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At least 649 records · Page 36
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Impact of composition and crystallization behavior of atomic layer deposited strontium titanate films on the resistive switching of Pt/STO/TiN devices

The resistive switching (RS) properties of strontium titanate (Sr{sub 1+x}Ti{sub 1+y}O{sub 3+(x+2y)}, STO) based metal-oxide-metal structures prepared from industrial compatible processes have been investigated focusing on the effects of composition, microstructure, and device size. Metastable perovskite STO films were prepared on Pt-coated Si substrates utilizing plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) from cyclopentadienyl-based metal precursors and oxygen plasma at 350 °C, and a subsequent annealing at 600 °C in nitrogen. Films of 15 nm and 12 nm thickness with three different compositions [Sr]/([Sr] + [Ti]) of 0.57 (Sr-rich STO), 0.50 (stoichiometric STO), and 0.46 (Ti-rich STO) were integrated into Pt/STO/TiN crossbar structures with sizes ranging from 100 μm{sup 2} to 0.01 μm{sup 2}. Nano-structural characterizations revealed a clear effect of the composition of the as-deposited STO films on their crystallization behavior and thus on the final microstructures. Local current maps obtained by local-conductivity atomic force microscopy were in good agreement with local changes of the films' microstructures. Correspondingly, also the initial leakage currents of the Pt/STO/TiN devices were affected by the STO compositions and by the films' microstructures. An electroforming process set the Pt/STO/TiN devices into the ON-state, while the forming voltage decreased with increasing initial leakage current. After a RESET process under opposite voltage has been performed, the Pt/STO/TiN devices showed a stable bipolar RS behavior with non-linear current-voltage characteristics for the high (HRS) and the low (LRS) resistance states. The obtained switching polarity and nearly area independent LRS values agree with a filamentary character of the RS behavior according to the valence change mechanism. The devices of 0.01 μm{sup 2} size with a 12 nm polycrystalline stoichiometric STO film were switched at a current compliance of 50 μA with voltages of about ±1.0 V between resistance states of about 40 kΩ (LRS) and 1 MΩ (HRS). After identification of the influences of the films' microstructures, i.e., grain boundaries and small cracks, the remaining RS properties could be ascribed to the effect of the [Sr]/([Sr] + [Ti]) composition of the ALD STO thin films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural evolution of platinum thin films grown by atomic layer deposition

The structural properties of Pt films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) are investigated with synchrotron based x-ray scattering and x-ray diffraction techniques. Using grazing incidence small angle scattering, we measure the lateral growth rate of the Pt islands to be 1.0 Å/cycle. High resolution x-ray diffraction reveals that the in-plane strain of the Pt lattice undergoes a transition from compressive strain to tensile strain when the individual islands coalescence into a continuous film. This transition to tensile strain is attributed to the lateral expansion that occurs when neighboring islands merge to reduce their surface energy. Using 2D grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, we show that the lattice orientation becomes more (111) oriented during deposition, with a sharp transition occurring during coalescence. Pt ALD performed at a lower deposition temperature (250 °C) is shown to result in significantly more randomly oriented grains.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Preparation of gallium nitride surfaces for atomic layer deposition of aluminum oxide

A combined wet and dry cleaning process for GaN(0001) has been investigated with XPS and DFT-MD modeling to determine the molecular-level mechanisms for cleaning and the subsequent nucleation of gate oxide atomic layer deposition (ALD). In situ XPS studies show that for the wet sulfur treatment on GaN(0001), sulfur desorbs at room temperature in vacuum prior to gate oxide deposition. Angle resolved depth profiling XPS post-ALD deposition shows that the a-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} gate oxide bonds directly to the GaN substrate leaving both the gallium surface atoms and the oxide interfacial atoms with XPS chemical shifts consistent with bulk-like charge. These results are in agreement with DFT calculations that predict the oxide/GaN(0001) interface will have bulk-like charges and a low density of band gap states. This passivation is consistent with the oxide restoring the surface gallium atoms to tetrahedral bonding by eliminating the gallium empty dangling bonds on bulk terminated GaN(0001)

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/GeO{sub x} gate stack on germanium substrate fabricated by in situ cycling ozone oxidation method

Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/GeO{sub x}/Ge gate stack fabricated by an in situ cycling ozone oxidation (COO) method in the atomic layer deposition (ALD) system at low temperature is systematically investigated. Excellent electrical characteristics such as minimum interface trap density as low as 1.9 × 10{sup 11 }cm{sup −2 }eV{sup −1} have been obtained by COO treatment. The impact of COO treatment against the band alignment of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} with respect to Ge is studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). Based on both XPS and SE studies, the origin of gate leakage in the ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} is attributed to the sub-gap states, which may be correlated to the OH-related groups in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} network. It is demonstrated that the COO method is effective in repairing the OH-related defects in high-k dielectrics as well as forming superior high-k/Ge interface for high performance Ge MOS devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Atom probe tomography studies of Al₂O₃ gate dielectrics on GaN

