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Henry, Michael David

Publications and source records attributed to Henry, Michael David.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Nonvolatile memory cells from hafnium zirconium oxide ferroelectric tunnel junctions using Nb and NbN electrodes

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) utilizing hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) have attracted interest as non-volatile memory for microelectronics due to ease of integration into back-end-of-line (BEOL) complementary metal oxide semiconductor fabrication. This work examines asymmetric electrode NbN/HZO/Nb devices with 7 nm thick HZO as FTJs in a memory structure, with an output resistance that can be controlled by read and write voltages. The individual FTJs are measured to have a tunneling electroresistance of 10 during the read state without significant filament conduction formation and reasonable ferroelectric performance. Endurance and remanent polarizations of up to 10 5 cycles and 20 μC/cm 2 , respectively, are measured and are shown to be dependent on the cycling voltage. Electrical measurements demonstrate how magnitude of the write pulse can modulate the high state resistance and the read pulse influences both resistance values as well as separation of resistance states. Then, by using two opposite switching FTJ devices in series, a programmable nonvolatile resistor divider is demonstrated. Measurements of these two FTJ unit memory cells show wide applicability to a BEOL microfabrication process for a re-readable, rewritable, and nonvolatile memory cell.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Perspectives and progress on wurtzite ferroelectrics: Synthesis, characterization, theory, and device applications

Wurtzite ferroelectrics are an emerging material class that expands the functionality and application space of wide bandgap semiconductors. Promising physical properties of binary wurtzite semiconductors include a large, reorientable spontaneous polarization, direct band gaps that span from the infrared to ultraviolet, large thermal conductivities and acoustic wave velocities, high mobility electron and hole channels, and low optical losses. The ability to reverse the polarization in ternary wurtzite semiconductors at room temperature enables memory and analog type functionality and quasi-phase matching in optical devices and boosts the ecosystem of wurtzite semiconductors, provided the appropriate combination of properties can be achieved for any given application. In this article, advances in the design, synthesis, and characterization of wurtzite ferroelectric materials and devices are discussed. Highlights include: the direct and quantitative observation of polarization reversal of ~135 μC/cm 2 charge in Al 1-x B x N via electron microscopy, Al 1-x B x N ferroelectric domain patterns poled down to 400 nm in width via scanning probe microscopy, and full polarization retention after over 1000 h of 200 °C baking and a 2× enhancement relative to ZnO in the nonlinear optical response of Zn 1-x Mg x O. In conclusion, the main tradeoffs, challenges, and opportunities in thin film deposition, heterostructure design and characterization, and device fabrication are overviewed.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Metal stack templates for suppressing secondary grains in sca1n

A metal stack for templating the growth of AlN and ScAlN films is disclosed. The metal stack comprises one, two, or three layers of metal, each of which is compatible with CMOS post-processing. The metal stack provides a template that promotes the growth of highly textured c-axis {002} AlN and ScAlN films. The metal stacks include one or more metal layers with each metal layer having either a hexagonal {002} orientation or a cubic {111} orientation. If the metal stack includes two or more metal layers, the layers can alternate between hexagonal {002} and cubic {111} orientations. The use of ScAlN results in a higher piezoelectric constant compared to that of AlN for ScAlN alloys up to approximately 44% Sc. The disclosed metal stacks resulted in ScAlN films having XRD FWHM values of less than approximately 1.1° while significantly reducing the formation of secondary grains in the ScAlN films.

Esteves, Giovanni↗
DOE OSTI2022

Superconductivity device comprising a phononic crystal

The invention is directed to a device and method to engineer the superconducting transition width by suppressing the phonon populations responsible for the Cooper-pair decoherence below the superconducting transition temperature via phononic bandgap engineering. The device uses phononic crystals to engineer a phononic frequency gap that suppresses the decohering thermal phonon population just below the Cooper-frequency, and thus the normal conduction electron population. For example, such engineering can relax the cooling requirements for a variety of circuits yielding higher operational quality factors for superconducting electronics and interconnects.

