The influence of oxygen content on photoluminescence from Er-doped SiOx

SiOx films with oxygen concentrations ranging 13-46 at.% were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique using: pure SiH4 and N2O mixture. Erbium was then implanted at an energy of 500 KeV with dose of 2x10(15) ions/cm(2). The samples were subsequently annealed in N-2 for 20 sec at temperatures of (300-950 degrees C). Room temperature (RT) photo-luminescence (PL) data were collected by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIS) with an argon laser at a wavelength of 514.5 nm and an output power from 5 to 2500 mw. The intense room-temperature luminescence was observed around 1.54 mu m. The luminescence intensity increases by 2 orders of magnitude as compared with that of Er-doped Czochralski (CZ) Si. We found that the Er3+ luminescence depends strongly on the SiOx microstructure. Our experiment also showed that the silicon grain radius decreased with increasing oxygen content and finally formed micro-crystalline silicon or nano-crystalline silicon. As a result, these silicon small particles could facilitate the energy transfer to Er3+ and thus enhanced the photoluminescence intensity.

High temperature annealing behaviors of luminescent SIOx : H films

The effects of high temperature annealing on the microstructure and optical properties of luminescent SiOx:H films have been investigated. Micro-Raman scattering and IR absorption, in combination with atomic force microscopy (AFM), provide evidence for the existence of both a-Si clusters in the as-grown a-SiOx:H and Si nanocrystals in the 1170 degrees C annealed films. The dependence of optical coefficients (alpha) on photon energy (h nu) near the absorption edge (E-g) is found to follow the square root law: (alpha h nu)(1/2) proportional to (E-g - h nu), indicating that nano-Si embedded in SiO2 is still an indirect material. A comparison of the deduced absorption edge with the PL spectra shows an obvious Stokes shift, suggesting that phonons should be involved in the optical transition process.

Asymmetric dark current in double barrier quantum well infrared photodetectors

Asymmetric dark current and photocurrent versus voltage characteristic in the Double Barrier Quantum Wells (DBQWs) photovoltaic infrared photodetector has been studied. A model based on asymmetric potential barriers was proposed. The asymmetric potential thick barrier, which due to the Si dopant segregation during growth makes a major contribution to the asymmetrical I-V characteristic, calculations based on our model agree well with experimental results. This work also confirms the potential use of this DBQWs for infrared photodetector with large responsivity and little dark current under negative bias.

Light-induced change of Si-H bond absorption in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Device-quality a-Si:H films were prepared by glow discharge CVD with pure or H-diluted silane as well as by hot-wire CVD. The hydrogen content was varied from similar to 2 to 15 at. %. The Si-H bond absorption and its light-soaking-induced changes were studied by IR and differential IR absorption spectroscopes. The results indicate that the more stable sample exhibits an increase of the absorption at wave number similar to 2000 cm(-1), and the less stable one exhibits a decrease at similar to 2040 cm(-1) and an increase at similar to 1880 cm(-1).

Light-excited structural instability of a-Si : H.

With the accumulation of experimental data, it has been recognized by many that the light-induced metastable change of a-Si:H, Staebler-Wronski effect (SWE), may be related to a structural instability of the whole a-Si:H network. However, direct evidence of such a structural change is still lacking. In the present paper, the efforts of our laboratory in this direction will be reviewed, including the light-induced changes of Si-H bond absorption, low frequency dielectric response, and an apparent photo-dilation effect.

High quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon films with significantly improved stability

High quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films have been prepared by a simple "uninterrupted growth/annealing" plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique, combined with a subtle boron-compensated doping. These a-Si:H films possess a high photosensitivity over 10(6), and exhibit no degradation in photoconductivity and a low light-induced defect density after prolonged illumination. The central idea is to control the growth conditions adjacent to the critical point of phase transition from amorphous to crystalline state, and yet to locate the Fermi level close to the midgap. Our results show that the improved stability and photosensitivity of a-Si:H films prepared by this method can be mainly attributed to the formation of a more robust network structure and reduction in the precursors density of light-induced metastable defects.

