Nanocrystalline diamond piezoresistive sensor

The design, fabrication and test of piezoresistive sensors based on nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films are reported. The CoventorWare FEM calculations of the mechanical stress and geometrical deformations of a 3-D structure are used for a proper localization of the piezoresistor on the carrying substrate. The boron-doped piezoresistive sensing element was realized using a directed patterned growth of NCD film on SiO₂/Si by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The gauge factor of boron-doped NCD films was investigated in the range from room temperature up to 200 °C and from 0 to 5 N of the applied force. These NCD piezoresistive sensor elements are compared with a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based piezoresistive sensor and their high-temperature applications are discussed.     

Application of N- and B-doped CVD diamond layers for cyclic voltammetry measurements

Conductive polycrystalline diamond layers prepared by the CVD process have received attention from electrochemists owing to such superior electrochemical properties as the wide potential window, the very low background current, the stability of chemical and physical properties.In this paper, the cyclic voltammetry application using N- and B-doped diamond electrodes was studied. Diamond layers, doped with boron and nitrogen, were synthesized on a silicon substrate in a hot-filament CVD reactor. The obtained diamond layers were characterized using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The electrochemical properties of diamond layers were measured in KCl and NaCl basic solutions to gain knowledge about their potential application as an electrode material.It was found that boron doped diamond electrodes showed potential windows up to about 7 V which were almost twice wider than those observed for conventional Pt electrodes.     

Piezoresistive response of ITO films deposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films have been deposited on (100) Si substrates by RF magnetron sputtering from a compact target (90% In₂O₃–10% SnO₂ in weight) with 6 in. in diameter. In order to perform electromechanical characterizations of these films, strain gauges were fabricated. An experimental set-up based on bending beam theory was developed to determine the longitudinal piezoresistive coefficient (π_l) of the strain gauges fabricated. It has been confirmed that electrical resistance of the strain gauges decreases with load increases which results a negative gauge factor. A model based on the activation energy was used to explain the origin of this negative signal. The influence of the temperature on piezoresistive properties of ITO films was also evaluated.     

Application of N- and B-doped CVD diamond layers for cyclic voltammetry measurements

Conductive polycrystalline diamond layers prepared by the CVD process have received attention from electrochemists owing to such superior electrochemical properties as the wide potential window, the very low background current, the stability of chemical and physical properties.In this paper, the cyclic voltammetry application using N- and B-doped diamond electrodes was studied. Diamond layers, doped with boron and nitrogen, were synthesized on a silicon substrate in a hot-filament CVD reactor. The obtained diamond layers were characterized using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The electrochemical properties of diamond layers were measured in KCl and NaCl basic solutions to gain knowledge about their potential application as an electrode material.It was found that boron doped diamond electrodes showed potential windows up to about 7 V which were almost twice wider than those observed for conventional Pt electrodes.     

Composition profiles and adhesion evaluation of conductive diamond coatings on dielectric ceramics

Sintered silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) ceramic substrates were investigated as dielectric substrates for the growth of metal-like boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) and microcrystalline diamond coatings via the Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition (HFCVD) technique. The structural, electrical and chemical properties of both the ceramic substrates and the diamond coatings may potentiate their applicability in particular in harsh environments and highly demanding situations. Boron doping was achieved via a boron oxide solution in ethanol dragged into the reaction chamber with argon. The coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, UV μ-Raman scattering, X-ray diffraction, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, Brale indentation for adhesion evaluation and two-point contact probe for resistivity measurements. The HFCVD technique led to a maximal growth rate of about 1 μm/h. Several metal-like boron doped diamond coatings were obtained. It was found that at lower substrate temperature, lower system pressure and higher methane concentration, the resistivity of the conducting NCD coatings is about 3 orders of magnitude higher when compared with samples obtained with higher substrate temperature, higher system pressure and lower methane concentration. Nevertheless, for every metal-like boron-doped coating the use of the Si₃N₄ ceramic substrate guaranteed a superior adhesion level.     

