final eWF ap 4.08 eV for NiSi-FUSI. Dielectric intermixing occurs without impacting the VT uniformity, gate leakage, mobility, and reliability. Well-behaved short-channel devices ( Lg ~ 100 nm, SS ~ 70 mV/dec, and DIBL ~ 65 mV/V) are demonstrated for both HfSiON and [HfSiON/Dy₂O₃ cap (5 Aring)] devices with NiSi-FUSI gates, corresponding to a similar . This capping approach, when combined with Ni-silicide FUSI phase engineering, allows (n-p) values up to 800 meV, making it promising for low- CMOS.     

High-Performance Poly-Silicon TFTs Using a High-$k$ $hbox{PrTiO}_{3}$ Gate Dielectric

In this letter, a polycrystalline-silicon thin-film transistor (poly-Si TFT) with a high- $k$ $hbox{PrTiO}_{3}$ gate dielectric is proposed for the first time. Compared to TFTs with a $hbox{Pr}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ gate dielectric, the electrical characteristics of poly-Si TFTs with a $hbox{PrTiO}_{3}$ gate dielectric can be significantly improved, such as lower threshold voltage, smaller subthreshold swing, higher $I_{rm on}/I_{rm off}$ current ratio, and larger field-effect mobility, even without any hydrogenation treatment. These improvements can be attributed to the high gate capacitance density and low grain-boundary trap state. All of these results suggest that the poly-Si TFT with a high- $k$ $hbox{PrTiO}_{3}$ gate dielectric is a good candidate for high-speed and low-power display driving circuit applications in flat-panel displays.      

Performance Enhancements in Scaled Strained-SiGe pMOSFETs With $ hbox{HfSiO}_{x}/hbox{TiSiN}$ Gate Stacks

The short-channel performance of compressively strained Si_0.77Ge_0.23 pMOSFETs with HfSiOx/TiSiN gate stacks has been characterized alongside that of unstrained-Si pMOSFETs. Strained-SiGe devices exhibit 80% mobility enhancement compared with Si control devices at an effective vertical field of 1 MV middotcm^-1. For the first time, the on-state drain-current enhancement of intrinsic strained-SiGe devices is shown to be approximately constant with scaling. Intrinsic strained-SiGe devices with 100-nm gate lengths exhibit 75% enhancement in maximum transconductance compared with Si control devices, using only ~20% Ge (~0.8% strain). The origin of the loss in performance enhancement commonly observed in strained-SiGe devices at short gate lengths is examined and found to be dominated by reduced boron diffusivity and increased parasitic series resistance in compressively strained SiGe devices compared with silicon control devices. The effective channel length was extracted from I- V measurements and was found to be 40% smaller in 100-nm silicon control devices than in SiGe devices having the same lithographic gate lengths, which is in good agreement with the metallurgical channel length predicted by TCAD process simulations. Self-heating due to the low thermal conductivity of SiGe is shown to have a negligible effect on the scaled-device performance. These findings demonstrate that the significant on-state performance gains of strained-SiGe pMOSFETs compared with bulk Si devices observed at long channel lengths are also obtainable in scaled devices if dopant diffusion, silicidation, and contact modules can be optimized for SiGe.     

Nonvolatile-Memory Characteristics of $hbox{AlO}^{-}$ -Implanted $hbox{Al}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$

The nonvolatile-memory (NVM) characteristics of $hbox{AlO}^{-}$ -implanted $hbox{Al}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$ structures are reported and shown to exhibit promising behaviors, including fast program/erase speeds and high-temperature data retention. Photoconductivity spectra show the existence of two dominant trap levels, located at around 2 and 4 eV below the conduction band minimum of $hbox{Al}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$, and our calculations show that these levels are likely attributed to the defects in the $hbox{Al}_{2}hbox{O}_{3}$, such as the Al–O divacancy. The relative concentrations of these defects vary with the implant fluence and are shown to explain the NVM characteristics of the samples irradiated to different fluences.      

BST-Varactor Tunable Dual-Mode Filter Using Variable ${Z}_{C}$ Transmission Line

Ferroelectric materials like barium-strontium-titanate (BST) have become attractive for microwave tunable circuit applications. This letter presents an investigation of BST-varactor tunable dual-mode filter using variable characteristic impedance or Z_C transmission line. The interdigital BST varactors are fabricated and modeled, which are then deployed to realize a bandpass filter with tunable bandwidth capability. The use of tunable impedance line provides additional flexibilities in the design of microwave tunable circuits. A tunable bandpass filter of this type with a center frequency of 1.8 GHz and a bandwidth tuning ratio of 1.15:1 is demonstrated experimentally.     

Tunneling Effective Mass of Electrons in Lightly N-Doped $hbox{SiO}_{x} hbox{N}_{y}$ Gate Insulators

In this paper, we study the dependence of the tunneling effective mass of electrons on gate dielectric nitrogen concentration and thickness in MOSFETs with lightly doped silicon oxynitride $(hbox{SiO}_{x}hbox{N}_{y})$ gates. The direct tunneling current is modeled by applying a SchrÖdinger–Poisson solver with one-side-open boundary condition. The dependences of the effective mass on nitrogen concentration and dielectric thickness are extracted by fitting the computation results for the gate leakage current to the experimental data that we measured for samples with different thicknesses and nitrogen concentrations. Nitrogen concentration and thickness of samples are determined using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The obtained results show a strong dependence of the effective mass on the sample thicknesses and nitrogen concentration. The electron effective mass is found to increase as the thickness decreases, and the higher nitrogen concentration causes a reduction in effective mass.      

35-nm Zigzag T-Gate $hbox{In}_{0.52}hbox{Al}_{0.48} hbox{As/In}_{0.53}hbox{Ga}_{0.47}hbox{As}$ Metamorphic GaAs HEMTs With an Ultrahigh $f_{max}$ of 520 GHz

Metamorphic GaAs high electron mobility transistors (mHEMTs) with the highest-f _max reported to date are presented here. The 35-nm zigzag T-gate In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As metamorphic GaAs HEMTs show f _maxof 520 GHz, f _T of 440 GHz, and maximum transconductance (g _m) of 1100 mS/mm at a drain current of 333 mA/mm. The combinations of f _max and f _T are the highest data yet reported for mHEMTs. These devices are promising candidates for aggressively scaled sub-35-nm T-gate mHEMTs.     

ZnO Nanowire and $hbox{WS}_{2}$ Nanotube Electronics

In this paper, we report on the synthesis and applications of semiconducting nanostructures. Nanostructures of interest were zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires and tungsten disulfide $(hbox{WS}_{2})$ nanotubes where transistors/phototransistors and photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion cells have been fabricated. ZnO nanowires were grown with both high- and low-temperature approaches, depending on the application. Individual ZnO nanowire side-gated transistors revealed excellent performance with a field-effect mobility of 928 $hbox{cm}^{2}/hbox{V} cdot hbox{s}$. ZnO networks were proposed for large-area macroelectronic devices as a less lithographically intense alternative to individual nanowire transistors where mobility values in excess of 20 $ hbox{cm}^{2}/hbox{V} cdot hbox{s}$ have been achieved. Flexible PV devices utilizing ZnO nanowires as electron acceptors and for photoinduced charge separation and transport have been presented. Phototransistors were fabricated using individual $hbox{WS}_{2}$ nanotubes, where clear sensitivity to visible light has been observed. The results presented here simply reveal the potential use of inorganic nanowires/tubes for various optoelectronic devices.