Low-loss rib waveguides containing Si nanocrystals embedded in SiO2

We report on the study and modeling of the structural and optical properties of rib-loaded waveguides working in the 600-900-nm spectral range. A Si nanocrystal (Si-nc) rich SiO2 layer with nominal Si excess ranging from 10% to 20% was produced by quadrupole ion implantation of Si into thermal SiO2 formed on a silicon substrate. Si-ncs were precipitated by annealing at 1100°C, forming a 0.4-um-thick core layer in the waveguide. The Si content, the Si-nc density and size, the Si-nc emission, and the active layer effective refractive index were determined by dedicated experiments using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence and m-lines spectroscopy. Rib-loaded waveguides were fabricated by photolithographic and reactive ion etching processes, with patterned rib widths ranging from 1¿to¿8¿¿m. Light propagation in the waveguide was observed and losses of 11dB/cm at 633 and 780 nm were measured, modeled and interpreted.

Size dependence of refractive index of Si nanoclusters embedded in SiO2

he complex refractive index of SiO2 layers containing Si nanoclusters (Si-nc) has been measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range from 1.5 to 5.0 eV. It has been correlated with the amount of Si excess accurately measured by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the nanocluster size determined by energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy. The Si-nc embedded in SiO2 have been produced by a fourfold Si+ ion implantation, providing uniform Si excess aimed at a reliable ellipsometric modeling. The complex refractive index of the Si-nc phase has been calculated by the application of the Bruggeman effective-medium approximation to the composite media. The characteristic resonances of the refractive index and extinction coefficient of bulk Si vanish out in Si-nc. In agreement with theoretical simulations, a significant reduction of the refractive index of Si-nc is observed, in comparison with bulk and amorphous silicon. The knowledge of the optical properties of these composite layers is crucial for the realization of Si-based waveguides and light-emitting devices.

Optical-geometrical effects on the photoluminescence spectra of Si nanocrystals embedded in SiO2

We demonstrate that thickness, optical constants, and details of the multilayer stack, together with the detection setting, strongly influence the photoluminescence spectra of Si nanocrystals embedded in SiO2. Due to multiple reflections of the visible light against the opaque silicon substrate, an interference pattern is built inside the oxide layer, which is responsible for the modifications in the measured spectra. This interference effect is complicated by the depth dependence of (i) the intensity of the excitation laser and (ii) the concentration of the emitting nanocrystals. These variations can give rise to apparent features in the recorded spectra, such as peak shifts, satellite shoulders, and even splittings, which can be mistaken as intrinsic material features. Thus, they can give rise to an erroneous attribution of optical bands or estimate of the average particle size, while they are only optical-geometrical artifacts. We have analyzed these effects as a function of material composition (Si excess fraction) and thickness, and also evaluated how the geometry of the detection setup affects the measurements. To correct the experimental photoluminescence spectra and extract the true spectral shape of the emission from Si nanocrystals, we have developed an algorithm based on a modulation function, which depends on both the multilayer sequence and the experimental configuration. This procedure can be easily extended to other heterogeneous systems.

Conduction mechanisms and charge storage in Si-nanocrystals metal-oxide-semiconductor memory devices studied with conducting atomic force microscopy

In this work, we demonstrate that conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) is a very powerful tool to investigate, at the nanoscale, metal-oxide-semiconductor structures with silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) embedded in the gate oxide as memory devices. The high lateral resolution of this technique allows us to study extremely small areas ( ~ 300nm2) and, therefore, the electrical properties of a reduced number of Si-nc. C-AFM experiments have demonstrated that Si-nc enhance the gate oxide electrical conduction due to trap-assisted tunneling. On the other hand, Si-nc can act as trapping centers. The amount of charge stored in Si-nc has been estimated through the change induced in the barrier height measured from the I-V characteristics. The results show that only ~ 20% of the Si-nc are charged, demonstrating that the electrical behavior at the nanoscale is consistent with the macroscopic characterization.