Concepts for diamond electronics

The present status in the development of diamond as electronic semiconductor material with wide band-gap (5.45 eV) is reviewed. Since diamond cannot be doped with shallow impurities, specific doping concepts and related diode and FET structures had to be developed, restricted to p-type boron doping. The results allow to predict that diamond high voltage switching diodes, high power RF FET sources and operation at high temperature will surpass the capability of devices designed in competing wide band-gap materials like SiC and GaN.     

A positron annihilation study on the defect properties of doped diamond films

Doppler broadening measurements were performed on undoped, boron doped, and sulfur doped diamond films. The defect properties in these different diamond films were analyzed and the effect of boron concentration in the B-doped diamond films on these properties was studied. The Doppler broadening measurements were characterized with the shape parameter S and the wing parameter W. From these fitted characteristic S and W values of the diamond films and plots of S vs. position implantation energy, it was deduced that undoped and S-doped diamond films are rich of vacancy-like defects, while B-doped diamond films are poor of vacancy-like defects. This difference may originate from possible different charge state of the vacancy-like defects and from the incorporation of impurities in the different growth ambient of the films. By comparing the parameters obtained in the Doppler broadening measurements of diamond films with different boron concentration, we found that S values of B-doped diamond did not decreased with the increasing of boron concentration, which suggests that more damaged regions form in the higher boron concentration samples.     

Effects of doping concentration on the microstructural and optoelectrical properties of boron doped amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon films

Boron doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique at various flow rate of diborane (F_B). As-deposited samples were thermally annealed at the temperature of 800 °C to obtain the doped nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) films. The effect of boron concentration on the microstructural, optical and electrical properties of the films was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements demonstrated the presence of the substitutional boron in the doped films. It was found that thermal annealing can efficiently activate the dopants in films accompanying with formation of nc-Si grains. Based on the temperature-dependent conductivity measurements, it was shown that the dark conductivity of doped amorphous samples increases monotonously with the increase of doping content. While the dark conductivity of doped nc-Si films is not only determined by the concentration of dopant but also the crystallinity of the films. As increasing the flow rate of diborane, the crystallinity of doped nc-Si films decreases, which causes the decrease of dark conductivity. Finally, the high dark conductivity of 178.68 S cm⁻¹ of the B-doped nc-Si thin films can be obtained.     

Structural evolution of boron nitride films grown on diamond buffer-layers

Boron nitride films on diamond buffer layers of varying grain size, surface roughness and crystallinity are deposited by the reaction of B₂H₆ and NH₃ in a mixture of H₂ and Ar via microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. Various forms of boron nitride, including amorphous α-BN, hexagonal h-BN, turbostratic t-BN, rhombohedral r-BN, explosion E-BN, wurzitic w-BN and cubic c-BN, are detected in the BN films grown on different diamond buffer layers at varying distances from the interface of diamond and BN layers. The c-BN content in the BN films is inversely proportional to the surface roughness of the diamond buffer layers. Cubic boron nitride can directly grow on smooth nanocrystalline diamond films, while precursor layers consisting of various sp²-bonded BN phases are formed prior to the growth of c-BN film on rough microcrystalline diamond films.     

Piezoresistive properties of nanocrystalline silicon thin films deposited on plastic substrates by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

The piezoresistive property of n-type and p-type nanocrystalline silicon thin films deposited on plastic (PEN) at a substrate temperature of 150 °C by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition, is studied. The crystalline fraction decreased from 80% to 65% in p-type and from 84% to 62% in n-type films, as the dopant gas-to-silane flow rate ratio was increased from 0.18% to 3-3.5%. N-type films have negative gauge factor (− 11 to − 16) and p-type films have positive gauge factor (9 to 25). In n-type films the higher gauge factors (in absolute value) were obtained by increasing the doping level whereas in p-type films higher gauge factors were obtained by increasing the crystalline fraction.     

