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At least 145 records · Page 8

Damage and coefficients and thermal annealing of irradiated silicon and GaAs solar cells

Electron and proton damage coefficients have been measured for several types of silicon cells of recent manufacture using 1 MeV electrons and protons with energies of 8.3, 17.5 and 40 MeV. LPE (AlGa)As-GaAs cells were also irradiated and pseudodamage coefficients derived under the assumption that the irradiation changes the diffusion length in only one of the n- or p-type layers. After irradiation the cells were annealed isochronally up to 450 C. The damage coefficient and annealing data for silicon cells are in substantial agreement with previous work. The GaAs cells have pseudo-damage coefficients which are dependent on fluence, and have about the same energy dependence as Si damage coefficients.

Anspaugh, B. E.↗

Apparatus and technique for pulsed electron beam annealing for solar cell production

Many of the demands of high-throughput processing of solar cells can be satisfied by transient methods using pulsed electron beams. A prototype pulsed electron beam processor for solar cell production has been built, and is intended for automated annealing of solar cell junction ion implantation at a rate of 1200-1800 silicon wafers per hour. Other applications include solar cell junctions by pulse diffusion, annealing of ion-implanted back surface fields, and pulse sintering of cell metallization.

Landis, G. A.↗

Defects and annealing studies in 1-Me electron irradiated (AlGa)As-GaAs solar cells

The deep-level defects and recombination mechanisms in the one-MeV electron irradiated (AlGa)As-GaAs solar cells under various irradiation and annealing conditions are discussed. Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and capacitance-voltage (CV) techniques were used to determine the defect and recombination parameters such as energy levels and defect density, carrier capture cross sections and lifetimes for both electron and hole traps as well as hole diffusion lengths in these electron irradiated GaAs solar cells. GaAs solar cells used in this study were prepared by the infinite solution melt liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) technique at Hughes Research Lab., with (Al0.9Ga0.1)-As window layer, Be-diffused p-GaAs layer on Sn-doped n-GaAs or undoped n-GaAs active layer grown on n(+)-GaAs substrate. Mesa structure with area of 5.86x1000 sq cm was fabricated. Three different irradiation and annealing experiments were performed on these solar cells.

Li, S. S.↗

The effect of annealing on the creep of plasma sprayed ceramics

The creep of plasma sprayed ZrO2-8Y2O3 was measured at temperatues from 98 to 1250 C (180 to 220 F), and compared to creep of identical samples after annealing at temperatures from 98 to 1316 C (1800 to 2400 F). Loads and temperatures which produced significant creep of as sprayed ceramics produced no creep after annealing.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

Radiation effects on MOS devices - dosimetry, annealing, irradiation sequence, and sources

This paper reports on some investigations of dosimetry, annealing, irradiation sequences, and radioactive sources, involved in the determination of radiation effects on MOS devices. Results show that agreement in the experimental and theoretical surface to average doses support the use of thermo-luminescent dosimeters (manganese activated calcium fluoride) in specifying the surface dose delivered to thin gate insulators of MOS devices. Annealing measurements indicate the existence of at least two energy levels,,s or a activation energies, for recovery of soft oxide MOS devices after irradiation by electrons, protons, and gammas. Damage sensitivities of MOS devices were found to be independent of combinations and sequences of radiation type or energies. Comparison of various gamma sources indicated a small dependence of damage sensitivity on the Cobalt facility, but a more significant dependence in the case of the Cesium source. These results were attributed to differences in the spectral content of the several sources.

Stassinopoulos, E. G.↗

Nonequilibrium Crystal Growth During Laser Annealing of Silicon

The Systematic studies of dopant (Group III, IV, or V) incorporation into silicon as a result of pulsed-laser annealing are reviewed. At low concentrations, dopant profiles measured after laser annealing can be compared to model calculations for redistribution by liquid-phase diffusion in order to determine the interfacial distribution coefficient K('). At high concentrations there is a limit (C sub s) to dopant incorporation into substitutional lattice sites. The mechanisms which limit dopant incorporation are discussed as well as the dependence of K(') and (max) on crystal orientation. Finally, measurements of interface temperatures, temperature profiles, and thermal gradients during rapid solidification are summarized.

