(Ba,Sr)TiO3 (BST) thin films were deposited by ion beam sputtering on both bare and oxidized Si. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) model results have shown an increase in the SiO2 layer thickness for bare substrates and those with a 1 nm initial oxide layer, and a decrease for thicker (3.5 nm) initial SiO2 films. This result was confirmed by high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) analysis of the films, and it is believed to be due to simultaneous subcutaneous oxidation of Si and reaction of the BST layer with SiO2. From high-frequency capacitance-voltage (C-V) analysis, a decrease in the interface trap density Dit of an order of magnitude was observed for oxidized Si substrates.

Electrical and structural properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films on flexible polymer substrates were investigated. Room temperature sputtered ITO films on polymer substrates are initially amorphous but become partially crystalline as oxygen partial pressure decreases under 1.5%. The crystallinity shows more (400) and (222) preferentially oriented textures as decreasing of oxygen pressure resulting in lower resistivity. Moreover, an interesting growth property similar to 3D growth mechanism including larger grain size and columnar-like grain structure was also observed. It is considered that the columnar-like grain structure is probably attributed to the poor surface morphology of polymer substrates Based on the experiments, we obtained high performance ITO films on a polycarbonate substrate including 3.8 × 10 –4 Ω-cm in resistivity and transmittance above 80% in the visible ranges at 0.2% oxygen partial pressure.

We report the first electronic conduction in main group metal oxides (MGOs) or light-metal oxides, which are represented by alkaline-earth oxides, alumina, and silica. They are believed to be never converted to an electronic conductor. One of the MGOs, 12CaO·7Al2O3 (C12A7), has optical transparency, but electrical insulation limits intrinsic form. It is characterized by sub-nanometer sized cages in the lattice framework. Hydride ion, H- was incorporated into the cage by a thermal treatment of C12A7 single crystals or ceramics in hydrogen atmosphere. The product, C12A7:H, was colorless, transparent and a good insulator having electronic conductivity less than 10-10 S·cm-1. We found that the C12A7:H exhibits a coloration of yellowish green corresponding to optical absorptions at 2.8 and 0.4 eV with simultaneous conversion into an electronic conductor with 0.3 S·cm-1 at 300 K upon a irradiation of ultraviolet light. The conductive state continued even after the irradiation was stopped. Inversion to the insulator occurred when heated more than ∼320°C accompanying with rapid decay of the optical absorptions. When temperature rose above 550°C, H2 gas was released from the sample and the photosensitivity was lost. We consider that high concentration of F+-like centers are created by photo-released electrons from the H- anions being captured by empty cages. Further, a migration of the electrons at the F+-like centers may be responsible for the conduction. The visible light absorption loss is estimated to be only 1% for a 200 nm thick conductive C12A7:H films. The present properties provides novel applications such as direct optical writing of conducting wires on insulating transparent media.

New materials with high dielectric constant are currently being explored to replace silicon dioxide as gate dielectric for device scaling below 0.1 μm. With respect to conventional SiO2, these high permittivity dielectrics provide the required equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) without of further reduction of the insulator physical thickness, which is a key issue to limit gate leakage current and to maintain comparable MOSFET operation and reliability. The present paper presents preliminary results on conduction mechanisms in thin epitaxial SrTiO3 films grown by MBE on Si (100). I-V measurements were performed on Al/STO/Si structures at temperatures ranging from 40 K to 290 K. At temperatures lower than 100 K the conduction mechanism of electrons from gate electrode across the oxide barrier neither Schottky emission nor tunneling. For temperatures higher than 100 K Schottky emission occurs and barrier heights were extracted, showing an approximate linearly increase with temperature. In case of Si/STO interface, a Fowler-Nordheim tunneling mechanism was detected at 40 K and at intermediate fields. The extracted barrier heights are: 0.07 eV at Si/STO interface and from 0.26 eV (130 K) to 0.53 eV (290 K) at Al/STO interface.

