Thin films of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) copolymers have been incorporated within ferroelectric field effect transistors, all organic thin film transistor devices (OTFTs), piezoelectric actuators, and recently proposed as the ferroelectric layer in a promising multiferroic tunnel junction configuration [1]. The properties of most of these devices would benefit from reduced thickness and better thickness control of the ferroelectric layer during device processing.

A proven means for fabricating ultrathin films of the PVDF copolymer is the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. This technique involves dissolving the polymer in a volatile solvent which is then dispersed dropwise onto a purified water subphase, leaving an ultrathin layer of the copolymer on the water surface. The ability to control the thickness on the molecular level is the most prominent feature of this technique.

In some early studies [2], the minimum thickness of these films was found to be about 5 Angstroms, or roughly the same thickness as the intermolecular spacing of the all-trans β phase for the ferroelectric polymers. Later studies have led to the fabrication of films composed of thicker transfer steps: ∼ 1.8 nm per deposition [3]. The discrepancy is likely explained by the nature of the VDF molecule: it is not an amphiphile.

In this study, we further investigate the properties of Langmuir films of ferroelectric copolymers and discuss the observation of an apparent monolayer phase transition based on abrupt changes observed in the compressibility of the films. The main goal of this project is to discover the extent to which the device properties (like transfer step thickness) of PVDF films can be modified through processing conditions.

In this paper we present a study of the switching kinetics of SrTiO3 based resistive switching memory devices. A pulse scheme is used to cycle the cells between the high resistive state (HRS) and the low resistive state (LRS) thereby monitoring the transient currents for a precise analysis of the SET and RESET transitions. By variation of the width and amplitude of the applied pulses the switching kinetics are studied between 10-8 and 104 s. Taking the pre-switching currents into account, a power dependency of the SET is found that emphasizes the importance of local Joule heating for the nonlinearity of the switching kinetics.

Group III-Sb compound semiconductors are promising materials for future CMOS circuits. Especially, In1-xGaxSb is considered as a complimentary p-type channel material to n-type In1-xGaxAs MOSFET due to the superior hole transport properties and similar chemical properties in III-Sb’s to those of InGaAs. The heteroepitaxial growth of In1-xGaxSb on Si substrate has significant advantage for volume fabrication of III-V ICs. However large lattice mismatch between InGaSb and Si results in many growth-related defects (micro twins, threading dislocations and antiphase domain boundaries); these defects also act as deep acceptor levels. Accordingly, unintentional doping in InGaSb films causes additional scattering, increase junction leakages and affects the interface properties. In this paper, we studied the correlations between of defects and hole carrier densities in GaSb and strained In1-xGaxSb quantum well layers by using various designs of metamorphic superlattice buffers.

The continuous trend of achieving more complex microelectronics with smaller nodes yet larger wafer sizes in microelectronics manufacturing lead to aggressive development requirements for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process. Particularly, beyond the 14 nm technology the development needs made it a must to introduce high mobility channel materials such as Ge. CMP is an enabler for integration of these new materials into future devices. In this study, we implemented a design of experiment (DOE) methodology in order to understand the optimized CMP slurry parameters such as optimal concentration of surface active agent (sodium dodecyl sulfate-SDS), concentration of abrasive particles and pH from the viewpoint of high removal rate and selectivity while maintaining a defect free surface finish. The responses examined were particle size distribution (slurry stability), zeta potential, material removal rate (MRR) and the surface defectivity as a function of the selected design variables. The impact of fumed silica particle loadings, oxidizer (H2O2) concentration, SDS surfactant concentration and pH were analyzed on Ge/silica selectivity through material removal rate (MRR) surface roughness and defectivity analyses.