Role of interface dipole in metal gate/high-k effective work function modulation by aluminum incorporation

The interface dipole and its role in the effective work function (EWF) modulation by Al incorporation are investigated. Our study shows that the interface dipole located at the high-k/SiO2 interface causes an electrostatic potential difference across the metal/high-k interface, which significantly shifts the band alignment between the metal and high-k, consequently modulating the EWF. The electrochemical potential equalization and electrostatic potential methods are used to evaluate the interface dipole and its contribution. The calculated EWF modulation agrees with experimental data and can provide insight to the control of EWF in future pMOS technology.

Well-width dependence of in-plane optical anisotropy in (001) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells induced by in-plane uniaxial strain and interface asymmetry

The well-width dependence of in-plane optical anisotropy (IPOA) in (001) GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells induced by in-plane uniaxial strain and interface asymmetry has been studied comprehensively. Theoretical calculations show that the IPOA induced by in-plane uniaxial strain and interface asymmetry exhibits much different well-width dependence. The strain-induced IPOA is inversely proportional to the energy spacing between heavy- and light-hole subbands, so it increases with the well width. However, the interface-related IPOA is mainly determined by the probability that the heavy- and light-holes appear at the interfaces, so it decreases with the well width. Reflectance difference spectroscopy has been carried out to measure the IPOA of (001) GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells with different well widths. Strain- and interface-induced IPOA have been distinguished by using a stress apparatus, and good agreement with the theoretical prediction is obtained. The anisotropic interface potential parameters are also determined. In addition, the energy shift between the interface- and strain-induced 1H1E reflectance difference (RD) structures, and the deviation of the 1L1E RD signal away from the prediction of the calculation model have been discussed.

Nature of interfacial defects and their roles in strain relaxation at highly lattice mismatched 3C-SiC/Si (001) interface

Misfit defects in a 3C-SiC/Si (001) interface were investigated using a 200 kV high-resolution electron microscope with a point resolution of 0.194 nm. The [110] high-resolution electron microscopic images that do not directly reflect the crystal structure were transformed into the structure map through image deconvolution. Based on this analysis, four types of misfit dislocations at the 3C-SiC/Si (001) interface were determined. In turn, the strain relaxation mechanism was clarified through the generation of grow-in perfect misfit dislocations (including 90 degrees Lomer dislocations and 60 degrees shuffle dislocations) and 90 partial dislocations associated with stacking faults. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3234380]

Effects of TMIn flow on the interface and optical properties of InGaN/GaN mutiple quantum wells

The effects of pre-TMIn flow prior to QW growth and TMIn flow rates during QW growth on the interface and optical properties of InGaN/GaN MQWs were investigated. Pre-depositing indium prior to QW growth and an appropriate TMIn flow rate can improve the interface abruptness and increase the EL intensity. InGaN/GaN MQWs with improved interface abruptness have increasing emission intensity and wavelength. We attribute the interface improvement and the increase of EL intensity to the improvement of the indium compositional profiles. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoemission study of chemisorption and Fermi-level pinning at K/GaAs(100) interface with synchrotron radiation

The adsorption of K on the n-GaAs(I 0 0) surface was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy (SR-PES). The Ga3d and As3d core level was measured for clean and K adsorbed GaAs(I 0 0) surface. The adsorption of K induced chemical reaction between K and As, and the K-As reactant formed when the K coverage theta > I ML. The chemical reaction between K and Ga did not occur, but Ga atoms were exchanged by K atoms. From the data of band bending, the Schottky barrier is 0.70 eV. The Fermi-level pinning was not caused by defect levels. The probable reason is that the dangling bonds of surface Ga atoms were filled by the outer-shell electrons of K atoms, forming a half-filled surface state. The Fermi-level pinning was caused by this half-filled surface state. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interface-related in-plane optical anisotropy of quantum wells studied by reflectance-difference spectroscopy

The in-plane optical anisotropy of three groups of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures has been studied by reflectance-difference spectroscopy (RDS). For GaAs/Al0.36Ga0.64As single QW structures, it is found that the optical anisotropy increases quickly as the well width is decreased. For an Al0.02Ga0.98As/AlAs multiple QW with a well width of 20nm, the optical anisotropy is observed not only for the transitions between ground states but also for those between the excited states with transition index n up to 5. An increase of the anisotropy with the transition energy, or equivalently the transition index n, is clearly observed. The detailed analysis shows that the observed anisotropy arises from the interface asymmetry of QWs, which is introduced by atomic segregation or anisotropic interface roughness formed during the growth of the structures. More, when the 1 ML InAs is inserted at one interface of GaAs/AlGaAs QW, the optical anisotropy of the QW can be increased by a factor of 8 due to the enhanced asymmetry of the QW. These results demonstrate clearly that the RDS is a sensitive and powerful tool for the characterization of semiconductor interfaces.