Hafnium-based dielectrics are under wide consideration for high-K gate dielectric applications. Since the gate electrode typically used in CMOS integration consists of polysilicon with n- or p-type dopants, compatibility of the HfO2 layer with the polySi deposition and dopant activation steps is critical. Capacitors were fabricated with HfO2 films deposited by ALD and MOCVD, and using polysilicon gate electrodes deposited by CVD processes. These devices showed leakage failures with yields that were observed to depend on the area, dielectric thickness and annealing conditions during the process. Investigation of the root cause of these leakage failures suggested that the leakage failures may be caused by a defect-related mechanism. The implication of this is that the leakage occurs at localized ‘defect’ sites rather than broadly through the HfO2 layer. Emission microscopy analysis and physical characterization of the HfO2 film were used to corroborate the proposed model. Defect density was observed to be strongly dependent on the processing of the dielectric film. In order to make Hf-based dielectric stacks compatible with polysilicon for conventional CMOS transistor integration with acceptable yield, further postdeposition treatment may be necessary to eliminate or cure the defects.

We report on the attempt to fabricate p-type ZnO thin films using various doping techniques based on the pulsed laser deposition (PLD). As an accepter, we have doped the N atom by using high purity nitric monoxide (NO) ambient gas. NO is dissociated into N and O at an energy of 6.5 eV which is lower than at N2 (9.76 eV). Moreover the dissociation reaction of NO is simpler than other nitrogenous gases such as N2O, NO2, and NH3. One of our doping techniques is co-doping of Ga and N atom by ablating ZnO:Ga target in NO gas, and another is the ablation of the metal Zn target in NO gas. Both of Ga and N co-doped ZnO films and N doped ZnO films have c-axis orientation as well as undoped ZnO films. The surfaces of these doped films are rough while the undoped ZnO thin film is very smooth and have hexagonally shaped grains. We found it possible to fabricate the p-type ZnO film by ablating the metal Zn target in NO gas.

The transition from anatase to rutile crystalline phase and from continuous to porous morphology was observed by Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively, in anodic TiO2 layers as the time of anodization was increased. The mechanism of the PV formation changes from trap- limited PV in thin continuous layers to diffusion PV in thick porous layers. The generation of excess charge carriers and their subsequent separation in space are strongly dependent on the ambience (air, vacuum, water) in porous layers. The importance of polar water molecules for screening of surface ions of porous TiO2 and excess charge carriers separated in space is discussed.

The surface properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films treated by UV ozone or plasma were analyzed by angular dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ADXPS) and by ultraviolet photoemission (UPS). The chemical composition, chemical states and the work function of the ITO surfaces were deduced. Our analysis indicate that ITO surface is Sn-rich. Both UV ozone and O-plasma treatments are most effective in removing surface hydrocarbon. Among all treatments, O-plasma treated surface achieved the highest work function of 4.4eV, whereas argon ion sputtered surface had the lowest work function of 3.9eV. Both O-plasma and UV ozone treatments increase the surface oxygen concentration. It is proposed that O2- ions diffuse into ITO. The diffusion length is about 50Å as deduced from ADXPS. The stoichiometry of the surface is the major factor in controlling the surface work function of ITO. A surface band bending model is proposed to account for the change of work function due to “oxidized” ITO surface after UV-ozone or oxygen plasma treatments.

First principles total energy calculations were performed in order to characterize O vacancy defects in Ta2O5. A simplified version of the crystalline orthorhombic phase of Ta2O5 was used in this study. Results indicate that O vacancies in Ta2O5 can be broadly classified based on their location in the lattice. One type of vacancies (occupying the “in-plane” sites) displays deep or mid gap occupied states, and shallow unoccupied states, while a second type (occupying “cap” sites) results in shallow occupied states. For a wide range of local Fermi level or chemical potential, the neutral and +2 charged states of the in-plane type vacancy and the +2 charge state of the cap type vacancy are found to be most stable. Migration energies of the two types of vacancies in the neutral and +2 charge states are markedly different, with the “cap” type of vacancies displaying very high barriers to migration (∼ 5 eV) compared to the “in-plane” type (∼ 0.5–1.0 eV).

Recently there is an increasing demand and extensive research on high density memories, in particular to the ferroelectric random access memory composed of 1T/1C (1 transistor/1 capacitor) or 2T/2C. FRAM's exhibit fast random acess in read/write mode, non - volatility and low power for good performance. An integration of the ferroelectric on Si is the key importance and in this regard, there had been various models proposed like MFS, MFIS, MFMIS structure etc., Choosing the proper insulator is very essential for the better performance of the device and to exhibit excellent electrical characteristics. ZrTiO4 is a potential candidate because of its excellent thermal stability and lattice match on the Si substrate. SrBi2Ta2O9 and ZrTiO4 thin films were prepared on p - type Si substrate by pulsed excimer laser ablation technique. Optimization of both ZT and SBT thin films in MFS and MFIS structure had been done based on the annealing, oxygen partial pressures and substrate temperatures to have proper texture of the thin films. The dc leakage current, P - E hysteresis, capacitance - voltage and conductance - voltage measurement were carried out. The effect of the frequency dependence on MFIS structure was observed in the C – V curve. It displays a transition of C - V curve from high frequency to low frequency curve on subjection to varied frequencies. Density of interface states has been calculated using Terman and high - low frequency C - V curve. The effect of memory window in the C - V hysteresis were analysed in terms of film thickness and annealing temperatures. DC conduction mechanism were analysed in terms of poole - frenkel, Schottky and space charge limited conduction separately on MFS, MIS structure.