Atom probe tomography was used to achieve three-dimensional characterization of in situ Al₂O₃/GaN structures grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Al₂O₃ dielectrics grown at three different temperatures of 700, 900, and 1000 °C were analyzed and compared. A low temperature GaN cap layer grown atop Al₂O₃ enabled a high success rate in the atom probe experiments. The Al₂O₃/GaN interfaces were found to be intermixed with Ga, N, and O over the distance of a few nm. Impurity measurements data showed that the 1000 °C sample contains higher amounts of C (4 × 10¹⁹/cm³) and lower amounts of H (7 × 10¹⁹/cm³), whereas the 700 °C sample exhibits lower C impurities (<10¹⁷/cm³) and higher H incorporation (2.2 × 10²⁰/cm³). On comparing with Al₂O₃ grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD), it was found that the MOCVD Al₂O₃/GaN interface is comparatively abrupt. Scanning transmission electron microscopy data showed that the 900 °C and 1000 °C MOCVD films exhibit polycrystalline nature, while the ALD films were found to be amorphous.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Resistive switching phenomena in TiO{sub x} nanoparticle layers for memory applications

Electrical characteristics of a Co/ TiO{sub x}/Co resistive memory device, fabricated by two different methods, are reported. In addition to crystalline TiO{sub 2} layers fabricated via conventional atomic layer deposition (ALD), an alternative method has been examined, where TiO{sub x} nanoparticle layers were fabricated via sol-gel. The different devices have shown different hysteresis loops with a unique crossing point for the sol-gel devices. A simple qualitative model is introduced to describe the different current-voltage behaviours by suggesting only one active metal-oxide interface for the ALD devices and two active metal-oxide interfaces for the sol-gel devices. Furthermore, we show that the resistive switching behaviour could be easily tuned by proper interface engineering and that despite having a similar active material, different fabrication methods can lead to dissimilar resistive switching properties.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Influence of post-deposition annealing on interfacial properties between GaN and ZrO{sub 2} grown by atomic layer deposition

Influence of post-deposition annealing on interfacial properties related to the formation/annihilation of interfacial GaO{sub x} layer of ZrO{sub 2} grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on GaN is studied. ZrO{sub 2} films were annealed in N{sub 2} atmospheres in temperature range of 300 °C to 700 °C and analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that Ga-O bond to Ga-N bond area ratio decreases in the samples annealed at temperatures lower than 500 °C, which could be attributed to the thinning of GaO{sub x} layer associated with low surface defect states due to “clean up” effect of ALD-ZrO{sub 2} on GaN. However, further increase in annealing temperature results in deterioration of interface quality, which is evidenced by increase in Ga-O bond to Ga-N bond area ratio and the reduction of Ga-N binding energy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

O{sub 3}-sourced atomic layer deposition of high quality Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} gate dielectric for normally-off GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors

High quality Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD), with ozone (O{sub 3}) as oxygen source, is demonstrated for fabrication of normally-off AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). Significant suppression of Al–O–H and Al–Al bonds in ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} has been realized by substituting conventional H{sub 2}O source with O{sub 3}. A high dielectric breakdown E-field of 8.5 MV/cm and good TDDB behavior are achieved in a gate dielectric stack consisting of 13-nm O{sub 3}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and 2-nm H{sub 2}O-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} interfacial layer on recessed GaN. By using this 15-nm gate dielectric and a high-temperature gate-recess technique, the density of positive bulk/interface charges in normally-off AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs is remarkably suppressed to as low as 0.9 × 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2}, contributing to the realization of normally-off operation with a high threshold voltage of +1.6 V and a low specific ON-resistance R{sub ON,sp} of 0.49 mΩ cm{sup 2}.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ultrathin body GaSb-on-insulator p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors on Si fabricated by direct wafer bonding

We have realized ultrathin body GaSb-on-insulator (GaSb-OI) on Si wafers by direct wafer bonding technology using atomic-layer deposition (ALD) Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and have demonstrated GaSb-OI p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (p-MOSFETs) on Si. A 23-nm-thick GaSb-OI p-MOSFET exhibits the peak effective mobility of ∼76 cm{sup 2}/V s. We have found that the effective hole mobility of the thin-body GaSb-OI p-MOSFETs decreases with a decrease in the GaSb-OI thickness or with an increase in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ALD temperature. The InAs passivation of GaSb-OI MOS interfaces can enhance the peak effective mobility up to 159 cm{sup 2}/V s for GaSb-OI p-MOSFETs with the 20-nm-thick GaSb layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