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of Si nanocrystals in SiO2 deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of silicon suboxide SiOx films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition have been studied for different Si excesses up to 24¿at.¿%. The layers have been fully characterized with respect to their atomic composition and the structure of the Si precipitates. Linear refractive index and extinction coefficient have been determined in the whole visible range, enabling to estimate the optical bandgap as a function of the Si nanocrystal size. Nonlinear optical properties have been evaluated by the z-scan technique for two different excitations: at 0.80¿eV in the nanosecond regime and at 1.50¿eV in the femtosecond regime. Under nanosecond excitation conditions, the nonlinear process is ruled by thermal effects, showing large values of both nonlinear refractive index (n2 ~ ¿10¿8¿cm2/W) and nonlinear absorption coefficient (ß ~ 10¿6¿cm/W). Under femtosecond excitation conditions, a smaller nonlinear refractive index is found (n2 ~ 10¿12¿cm2/W), typical of nonlinearities arising from electronic response. The contribution per nanocrystal to the electronic third-order nonlinear susceptibility increases as the size of the Si nanoparticles is reduced, due to the appearance of electronic transitions between discrete levels induced by quantum confinement.

Nucleation and growth of GaN nanorods on Si (111) surfaces by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy - The influence of Si- and Mg-doping

The self-assembled growth of GaN nanorods on Si (111) substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy under nitrogen-rich conditions is investigated. An amorphous silicon nitride layer is formed in the initial stage of growth that prevents the formation of a GaN wetting layer. The nucleation time was found to be strongly influenced by the substrate temperature and was more than 30 min for the applied growth conditions. The observed tapering and reduced length of silicon-doped nanorods is explained by enhanced nucleation on nonpolar facets and proves Ga-adatom diffusion on nanorod sidewalls as one contribution to the axial growth. The presence of Mg leads to an increased radial growth rate with a simultaneous decrease of the nanorod length and reduces the nucleation time for high Mg concentrations.

Influence of the (111) twinning on the formation of diamond cubic/diamond hexagonal heterostructures in Cu-catalyzed Si nanowires

The occurrence of heterostructures of cubic silicon/hexagonal silicon as disks defined along the nanowire (111) growth direction is reviewed in detail for Si nanowires obtained using Cu as catalyst. Detailed measurements on the structural properties of both semiconductor phases and their interface are presented. We observe that during growth, lamellar twinning on the cubic phase along the (111) direction is generated. Consecutive presence of twins along the (111) growth direction was found to be correlated with the origin of the local formation of the hexagonal Si segments along the nanowires, which define quantum wells of hexagonal Si diamond. Finally, we evaluate and comment on the consequences of the twins and wurtzite in the final electronic properties of the wires with the help of the predicted energy band diagram.

Thermal modeling and management in ultrathin chip stack technology

This paper presents a thermal modeling for power management of a new three-dimensional (3-D) thinned dies stacking process. Besides the high concentration of power dissipating sources, which is the direct consequence of the very interesting integration efficiency increase, this new ultra-compact packaging technology can suffer of the poor thermal conductivity (about 700 times smaller than silicon one) of the benzocyclobutene (BCB) used as both adhesive and planarization layers in each level of the stack. Thermal simulation was conducted using three-dimensional (3-D) FEM tool to analyze the specific behaviors in such stacked structure and to optimize the design rules. This study first describes the heat transfer limitation through the vertical path by examining particularly the case of the high dissipating sources under small area. First results of characterization in transient regime by means of dedicated test device mounted in single level structure are presented. For the design optimization, the thermal draining capabilities of a copper grid or full copper plate embedded in the intermediate layer of stacked structure are evaluated as a function of the technological parameters and the physical properties. It is shown an interest for the transverse heat extraction under the buffer devices dissipating most the power and generally localized in the peripheral zone, and for the temperature uniformization, by heat spreading mechanism, in the localized regions where the attachment of the thin die is altered. Finally, all conclusions of this analysis are used for the quantitative projections of the thermal performance of a first demonstrator based on a three-levels stacking structure for space application.

Metal-Nitride-oxide-semiconductor light-emitting devices for general lighting.