El-Kady, Ihab Fathy↗
DOE OSTI2022

Origin of Ferroelectric Phase Stabilization via the Clamping Effect in Ferroelectric Hafnium Zirconium Oxide Thin Films

The presence of the top electrode on hafnium oxide-based thin films during processing has been shown to drive an increase in the amount of metastable ferroelectric orthorhombic phase and polarization performance. This “Clamping Effect,” also referred to as the Capping or Confinement Effect, is attributed to the mechanical stress and confinement from the top electrode layer. However, other contributions to orthorhombic phase stabilization have been experimentally reported, which may also be affected by the presence of a top electrode. In this study, it is shown that the presence of the top electrode during thermal processing results in larger tensile biaxial stress magnitudes and concomitant increases in ferroelectric phase fraction and polarization response, whereas film chemistry, microstructure, and crystallization temperature are not affected. Through etching experiments and measurement of stress evolution for each processing step, it is shown that the top electrode locally inhibits out-of-plane expansion in the HZO during crystallization, which prevents equilibrium monoclinic phase formation and stabilizes the orthorhombic phase. This study provides a mechanistic understanding of the clamping effect and orthorhombic phase formation in ferroelectric hafnium oxide-based thin films, which informs the future design of these materials to maximize ferroelectric phase purity and corresponding polarization behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Stabilization of ferroelectric phase of Hf 0.6 Zr 0.4 O 2 on NbN and Nb [slides]

This work demonstrated both NbN and Nb make good electrodes for stabilizing orthorhombic phase of Hf 0.6 Zr 0.4 O 2 ferroelectric films. Wake up are < 100 cycles. P r can be as high as 30 µC/cm 2 - respectively 14 and 18 µC/cm 2 here. Further, capacitance suggests an orthorhombic phase can be stabilized. Addition of a linear dielectric under modest thickness can tune the P r and reduce leakage.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Metal Nitride Electrode Stress and Chemistry Effects on Phase and Polarization Response in Ferroelectric Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 Thin Films

Ferroelectric phase stability in hafnium oxide is reported to be influenced by factors that include composition, biaxial stress, crystallite size, and oxygen vacancies. In the present work, the ferroelectric performance of atomic layer deposited Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 (HZO) prepared between TaN electrodes that are processed under conditions to induce variable biaxial stresses is evaluated. The post-processing stress states of the HZO films reveal no dependence on the as-deposited stress of the adjacent TaN electrodes. All HZO films maintain tensile biaxial stress following processing, the magnitude of which is not observed to strongly influence the polarization response. Subsequent composition measurements of stress-varied TaN electrodes reveal changes in stoichiometry related to the different preparation conditions. HZO films in contact with Ta-rich TaN electrodes exhibit higher remanent polarizations and increased ferroelectric phase fractions compared to those in contact with N-rich TaN electrodes. HZO films in contact with Ta-rich TaN electrodes also have higher oxygen vacancy concentrations, indicating that a chemical interaction between the TaN and HZO layers ultimately impacts the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase stability and polarization performance. The results of this work demonstrate a necessity to carefully consider the role of electrode processing and chemistry on performance of ferroelectric hafnia films.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Imaging of surface acoustic waves on GaAs using 2D confocal Raman microscopy and atomic force microscopy

Surface acoustic wave devices have been fabricated on a GaAs (100) substrate to demonstrate the capability of 2D Raman microscopy as an imaging technique for acoustic waves on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate. Surface acoustic waves are generated using a two-port interdigitated transducer platform, which is modified to produce surface standing waves. We have derived an analytical model to relate Raman peak broadening to the near-surface strain field of the GaAs surface produced by the surface acoustic waves. Additionally, atomic force microscopy is used to confirm the presence of a standing acoustic wave, resolving a total vertical displacement of 3 nm at the antinode of the standing wave. Stress calculations are performed for both imaging techniques and are in good agreement, demonstrating the potential of this Raman analysis.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Asynchronous Ballistic Reversible Computing using Superconducting elements

Computing uses energy. At the bare minimum, erasing information in a computer increases the entropy. Landauer has calculated %7E k B T log(2) Joules is dissipated per bit of energy erased. While the success of Moores law has allowed increasing computing power and efficiency for many years, these improvements are coming to an end. This project asks if there is a way to continue those gains by circumventing Landauer through reversible computing. We explore a new reversible computing paradigm, asynchronous ballistic reversible computing or ABRC. The ballistic nature of data in ABRC matches well with superconductivity which provides a low-loss environment and a quantized bit encoding the fluxon. We discuss both these and our development of a superconducting fabrication process at Sandia. We describe a fully reversible 1-bit memory cell based on fluxon dynamics. Building on this model, we propose several other gates which may also offer reversible operation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