Diamond electromagnetic band gap structure based on Bi(Nb<Subscript>0.992</Subscript>V<Subscript>0.008</Subscript>)O<Subscript>4</Subscript> ceramic

Three-dimensional (3D) diamond structure electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures containing high-K Bi(Nb_0.992V_0.008)O₄ (BVN) ceramic, fabricated by rapid-prototyping (RP) and gel casting methods, were investigated. The simulations based on finite element method (FEM) were employed to model the band structures. High-K Bi(Nb_0.992V_0.008)O₄ ceramic was made into gel to cast into the diamond structure molds fabricated by rapid-prototyping method. Then the green bodies were sintered at 900 °C to obtain well densified EBG samples. The transmission characteristics of the EBG structures were measured by transmission/reflection (T/R) methods using a vector network analyzer. Wide complete band gap was observed in the transmission characteristics from 10.08 to 12.59 GHz and it agreed well with the simulation results, which was from 10 to 12.19 GHz.     

Enhancement of Critical Current Density in YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7−<Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis></Subscript> HTS Through Boron Addition

The effect of B₂O₃ addition on the superconducting transition and grain boundary critical current density of the boron free (control) and boron doped HTS ceramics with nominal composition YBa₂Cu₃B _x O_7−y (x=0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1 and 0.15) has been investigated. For the lowest-level boron doping (x=0.025) an increase by nearly 1.5 times was observed in the critical current density J _c compared to the control sample. The small additives of boron in YBa₂Cu₃B _x O_7−y (x=0.025 and 0.05) do not essentially affect the critical temperature T _c =92.5 K of nominally pure Y123. Higher-level boron added compounds revealed a decrease in both T _c and J _c values. The data obtained indicate the possibility of boron dopant being inserted either into interstitial or into substitutional sites of the lattice.     

Effect of B/C ratio on the physical properties of highly boron-doped diamond films

Highly boron-doped diamond films were deposited on silicon substrate by hot filament chemical vapor deposition in a gas mixture of hydrogen and methane. The chemical bonding states, surface texture, and electrical resistivity of these films were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scan electron microscope, and four-point probe method. It was found that boron dopants play an important role in the texture and chemical bonding states of the diamond films. An appropriate concentration of boron dopants (B/C ratio of 10 000 ppm) can simultaneously improve crystal quality and reduce resistivity of the diamond films. The minimum resistivity of diamond films reaches 1.12 × 10⁻² Ω cm, which is applicable as electrodes.     

Piezoresistive Strain Gages and Transducer Elements

The piezoresistive effect, the change in resistivity caused by mechanical stress, is large enough in semiconductors for use in strain gages and other transducer elements. This paper reviews the piezoresistive effect in semiconductors having diamond or zincblende crystal structures and discusses applications. Definitions and typical values are given for the important material properties such as stress sensitivity, strain sensitivity, temperature dependence of sensitivity, and effect of crystal orientation. In addition, new information is given on piezoresistive properties of diffused layers on semiconductors, and diffused sensing elements of several types are analyzed. The advantages of increased design flexibility and improved sensitivity over uniformly doped gages are shown.     

Boron doping of silicon rich carbides: Electrical properties

Boron doped multilayers based on silicon carbide/silicon rich carbide, aimed at the formation of silicon nanodots for photovoltaic applications, are studied. X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of crystallized Si and 3C-SiC nanodomains. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy indicates the occurrence of remarkable interdiffusion between adjacent layers. However, the investigated material retains memory of the initial dopant distribution. Electrical measurements suggest the presence of an unintentional dopant impurity in the intrinsic SiC matrix. The overall volume concentration of nanodots is determined by optical simulation and is shown not to contribute to lateral conduction. Remarkable higher room temperature dark conductivity is obtained in the multilayer that includes a boron doped well, rather than boron doped barrier, indicating efficient doping in the former case. Room temperature lateral dark conductivity up to 10^?3 S/cm is measured on the multilayer with boron doped barrier and well. The result compares favorably with silicon dioxide and makes SiC encouraging for application in photovoltaic devices.     