White, C. W.↗

The effect of annealing on the creep of plasma-sprayed ceramics

The creep of plasma sprayed ZrO2-8Y2O3 was measured at temperatures from 98 to 1250 C (180 to 220 F), and compared to creep of identical samples after annealing at temperatures from 98 to 1316 C (1800 to 2400 F). Loads and temperatures which produced significant creep of as sprayed ceramics produced no creep after annealing. Previously announced in STAR as N83-24799

Hendricks, R. C.↗

Excimer laser annealing for fabrication of low-cost solar cells

The goal was to determine if a pulsed excimer laser annealing (PELA) is cost effective compared to a baseline process. An excimer laser pulsed annealing apparatus was built. Three hundred solar cells were fabricated. An economic analysis was performed.

Greenwald, A. C.↗

ac susceptibility of thermally annealed and neutron irradiated Cu-Ni alloys

Thermal annealing and high-flux neutron irradiation are used to vary the degree of short-range atomic order in Cu-Ni alloys of composition 40, 50, and 60 at. pct Ni. The magnetic state is measured by ac magnetic susceptibility measurements. It is shown that annealing at 350 C causes significant changes in the susceptibility of all the samples. In the 50 and 60 at. pct Ni samples, the transition is broadened and extended to higher temperatures, while the 40 at. pct Ni sample changes from a paramagnetic system to a weakly ferromagnetic system. The neutron irradiation, in contrast to the thermal treatment, causes the development of smaller size cluster formations. The irradiated 60 at. pct Ni sample exhibits no change in the shape of its susceptibility curve from that of the quenched sample, whereas, the 40 pct alloy is changed, by irradiation, from a paramagnetic system to a spin-glass system.

Catchings, R. M., III↗

Role of GaAs surface clearing in plasma deposition of silicon nitride films for encapsulated annealing

The role of GaAs surface cleaning and plasma reactor cleaning prior to deposition of silicon nitride films for encapsulated annealing has been investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to determine the surface characteristics of GaAs treated with HCl, HF, and NH4OH solutions preceded by a degreasing procedure. The HCl clean left the least amount of oxygen on the surface. Fluorine contamination resulting from the CF4 plasma used to clean the reactor was found to be located at the film-substrate interface by Auger electron spectroscopy with argon-ion sputtering. A modified deposition procedure was developed to eliminate the fluorine contamination. Plasma deposition of silicon nitride encapsulating films was found to modify the I-V characteristics of Schottky diodes subsequently formed on GaAs surface. The reverse current of the diodes was slightly reduced. Substrates implanted with Si at 100 keV and a dose of 5 x 10 to the 12th/sq cm showed a peak electron concentration of 1.7 x 10 to the 17th/cu cm at a depth of 0.1-micron with 60 percent activation after encapsulation and annealing at 800 C for 7 min.

Valco, G. J.↗

Growth of the 889 per cm infrared band in annealed electron-irradiated silicon

Isothermal annealing of electron-irradiated Czochralski silicon has been studied at four different temperatures ranging from 304 to 350 C using infrared spectroscopy. At annealing temperatures above 300 C the irradiation-induced band at 830 per cm, usually attributed to a vacancy-oxygen complex (the A center), disappears and a new band at 889 per cm grows up. Within the experimental accuracy, the activation energy for the growth of this band is found to be identical with the value given by Stavola et al. for 'anomalous' oxygen diffusion in silicon. Also the frequency factors for the two processes are in reasonable agreement. The results show that a vacancy-assisted process may provide an explanation for enhanced motion of oxygen in silicon.

Svensson, B. G.↗

Rapid thermal annealing of Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a-C:H) films

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films were deposited on silicon and quartz substrates by a 30 kHz plasma discharge technique using methane. Rapid thermal processing of the films was accomplished in nitrogen gas using tungsten halogen light. The rapid thermal processing was done at several fixed temperatures (up to 600 C), as a function of time (up to 1800 sec). The films were characterized by optical absorption and by ellipsometry in the near UV and the visible. The bandgap, estimated from extrapolation of the linear part of a Tauc plot, decreases both with the annealing temperature and the annealing time, with the temperature dependence being the dominating factor. The density of states parameter increases up to 25 percent and the refractive index changes up to 20 percent with temperature increase. Possible explanations of the mechanisms involved in these processes are discussed.

