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At least 19 records

Persistent optical phenomena in oxide semiconductors

The interaction of transparent oxide semiconductors with light is critically important for a range of applications. Persistent effects could be exploited for holographic memory or optically defined circuits. Conversely, they may also be detrimental to device operation. Large, room-temperature persistent photoconductivity (PPC) was discovered in strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 , STO) after annealing in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere. Barium titanate (BaTiO 3 , BTO), a ferroelectric material, was recently found to also exhibit PPC. Room-temperature photodarkening was observed in Cu-doped gallium oxide (β-Ga 2 O 3 ) after exposure to sub-bandgap light. Hydrogen is believed to play a central role in these persistent phenomena. In the proposed model, a photon excites substitutional hydrogen (a proton inside an oxygen vacancy), making the defect unstable. The proton leaves and binds to a host oxygen atom, forming an O-H bond that is observed with infrared spectroscopy. Here, an oxygen vacancy is left behind. Because oxygen vacancies in STO and BTO are shallow donors, this process results in PPC. In β-Ga 2 O 3 :Cu, however, the oxygen vacancy neighbors a Cu acceptor. In that case, photoexcitation results in the rare Cu 3+ state, which absorbs visible light. The effect can be “erased” by annealing at 300-400°C.

Annealing↗

The MSFC complementary metal oxide semiconductor (including multilevel interconnect metallization) process handbook

The fabrication techniques for creation of complementary metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuits at George C. Marshall Space Flight Center are described. Examples of C-MOS integrated circuits manufactured at MSFC are presented with functional descriptions of each. Typical electrical characteristics of both p-channel metal oxide semiconductor and n-channel metal oxide semiconductor discrete devices under given conditions are provided. Procedures design, mask making, packaging, and testing are included.

Bouldin, D. L.↗

High-resolution radiation detection using Ni/SiO 2 /n-4H-SiC vertical metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor

In this article, we demonstrate the radiation detection performance of vertical metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors fabricated on 20 μm thick n-4H-SiC epitaxial layers with the highest energy resolution ever reported. The 100 nm SiO2 layer was achieved on the Si face of n-4H-SiC epilayers using dry oxidation in air. The Ni/SiO2/n-4H-SiC MOS detectors not only demonstrated an excellent energy resolution of 0.42% (ΔE/E 100) for 5.48 MeV alpha particles but also caused a lower enhancement in the electronic noise components of the spectrometer compared with that observed for the best high-resolution Schottky barrier detectors. The MOS detectors also exhibited a high charge collection efficiency (CCE) of 96% at the optimized operating bias despite the presence of the oxide layer. A drift-diffusion model applied to the CCE vs gate bias voltage data revealed a minority (hole) carrier diffusion length of 24 μm. Capacitance mode deep level transient spectroscopy (C-DLTS) scans in the temperature range 84–800 K were carried out to identify the resolution limiting electrically active defects. Interestingly, the C-DLTS spectra revealed both positive and negative peaks, indicating the simultaneous presence of electron (majority) and hole (minority) trap centers. It has been inferred that at the steady-state bias for the C-DLTS measurement, the MOS detector operates in the inversion mode at certain device temperatures, causing holes to populate the minority trap centers and, hence, manifests minority carrier peaks as well.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Atomic-scale 3D imaging of individual dopant atoms in an oxide semiconductor

The physical properties of semiconductors are controlled by chemical doping. In oxide semiconductors, small variations in the density of dopant atoms can completely change the local electric and magnetic responses caused by their strongly correlated electrons. In lightly doped systems, however, such variations are difficult to determine as quantitative 3D imaging of individual dopant atoms is a major challenge. We apply atom probe tomography to resolve the atomic sites that donors occupy in the small band gap semiconductor Er(Mn,Ti)O 3 with a nominal Ti concentration of 0.04 at. %, map their 3D lattice positions, and quantify spatial variations. Our work enables atomic-level 3D studies of structure-property relations in lightly doped complex oxides, which is crucial to understand and control emergent dopant-driven quantum phenomena.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) controlled devices and methods of making the same

Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) controlled semiconductor devices and methods of making the devices are provided. The devices include a gate which controls current flow through channel regions positioned between source/emitter and drain regions of the device.The devices include a gate oxide layer having a variable thickness. The thickness of the gate oxide layer under the edge of the gate and over the source/emitter regions is different than the thickness over the channel regions of the device. The oxide layer thickness near the edge of the gate can be greater than the oxide layer thickness over the channel regions. The source/emitter regions can be implanted to provide enhanced oxide growth during gate oxide formation. The source/emitter region can include regions that are implanted to provide enhanced oxide growth during gate oxide formation and regions which do not provide enhanced oxide growth during gate oxide formation. The devices can be SiC devices such as SiC MOSFETs and SiC IGBTs.

Matocha, Kevin↗

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) controlled devices and methods of making the same

Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) controlled semiconductor devices and methods of making the devices are provided. The devices include a gate which controls current flow through channel regions positioned between source/emitter and drain regions of the device. The devices include a gate oxide layer having a variable thickness. The thickness of the gate oxide layer under the edge of the gate and over the source/emitter regions is different than the thickness over the channel regions of the device. The oxide layer thickness near the edge of the gate can be greater than the oxide layer thickness over the channel regions. The source/emitter regions can be implanted to provide enhanced oxide growth during gate oxide formation. The source/emitter region can include regions that are implanted to provide enhanced oxide growth during gate oxide formation and regions which do not provide enhanced oxide growth during gate oxide formation. The devices can be SiC devices such as SiC MOSFETs and SiC IGBTs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Multilevel metallization method for fabricating a metal oxide semiconductor device

An improved method is described of constructing a metal oxide semiconductor device having multiple layers of metal deposited by dc magnetron sputtering at low dc voltages and low substrate temperatures. The method provides multilevel interconnections and cross over between individual circuit elements in integrated circuits without significantly reducing the reliability or seriously affecting the yield.