We have investigated two approaches for the fabrication of thin ZnO films: sputter deposition from the ZnO target and thermal oxidation of vacuum deposited Zn. The microstructure and electronic properties after consecutive steps of the formation of n-ZnO/p-GaN contacts have been studied using electron transmission microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectrometry. We have achieved ohmic contacts by Zn oxidation and explain their ohmic behaviour in terms of a tunnel n+-ZnO - p-GaN junction.

In this paper, we review the recent progress in the area of epitaxial oxides on semiconductors at Motorola Labs. Critical issues such as surface preparation, initial nucleation and growth behaviors of SrTiO3 (STO) thin film epitaxy on Si(001) are addressed. Using a systematic approach, high-quality epitaxial STO films are successfully grown on semiconductor substrates such as Si, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and Ge. Amorphous interfacial layer between the epitaxial STO and the semiconductor can be eliminated or tailored by controlling oxide growth process and parameters. STO-based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors and transistors are fabricated and tested, in order to explore the potential of STO as high-k gate dielectrics for future generation CMOS transistor technology. In addition, high-quality STO epitaxial films are utilized as thin buffer layers for fabricating integrated oxide heterostructures on semiconductors. Various perovskite oxide films such as SrZrO3, LaAlO3 and Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 are deposited epitaxially on STO-buffered Si(001) for potential high-k gate dielectrics and surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) device applications.

We report the characterization of carbonaceous aluminium oxide, Al2O3:C, films grown on Si(100) by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The focus is on the study of the effects of carbon on the dielectric properties of aluminium oxide in a qualitative manner. The carbon present in the aluminium oxide film derives from aluminium acetylacetonate used as the source of aluminium. As-grown films comprise nanometer-sized grains of alumina (∼ 20–50 nm) in an amorphous carbonaceous matrix, as examined by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The films are shiny; they are smooth as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An attempt has been made to explore the defects (viz., oxide charge density) in the aluminium oxide films using room temperature high frequency capacitance – voltage (C-V) and current–voltage (I-V) measurements. The hysteresis and stretch-out in the high frequency C-V plots is indicative of charge trapping. The role of heteroatoms, as characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, in the transport of charge in Al2O3:C films is discussed.

The bonding, electronic structure and valence band offsets are calculated for various atomic models of interfaces between Si and high dielectric constant insulators ZrO2 and SrTiO3. A non-polar face of the oxide does not necessarily give a semiconducting interface, because of the need to fill Si dangling bond states on the Si side. This can be achieved by stoichiometry changes. Band offsets of semiconducting interfaces are generally the same as those found from bulk charge neutrality levels, indicating no dipole layers. Dipole layers are present at some configurations, where the offset is then changed by up to 1 eV. The states of hydrogen in the oxides are also considered.

Several Cu(I)-containing layered oxysulfides were selected as candidates for wide-gap p-type semiconductors by extending a concept of a materials design for transparent p-type conducting oxides. The electrical and optical properties of the selected oxysulfides were investigated, and their electronic structures were analyzed by energy band calculations. LaCuOS, Sr2Cu2ZnO2S2 and Sr2CuGaO3S were found to be wide-gap p-type semiconductors, and LaCuOS showed the largest energy gap (Eg=3.1eV) among these layered oxysulfides. It was also found that LaCuOS shows band edge emission under uv excitation at room temperature, which is consistent with the results of the energy band calculations that LaCuOS has a direct-allowed-type energy gap at Γ point. In further materials research, analogous layered oxychalcogenides such as LaCuOSe and LnCuOS (Ln=Pr, Nd) were found to show similar optical and electrical properties to those of LaCuOS. Therefore, it is considered that the layered crystal structure and the electronic structure are responsible for the wide-gap p-type conductive properties in these materials.