Alterovitz, Samuel A.↗

Directional solidification and annealing of Mn55Al45 alloys

The use of directional solidification to produce aligned or magnetic microstructures for the MnAl alloy and the effect of annealing on the bulk magnetic properties of the alloy are investigated. The phase composition, cylindrically shaped magnetization, and room-temperature magnetization of the samples are analyzed. The microstructure of a directionally solidified Al-Mn alloy is characterized by a two-phase structure consisting of randomly-oriented Al-rich fibers of about 40 at. pct Al dispersed in a textureless matrix of about 50 at. pct Al; the matrix phase contains at least 50 wt pct of the metastable and ferrimagnetic tau-phase, and the Al-rich fibers as a precipitated Cr5Al8-type Al-Mn phase. Significant macrosegregation for the thermally stable growth-up orientation is detected. The data reveal that the annealing enhances the cell-like microstructure observed transverse of the solidification direction and increases remanent magnetization and intrinsic coercivity.

Pirich, Ronald G.↗

Annealing of electron damage in mid-IR transmitting fluoride glass

Damage in ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3 glass induced by high-energy electrons was studied by ESR and optical spectroscopy. An optical absorption band at 314 nm in the irradiated glass annealed rapidly above about 50 C, probably by a second-order reaction at room temperature; the ESR lines annealed very slowly at room temperature.

Bansal, Narottam P.↗

Annealing Reduces Free Volumes In Thermoplastics

Investigation conducted to determine free volumes and water-absorption characteristics of two types of thermoplastic polymide as functions of annealing histories. Reductions reach asymptotic values after several annealing cycles. High-temperature thermoplastics excellent candidates for use in aerospace applications. Graphite-fiber composites containing thermoplastic matrices have wide applicability.

Singh, Jag J.↗

An improved simulated annealing algorithm for standard cell placement

Simulated annealing is a general purpose Monte Carlo optimization technique that was applied to the problem of placing standard logic cells in a VLSI ship so that the total interconnection wire length is minimized. An improved standard cell placement algorithm that takes advantage of the performance enhancements that appear to come from parallelizing the uniprocessor simulated annealing algorithm is presented. An outline of this algorithm is given.

Jones, Mark↗

Annealing Increases Stability Of Iridium Thermocouples

Metallurgical studies carried out on samples of iridium versus iridium/40-percent rhodium thermocouples in condition received from manufacturer. Metallurgical studies included x-ray, macroscopic, resistance, and metallographic studies. Revealed large amount of internal stress caused by cold-working during manufacturing, and large number of segregations and inhomogeneities. Samples annealed in furnace at temperatures from 1,000 to 2,000 degree C for intervals up to 1 h to study effects of heat treatment. Wire annealed by this procedure found to be ductile.

Germain, Edward F.↗

Application of linear response theory to experimental data of simultaneous radiation and annealing response of a CMOS device

Results from the application of linear response theory are compared to experimental data from simultaneous radiation and annealing response of a CMOS device. In particular, a method is applied which was developed earlier to determine the characteristic time, t(0), as well as the parameters A and C in the 1n(t) dependence of the linear response function R(t) = -C + A1n(1-t/t(0)). The method is based on a study of the linear response for t being much less than t(0), when R(t) can be expanded in a power series of t: R(t) = R(0) + R'(0)t + 1/2R''(0)t-squared + 1/3R'''(0)t-cubed + ..., where R'(0) and R''(0) are, respectively, the first and second derivatives of R with respect to t. To find the linear response, R(t-t') is substituted in the form of this power series equation into a general equation for the shift of the threshold potential. To test the method, irradiation experiments were conducted on RCA 10(6) rad-hard CMOS IC's. A dose rate of approximately 130 rads/min was used. An IC was irradiated with Co-60 gamma rays for several hours, taking measurements of the threshold potential for one n-channel and one p-channel transistor every ten minutes. For the p-channel transistor, t(0) was found to be approximately 110 min and for the n-channel, t(0) was approximately 70 min. For the p-channel, the theoretical curve deviates from the experimental points only after 70 min; for the n-channel, the deviation takes place after 45 min. Additional findings are discussed and the application of the method to pure annealing is described.

Litovchenko, V.↗