Hollis, B. R., Jr.↗

Interface states and internal photoemission in p-type GaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor surfaces

An interface photodischarge study of p-type GaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures revealed the presence of deep interface states and shallow donors and acceptors which were previously observed in n-type GaAs MOS through sub-band-gap photoionization transitions. For higher photon energies, internal photoemission was observed, i.e., injection of electrons to the conduction band of the oxide from either the metal (Au) or from the GaAs valence band; the threshold energies were found to be 3.25 and 3.7 + or - 0.1 eV, respectively. The measured photoemission current exhibited a thermal activation energy of about 0.06 eV, which is consistent with a hopping mechanism of electron transport in the oxide.

Kashkarov, P. K.↗

Nanoscale Metal Oxide Semiconductors for Gas Sensing

A report describes the fabrication and testing of nanoscale metal oxide semiconductors (MOSs) for gas and chemical sensing. This document examines the relationship between processing approaches and resulting sensor behavior. This is a core question related to a range of applications of nanotechnology and a number of different synthesis methods are discussed: thermal evaporation- condensation (TEC), controlled oxidation, and electrospinning. Advantages and limitations of each technique are listed, providing a processing overview to developers of nanotechnology- based systems. The results of a significant amount of testing and comparison are also described. A comparison is made between SnO2, ZnO, and TiO2 single-crystal nanowires and SnO2 polycrystalline nanofibers for gas sensing. The TECsynthesized single-crystal nanowires offer uniform crystal surfaces, resistance to sintering, and their synthesis may be done apart from the substrate. The TECproduced nanowire response is very low, even at the operating temperature of 200 C. In contrast, the electrospun polycrystalline nanofiber response is high, suggesting that junction potentials are superior to a continuous surface depletion layer as a transduction mechanism for chemisorption. Using a catalyst deposited upon the surface in the form of nanoparticles yields dramatic gains in sensitivity for both nanostructured, one-dimensional forms. For the nanowire materials, the response magnitude and response rate uniformly increase with increasing operating temperature. Such changes are interpreted in terms of accelerated surface diffusional processes, yielding greater access to chemisorbed oxygen species and faster dissociative chemisorption, respectively. Regardless of operating temperature, sensitivity of the nanofibers is a factor of 10 to 100 greater than that of nanowires with the same catalyst for the same test condition. In summary, nanostructure appears critical to governing the reactivity, as measured by electrical resistance of these SnO2 nanomaterials towards reducing gases. With regard to the sensitivity of the different nascent nanostructures, the electrospun nanofibers appear preferable

Hunter, Gary W.↗

A 15% efficient antireflection-coated metal-oxide-semiconductor solar cell

A new effect is being developed which significantly improves the conversion efficiency of antireflection-coated metal-oxide-semiconductor (AMOS) solar cells. The effect, a marked increase in the open-circuit voltage, is produced by the addition of an oxide layer to the semiconductor. Cells using gold on n-type gallium arsenide have been made with efficiencies up to 15% in terrestrial sunlight. All processing steps are amenable to the use of low-cost polycrystalline films of GaAs in place of the single crystals now used.

Stirn, R. J.↗

High-temperature Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors (CMOS)

The results of an investigation into the possibility of using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology for high temperature electronics are presented. A CMOS test chip was specifically developed as the test bed. This test chip incorporates CMOS transistors that have no gate protection diodes; these diodes are the major cause of leakage in commercial devices.

Mcbrayer, J. D.↗

Local p‐ and n‐Type Doping of an Oxide Semiconductor via Electric‐Field‐Driven Defect Migration

Layered oxides exhibit high ionic mobility and chemical flexibility, attracting interest as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries and the pairing of hydrogen production and carbon capture. Recently, layered oxides emerged as highly tunable semiconductors. For example, by introducing anti-Frenkel defects, the electronic hopping conductance in hexagonal manganites is increased locally by orders of magnitude. Here, local acceptor and donor doping in Er(Mn,Ti)O3 is demonstrated, facilitated by the controlled splitting of anti-Frenkel defects under applied d.c. voltage. By combining density functional theory calculations, scanning probe microscopy, atom probe tomography, and scanning transmission electron microscopy, it is shown that the oxygen defects can readily be moved through the layered crystal structure, leading to nano-sized interstitial-rich (p-type) and vacancy-rich (n-type) regions. The resulting pattern is comparable to dipolar npn-junctions and stable on the timescale of days. These findings reveal the possibility of temporarily functionalizing oxide semiconductors at the nanoscale, giving additional opportunities for the field of oxide electronics and the development of transient electronics in general.

He, Jiali↗

Models of second-order effects in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors for computer applications

Second-order effects in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are important for devices with dimensions of 2 microns or less. The short and narrow channel effects and drain-induced barrier lowering primarily affect threshold voltage, but formulas for drain current must also take these effects into account. In addition, the drain current is sensitive to channel length modulation due to pinch-off or velocity saturation and is diminished by electron mobility degradation due to normal and lateral electric fields in the channel. A model of a MOSFET including these considerations and emphasizing charge conservation is discussed.

Benumof, Reuben↗

Total dose effect on soft error rate for dynamic metal-oxide-semiconductor memory cells

A simple model for the soft error rate for dynamic metal-oxide-semiconductor random access memories due to normal galactic radiation was devised and then used to calculate the rate of decrease of the single-event-upset rate with total radiation dose. The computation shows that the decrease in the soft error rate is less than 10 percent per day if the shielding is 0.5 g/sq cm and the spacecraft is in a geosynchronous orbit. The decrease is considerably less in a polar orbiting device.

Benumof, Reuben↗