The cyclic voltammetry stripping (CVs) behavior of the tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) on SiO2 in 0.3M HCl is reported. The CVs result showed an obvious reduction-current peak that occurred during the first cathodic potential scanning. Smaller reduction current and more negative potential of the reduction-current peak were also observed for the ITO that was annealed at 500 °C. The result was attributed to the replenished oxygen-deficient site and the oxygen anion density is decreased in the ITO. The present study has proved that CVs is a useful method to differentiate the carrier concentration in ITO film controlled by different pretreatments. Many spherical In-Sn particles were formed on the ITO when the reduction current took place. During precipitation of these spherical particles, the grain boundaries of the ITO were dissolved and the ITO surface nearby the grain boundaries offered a preferred nucleation site for the formation of these spherical In-Sn particles. Based on the microstructure observed and the result derived from the short potential range scanning, the formation mechanism of the spherical particle is proposed.

The effects of several rare earth oxide on the capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics and the SiO2 interlayer growth of ZrO2 based gate dielectrics were examined. The width of the hysteresis window of La2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (LaSZ) gate dielectric was only 0.2V, on the other hands, that of Sc2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (ScSZ) gate dielectric was 1.4V HRTEM analysis indicated that the growth of SiO2 interlayer of RSZ (R=Sm,Nd,La) gate dielectric was about 1nm, which was less than half of the ScSZ one. These results indicate the advantage of the ZrO2 gate dielectric doped with rare earth oxide composed of larger ionic radius cation.

Evaluation of physically thicker gate insulator materials with significantly higher dielectric constants (k = 10 – 25) as potential replacements for silicon dioxide, SiO2 (k = 3.9), and silicon oxynitride continues to be a focus of the semiconductor industry. The challenge is to provide a film with lower leakage current and with capacitance equivalent to < 1.0 nm SiO2 [1–4]. One such candidate material; metal-organic chemical vapor deposited (MOCVD) hafnium silicate, has been physically characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in plan view, as a blanket, uncapped film and high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) in cross section following integration into capacitors and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. Changes in the material microstructure associated with phase segregation and crystallization as a function of Hf silicate composition and rapid thermal anneal (RTA) temperature have been observed and a discussion of the segregation mechanisms is presented [5–8]. Also, various methods of incorporating nitrogen into bulk hafnium silicate films have been investigated and resultant transistor electrical performance data has been correlated with physical characterization for NH3 post deposition anneal (PDA) treatments at various temperatures.

A ferroelectric field effect transistor with an oxide channel layer and a lead zirconate titanate gate oxide has been fabricated. The channel is a strontium ruthenate/titanate solid solution with n type semiconducting behavior, which has sufficient OFF-state free carrier concentration to provide proper balancing charge for ferroelectric stability. The dependence of channel resistance with gate voltage at room temperature yields a hysteresis curve with two state at zero volts with a ΔR/R of 75% and a coercive voltage of 3 volts. The device was subjected to more than 1010 cycles with no degradation and was also operated at 60° C with a only a slight reduction in the switching ratio.

Epitaxial nickel zinc ferrite (Ni,Zn)Fe2O4 (NZF) thin films were successfully deposited on (MgO-Al2O3)/CeO2/YSZ/Si(001) substrates, where (MgO-Al2O3) is MgO doped with Al2O3. The crystallographic orientation and magnetic properties (saturation magnetization: Ms, and squareness: Mr/Ms where Mr is remanent magnetization) of NZF thin films were considerably changed with the amount of Al2O3 addition. If the amount of Al2O3 addition was less than 7 mol%, (001)-oriented epitaxial NZF thin films were obtained and the films had low squareness (around 45%). If the amount of Al2O3 addition was more than 7 mol%, (111)-oriented epitaxial NZF thin films were obtained and the films had high squareness (around 60–81%). Maximum squareness (81%) was obtained if the amount of Al2O3 addition was 26 mol%. For the sample with this Al2O3 content, the lattice mismatch between NZF and (MgO-Al2O3) buffer layer was 3.2%. The fact that high squareness was not obtained if lattice mismatch was very small (-0.3% on MgO) but obtained if lattice mismatch was 3.2% suggests that lattice mismatch to a certain content is important to avoid the formation of antiphase boundaries (APBs). This consideration was confirmed by examining other buffer layers having various lattice mismatches with NZF.