Organic light emitting diodes with an organic acceptor/donor interface involved in hole injection

Organic light emitting diodes with an interface of organic acceptor 3-, 4-, 9-, 10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) and donor copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) involved in hole injection are fabricated. As compared to the conventional device using a 5 nm CuPc hole injection layer, the device using an interface of 10 nm PTCDA and 5 rim CuPc layers shows much lower operating voltage with an increase of about 46% in the maximum power efficiency. The enhanced device performance is attributed to the efficient hole generation at the PTCDA/CuPc interface. This study provides a new way of designing hole injection.

Interface of wet oxidized AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors

The interface of wet oxidized Al0.97Ga0.03As/GaAs in a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) structure has been studied by means of transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. With the extension of oxidation time, the oxide/GaAs interfaces are not abrupt any more. There is an amorphous film near the oxide/GaAs interface, which is Ga2O3 related to the prolonged heating. In the samples oxidized for 10 and 20 min, there are some fissures along the oxidized AlGaAs/GaAs interfaces. In the samples oxidized or in situ annealed for long time, no such fissures are present due to the complete removal of the volatile products.

Passively mode-locked Nd : YVO4 laser using semiconductor saturable absorption mirrors of interface states relaxation region

Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) with GaAs/air interface relaxation region have less nonsaturable loss than those with low temperature grown In0.25Ga0.75As relaxation region. A thin layer Of SiO2 and a high reflectivity film Of Si/(SiO2/Si)(4) were coated on the SESAMs, respectively in order to improve the SESAM's threshold for damage. The passively continuous wave mode-locked lasers with two such SESAMs were demonstrated, and the SESAM with high reflectivity film of Si/(SiO2/Si)(4) is proved to be helpful for high output power. (c) 2006 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Interface effect on emission properties of Er-doped Si nanoclusters embedded in SiO2 prepared by magnetron sputtering

Er-doped Si nanoclusters embedded in SiO2 (NCSO) films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on either silicon or quartz substrates. A 1.16 mu m (1.08 eV) photoluminescence (PL) peak was observed from an Er-doped NCSO film deposited on a Si substrate. This 1.16 mu m peak is attributed to misfit dislocations at the NCSO/Si interface. The emission properties of the 1.16 mu m peak and its correlation with the Er3+ emission (1.54 mu m) have been studied in detail. The observed behavior suggests that the excitation mechanism of the 1.16 mu m PL is in a fashion similar to that shown for Er-doped Si nanoclusters embedded in a SiO2 matrix. (C) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

A highly efficient beam propagation method for modeling step-index waveguides with tilt interface

Based on a new finite-difference scheme and Runge-Kutta method together with transparent boundary conditions (TBCs), a novel beam propagation method to model step-index waveguides with tilt interfaces is presented. The modified scheme provides an precies description of the tilt interface of the nonrectangular waveguide structure, showing a much better efficiency and accuracy comparing with the previously presented formulas.

A model for scattering due to interface roughness in finite quantum wells

A model for scattering due to interface roughness in finite quantum wells (QWs) is developed within the framework of the Boltzmann transport equation and a simple and explicit expression between mobility limited by interface roughness scattering and barrier height is obtained. The main advantage of our model is that it does not involve complicated wavefunction calculations, and thus it is convenient for predicting the mobility in thin finite QWs. It is found that the mobility limited by interface roughness is one order of amplitude higher than the results derived by assuming an infinite barrier, for finite barrier height QWs where x = 0.3. The mobility first decreases and then flattens out as the barrier confinement increases. The experimental results may be explained with monolayers of asperity height 1-2, and a correlation length of about 33 angstrom. The calculation results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data from AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs QWs.

Interface-related in-plane optical anisotropy in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single-quantum-well structures studied by reflectance difference spectroscopy

The in-plane optical anisotropies of a series of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single-quantum-well structures have been observed at room temperature by reflectance difference spectroscopy. The measured degree of polarization of the excitonic transitions is inversely proportional to the well width. Numerical calculations based on the envelope function approximation incorporating the effect of C-2v-interface symmetry have been performed to analyze the origin of the optical anisotropy. Good agreement with the experimental data is obtained when the optical anisotropy is attributed to anisotropic-interface structures. The fitted interface potential parameters are consistent with predicted values.

SiO2/Ta interface reaction in magnetic multilayers and its influence on Ta buffer layers

Ta is often used as a buffer layer in magnetic multilayers. In this study, Ta/Ni81Fe19/Ta multilayers were deposited by magnetron sputtering on sing-crystal Si with a 300-nm-thick SiO2 film. The composition and chemical states at the interface region of SiO2/Ta were studied using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and peak decomposition technique. The results show that there is an 'inter-mixing layer" at the SiO2/Ta interface due to a thermodynamically favorable reaction: 15 SiO2 + 37 Ta = 6 Ta2O5 + 5 Ta5Si3. Therefore, the Ta buffer layer thickness used to induce NiFe (111) texture increases.