Structural properties of polycrystalline silicon films formed by pulsed rapid thermal processing

A novel pulsed rapid thermal processing (PRTP) method has been used for realizing the solid-phase crystallization of amorphous silicon films prepared by PECVD. The microstructure and surface morphology of the crystallized films are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that this PRTP is a suitable post-crystallization technique for fabricating large-area polycrystalline silicon films with good structural qualities such as large grain size, small lattice microstain and smooth surface morphology on low-cost substrate.

The growth and characterization of GaN grown on a gamma-Al2O3/(001) Si substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Wurtzite single crystal GaN films have been grown onto a gamma-Al2O3/Si(001) substrate in a horizontal-type low pressure MOVPE system. A thin gamma-Al2O3 layer is an intermediate layer for the growth of single crystal GaN on Si although it is only an oriented polycrystal film as shown by reflection high electron diffraction. Moreover, the oxide is not yet converted to a fully single crystal film, even at the stage of high temperature for the GaN layer as studied by transmission electron microscopy. Double crystal x-ray linewidth of (0002) peak of the 1.3 mu m sample is 54 arcmin and the films have heavy mosaic structures. A near band edge peaking at 3.4 eV at room temperature is observed by photoluminescence spectroscopy. Raman scattering does not detect any cubic phase coexistence.

Growth and characterization of GaN on LiGaO2 and LiAlO2

The nearly lattice-matched LiGaO2 and LiAlO2 substrates have been used for the growth of GaN by LP-MOVPE. GaN epilayers have been grown on the two substrates at very low input partial pressure of hydrogen and relatively low growth temperature. The difference in the growth rate, crystal and optical qualities of hexagonal GaN epilayers grown on LiAlO2 and LiGaO2 substrate with two polar domains are investigated. LiAlO2 and LiGaO2 single crystal with a single domain structure and an adequate surface plane are promising substrates for the growth of high quality of hexagonal GaN thin films.

Yellow luminescence mechanism and persistent photoconductivity in n-GaN single crystal films grown on alpha-Al2O3(0001) substrates by LP-MOCVD

Unintentionally doped and Si-doped single crystal n-GaN films have been grown on alpha-Al2O3 (0001) substrates by LP-MOCVD. Room temperature photoluminescence measurement showed that besides the bandedges, the spectrum of an undoped sample was a broad deep-level emission band peaking from 2.19 to 2.30eV, whereas the spectrum for a Si-doped sample was composed of a dominant peak of 2.19eV and a shoulder of 2.32eV. At different temperatures, photoconductance buildup and its decay were also observed for both samples.. The likely origins of persistent photoconductivity and yellow luminescence, which might be associated with deep defects inclusive of either Ga vacancy(V-Ga)/Ga vacancy complex induced by impurities or N antisite (N-Ga), will be proposed.

Effect of carrier relaxation and emission on photoluminescence of InAs quantum dots

　

Artificial neural networks expecting more advanced microelectronics technology

　

JFET SOS devices: Processing and gamma radiation effects

A process for fabricating n channel JFET/SOS (junction field-effect transistors on silicon-on-sapphire) has been researched. The gate p(+)n junction was obtained by diffusion, and the conductive channel was gotten by a double ion implantation. Both enhancement and depletion mode transistors were fabricated in different processing conditions. From the results of the Co-50 gamma ray irradiation experimental we found that the devices had a good total dose radiation-hardness. When the tot;ll dose was 5Mrad(Si), their threshold voltages shift was less than 0.1V. The variation of transconductance and the channel leakage current were also little.

Improvement of CMOS SOS devices characteristics by a modified solid phase epitaxy

CMOS/SOS devices have lower carriers mobility and higher channel leakage current than bulk silicon CMOS devices. These mainly results from the defects of heteroepitaxial silicon film, especially from the defects near Si-Sapphire interface. This paper describes the experiment results of CMOS/SOS devices characteristics improved by a better epitaxial silicon quality which is obtained by a modified solid phase epitaxy.

Dependence of ultra-thin gate oxide reliability on surface cleaning approach

In this paper, we investigate the effect of silicon surface cleaning prior to oxidation on the reliability of ultra-thin oxides. It is demonstrated that chemical preoxide grown in H2SO4/H2O2 (SPM) solution prior to oxidation provides better oxide integrity than both HF-based solution dipping and preoxide grown in RCA SC1 or SC2 solutions. It is also found that the oxides with SPM preoxide exhibit better hot-carrier immunity than the RCA cleaned oxides.