In situ measurement of fixed charge evolution at silicon surfaces during atomic layer deposition

Interfacial fixed charge or interfacial dipoles are present at many semiconductor-dielectric interfaces and have important effects upon device behavior, yet the chemical origins of these electrostatic phenomena are not fully understood. We report the measurement of changes in Si channel conduction in situ during atomic layer deposition (ALD) of aluminum oxide using trimethylaluminum and water to probe changes in surface electrostatics. Current-voltage data were acquired continually before, during, and after the self-limiting chemical reactions that result in film growth. Our measurements indicated an increase in conductance on p-type samples with p{sup +} ohmic contacts and a decrease in conductance on analogous n-type samples. Further, p{sup +} contacted samples with n-type channels exhibited an increase in measured current and n{sup +} contacted p-type samples exhibited a decrease in current under applied voltage. Device physics simulations, where a fixed surface charge was parameterized on the channel surface, connect the surface charge to changes in current-voltage behavior. The simulations and analogous analytical relationships for near-surface conductance were used to explain the experimental results. Specifically, the changes in current-voltage behavior can be attributed to the formation of a fixed negative charge or the modification of a surface dipole upon chemisorption of trimethylaluminum. These measurements allow for the observation of fixed charge or dipole formation during ALD and provide further insight into the electrostatic behavior at semiconductor-dielectric interfaces during film nucleation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Atomic layer deposition effect on the electrical properties of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-passivated PbS quantum dot field-effect transistors

We have investigated the effect of atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the electrical properties of colloidal PbS quantum dot field-effect transistors (PbS QD-FETs). Low-temperature Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ALD process was used to fill up the pore spaces of PbS QD films containing 1, 2-ethanedithiol ligands. Upon deposition of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} on PbS film, the PbS QD-FETs showed ambipolar behavior. The treated film retained this property for over 2 months, despite of exposure to air. This change in the electrical properties of the PbS QD-FETs is attributed to the formation of electron channels in the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-passivated PbS film. We conclude that these electron transport channels in the Al{sub x}O{sub y}-PbS film are formed due to substitution of the Pb sites by Al metal and chemical reduction of Pb{sup 2+} ions, as determined by an analysis of the depth profile of the film using secondary ion mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impact of post-deposition annealing on interfacial chemical bonding states between AlGaN and ZrO{sub 2} grown by atomic layer deposition

The effect of post-deposition annealing on chemical bonding states at interface between Al{sub 0.5}Ga{sub 0.5}N and ZrO{sub 2} grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is studied by angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that both of Al-O/Al 2p and Ga-O/Ga 3d area ratio decrease at annealing temperatures lower than 500 °C, which could be attributed to “clean up” effect of ALD-ZrO{sub 2} on AlGaN. Compared to Ga spectra, a much larger decrease in Al-O/Al 2p ratio at a smaller take-off angle θ is observed, which indicates higher effectiveness of the passivation of Al-O bond than Ga-O bond through “clean up” effect near the interface. However, degradation of ZrO{sub 2}/AlGaN interface quality due to re-oxidation at higher annealing temperature (>500 °C) is also found. The XPS spectra clearly reveal that Al atoms at ZrO{sub 2}/AlGaN interface are easier to get oxidized as compared with Ga atoms.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Spectroscopic and electrical calculation of band alignment between atomic layer deposited SiO{sub 2} and β-Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} (2{sup ¯}01)

The energy band alignment between atomic layer deposited (ALD) SiO{sub 2} and β-Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} (2{sup ¯}01) is calculated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrical measurement of metal-oxide semiconductor capacitor structures. The valence band offset between SiO{sub 2} and Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} is found to be 0.43 eV. The bandgap of ALD SiO{sub 2} was determined to be 8.6 eV, which gives a large conduction band offset of 3.63 eV between SiO{sub 2} and Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The large conduction band offset makes SiO{sub 2} an attractive gate dielectric for power devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electrowetting properties of atomic layer deposited Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} decorated silicon nanowires

This paper reports the electrowetting properties of liquid droplet on superhydrophobic silicon nanowires with Atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} as dielectric layer. Silicon wafer were etched by metal assisted wet chemical etching with silver as catalyst. ALD Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films of 10nm thickness were conformally deposited over silicon nanowires. Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dielectric film coated silicon nanowires was chemically modified with Trichloro (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyl) silane to make it superhydrophobic(SHP). The contact angle was measured and all the samples exhibited superhydrophobic nature with maximum contact angles of 163° and a minimum contact angle hysteresis of 6°. Electrowetting induced a maximum reversible decrease of the contact angle of 20°at 150V in air.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