Study of the mechanical properties of CeO2 layers with the nanoindentation technique

The mechanical properties of CeO₂ layers that are undoped or doped with other elements (e.g. Zr and Ta) are a topic of special interest specially in the manufacturing of superconductor buffer layers by pulsed electron deposition. Nowadays, the trend is to produce small devices (i.e. coated conductors), and the correct mechanical characterization is critical. In this sense, nanoindentation is a powerful technique widely employed to determine the mechanical properties of small volumes. In this study, the nanoindentation technique allow us determine the hardness (H) and Young's modulus (E) by sharp indentation of different buffer layers to explore the deposition process of CeO₂ that is undoped or doped with Zr and Ta, and deposited on Ni–5%W at room temperature. This study was carried out on various samples at different ranges of applied loads (from 0.5 to 500 mN). Scanning electron microscopy images show no cracking for CeO₂ doped with Zr, as the doping agent increases the toughness fracture of the CeO₂ layer. This system, presents better mechanical stability than the other studied systems. Thus, the H for Zr–CeO₂ is around 2.75 · 10⁶ Pa, and the elastic modulus calculated using the Bec et al. and Rar et al. models equals 249 · 10⁶ Pa and 235 · 10⁶ Pa respectively.     

Chemical solution deposition of CaCu<Subscript>3</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>4</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript> thin film

CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) thin film was successfully deposited on boron doped silica substrate by chemical solution deposition and rapid thermal processing. The phase and microstructure of the deposited films were studied as a function of sintering temperature, employing X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. Dielectric properties of the films were measured at room temperature using impedance spectroscopy. Polycrystalline pure phase CCTO thin films with (220) preferential orientation was obtained at a sintering temperature of 750°C. There was a bimodal size distribution of grains. The dielectric constant and loss factor at 1 kHz obtained for a film sintered at 750°C was k ∼ 2000 and tan δ ∼ 0.05.     

Preparation of boron-doped TiO2 films by autoclaved-sol method at low temperature and study on their photocatalytic activity

A series of uniform and transparent boron-doped TiO₂ films were synthesized from autoclaved-sol without organic solvent at low temperature. As-prepared B-TiO₂ films with two layers were characterized by XRD, DRS, XPS and AFM. The photocatalytic characteristics were measured based on the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution under visible or UV light. The results indicated that the anatase phase was the main crystal form of the films, containing a small amount of brookite. The presence of boron caused a red shift in the absorption band of TiO₂ films. The doped boron was mainly presented in the form of B₂O₃, O-Ti-B and O-Ti-B bonds, confirming that autoclaved-sol synthesis at low temperature allowed for incorporation of boron atoms into the TiO₂ matrix. Transmission of the films was about 90% in the visible region. The 10% (atom) B-TiO₂ film exhibited the best photocatalytic activity both in visible and UV light.     

Boron doping of Si<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>/Si heterostructures grown by silicon sublimation in germane medium

Controlled boron doping of Si_{1 − x} Ge _x epilayers has been achieved during low-temperature growth of SiGe/Si(100) heterostructures by sublimation of boron-doped silicon in a germane medium. Boron-doped single-crystalline silicon plate was sublimed by resistive heating to ∼1300°C. Using this source, heterostructures with selectively doped layers, sharp dopant concentration profiles, and a maximum boron concentration of ∼1 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ were obtained.     

Environment friendly perovskite ruthenate based thick film resistors

It is well known that the dielectric matrix of air-fireable thick film resistors (TFRs) presently used in hybrid microelectronics and passive components invariably consists of a high-lead silicate glass. However, the current trend in the electronic industry is to restrict and eliminate the hazardous elements viz. lead, cadmium etc. from electronic components. An attempt to develop suitable RuO₂-based or pyrochlore ruthenate based Pb-Cd free TFRs has been only partially successful till now. We report here the preliminary results of a study aimed to investigate the feasibility of CaRuO₃ perovskite-based lead-free TFRs. Our results showed that sheet resistances higher than 1 kΩ/sq. can be easily achieved in a controlled way, with hot and cold temperature coefficients of resistance (TCR) in the range of 325-580 ppm/°C and 180-500 ppm/°C, respectively. Similarly, the compositions also exhibit negligible piezoresistive effects with gauge factor, GF < 1. Additionally, the resistors do not exhibit negative structural features, like bleeding or devitrification of glass, observed in previous attempts to develop reliable lead-free TFRs.