On the use of a charged tunnel layer as a hole collector to improve the efficiency of amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells

A new concept, using a negatively charged tunnel layer as a hole collector, is proposed and theoretically investigated for application in amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells. The concept features a glass/transparent conductive oxide/ultra-thin negatively charged tunnel layer/intrinsic a-Si:H/n-doped a-Si:H/metal structure. The key feature of this so called t{sup +}-i-n structure is the introduction of a negatively charged tunnel layer (attracting holes from the intrinsic absorber layer), which substitutes the highly recombination active p-doped a-Si:H layer in a conventional p-i-n configuration. Atomic layer deposited aluminum oxide (ALD AlO{sub x}) is suggested as a potential candidate for such a tunnel layer. Using typical ALD AlO{sub x} parameters, a 27% relative efficiency increase (i.e., from 9.7% to 12.3%) is predicted theoretically for a single-junction a-Si:H solar cell on a textured superstrate. This prediction is based on parameters that reproduce the experimentally obtained external quantum efficiency and current-voltage characteristics of a conventional processed p-i-n a-Si:H solar cell, reaching 9.7% efficiency and serving as a reference. Subsequently, the p-doped a-Si:H layer is replaced by the tunnel layer (studied by means of numerical device simulation). Using a t{sup +}-i-n configuration instead of a conventional p-i-n configuration will not only increase the short-circuit current density (from 14.4 to 14.9 mA/cm{sup 2}, according to our simulations), it also enhances the open-circuit voltage and the fill factor (from 917 mV to 1.0 V and from 74% to 83%, respectively). For this concept to work efficiently, a high work function front electrode material or a high interface charge is needed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rectification and tunneling effects enabled by Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} atomic layer deposited on back contact of CdTe solar cells

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Aluminum oxide (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) is employed to optimize the back contact of thin film CdTe solar cells. Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers with a thickness of 0.5 nm to 5 nm are tested, and an improved efficiency, up to 12.1%, is found with the 1 nm Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} deposition, compared with the efficiency of 10.7% without Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} modification. The performance improvement stems from the surface modification that optimizes the rectification and tunneling of back contact. The current-voltage analysis indicates that the back contact with 1 nm Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} maintains large tunneling leakage current and improves the filled factor of CdTe cells through the rectification effect. XPS and capacitance-voltage electrical measurement analysis show that the ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} modification layer features a desired low-density of interface state of 8 × 10{sup 10 }cm{sup −2} by estimation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Analysis of scattering mechanisms in zinc oxide films grown by the atomic layer deposition technique

In this work, the analysis of the temperature-dependent electrical conductivity of highly crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films obtained by the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) method is performed. It is deduced that the most important scattering mechanisms are: scattering by ionized defects (at low temperatures) as well as by phonons (mainly optical ones) at higher temperatures. Nevertheless, the role of grain boundaries in the carrier mobility limitation ought to be included as well. These conclusions are based on theoretical analysis and temperature-dependent Hall mobility measurements. The presented results prove that existing models can explain the mobility behavior in the ALD-ZnO films, being helpful for understanding their transport properties, which are strongly related both to the crystalline quality of deposited ZnO material and defects in its lattice.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impact of La{sub 2}O{sub 3} interfacial layers on InGaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor interface properties in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs gate stacks deposited by atomic-layer-deposition

We examine the electrical properties of atomic layer deposition (ALD) La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. It is found that the thick ALD La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs interface provides low interface state density (D{sub it}) with the minimum value of ∼3 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −2} eV{sup −1}, which is attributable to the excellent La{sub 2}O{sub 3} passivation effect for InGaAs surfaces. It is observed, on the other hand, that there are a large amount of slow traps and border traps in La{sub 2}O{sub 3}. In order to simultaneously satisfy low D{sub it} and small hysteresis, the effectiveness of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs gate stacks with ultrathin La{sub 2}O{sub 3} interfacial layers is in addition evaluated. The reduction of the La{sub 2}O{sub 3} thickness to 0.4 nm in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs gate stacks leads to the decrease in hysteresis. On the other hand, D{sub it} of the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs interfaces becomes higher than that of the La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs ones, attributable to the diffusion of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} through La{sub 2}O{sub 3} into InGaAs and resulting modification of the La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs interface structure. As a result of the effective passivation effect of La{sub 2}O{sub 3} on InGaAs, however, the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/10 cycle (0.4 nm) La{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs gate stacks can realize still lower D{sub it} with maintaining small hysteresis and low leakage current than the conventional Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/InGaAs MOS interfaces.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