The potential for application of silicon nitride-based light sources to general lighting is reported. The mechanism of current injection and transport in silicon nitride layers and silicon oxide tunnel layers is determined by electro-optical characterization of both bi- and tri-layers. It is shown that red luminescence is due to bipolar injection by direct tunneling, whereas Poole-Frenkel ionization is responsible for blue-green emission. The emission appears warm white to the eye, and the technology has potential for large-area lighting devices. A photometric study, including color rendering, color quality and luminous efficacy of radiation, measured under various AC excitation conditions, is given for a spectrum deemed promising for lighting. A correlated color temperature of 4800K was obtained using a 35% duty cycle of the AC excitation signal. Under these conditions, values for general color rendering index of 93 and luminous efficacy of radiation of 112 lm/W are demonstrated. This proof of concept demonstrates that mature silicon technology, which is extendable to lowcost, large-area lamps, can be used for general lighting purposes. Once the external quantum efficiency is improved to exceed 10%, this technique could be competitive with other energy-efficient solid-state lighting options. ©2011 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (230.2090) Electro-optical devices; (150.2950) Illumination.

Majority carrier capture cross section determination in the large deep trap concentration cases

A method to determine the thermal cross section of a deep level from capacitance measurements is reported. The results enable us to explain the nonexponential behavior of the capacitance versus capture time when the trap concentration is not negligible with respect to that of the shallow one, and the Debye tail effects are taken into account. A figure of merit for the nonexponential behavior of the capture process is shown and discussed for different situations of doping and applied bias. We have also considered the influence of the position of the trap level"s energy on the nonexponentiality of the capture transient. The experimental results are given for the gold acceptor level in silicon and for the DX center in Al0.55 Ga0.45As, which are in good agreement with the developed theory.

Microinductive signal conditioning with resonant differential filters: high-sensitivity biodetection applications

Inductive-based devices integrated with Si technology for biodetection applications are characterized, using simple resonant differential filter configurations. This has allowed the corroboration of the viability of the proposed circuits, which are characterized by their very high simplicity, for microinductive signal conditioning in high-sensitivity sensor devices. The simulation of these simple circuits predicts sensitivities of the differential output voltage which can achieve values in the range of 0.1-1 V/nH, depending on the coil parameters. These very high-sensitivity values open the possibility for the experimental detection of extremely small inductance changes in the devices. For real microinductive devices, both series resistance and parasitic capacitive components contribute to the decrease of the differential circuit sensitivity. Nevertheless, measurements performed using micro-coils fabricated with relatively high series resistance and coupling parasitic effects have allowed detection of changes in the range of 2 nH. which are compatible with biodetection applications with estimated detection limits below the picomolarity range.

Residual Stress Measurement on a MEMS Structure With High-Spatial Resolution

A new approach to the local measurement of residual stress in microstructures is described in this paper. The presented technique takes advantage of the combined milling-imaging features of a focused ion beam (FIB) equipment to scale down the widely known hole drilling method. This method consists of drilling a small hole in a solid with inherent residual stresses and measuring the strains/displacements caused by the local stress release, that takes place around the hole. In the presented case, the displacements caused by the milling are determined by applying digital image correlation (DIC) techniques to high resolution micrographs taken before and after the milling process. The residual stress value is then obtained by fitting the measured displacements to the analytical solution of the displacement fields. The feasibility of this approach has been demonstrated on a micromachined silicon nitride membrane showing that this method has high potential for applications in the field of mechanical characterization of micro/nanoelectromechanical systems.

Model for the emission of Si+ ions during oxygen bombardment of Si(100) surfaces

The variation in the emission of Si+ ions from ion-beam-induced oxidized silicon surfaces has been studied. The stoichiometry and the electronic structure of the altered layer has been characterized using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS analysis of the Si 2p core level indicates the strong presence of suboxide chemical states when bombarding at angles of incidence larger than 30 °. Since the surface stoichiometry or degree of oxidation varies with the angle of incidence, the corresponding valence-band structures also differ among each other. A comparison between experimental measurements and theoretically calculated Si and SiO2 valence bands indicates that the valence bands for the altered layers are formed by a combination of those two. Since Si-Si bonds are present in the suboxide molecules, the top of the respective new valence bands are formed by the corresponding 3p-3p Si-like subbands, which extend up to the Si Fermi level. The changes in stoichiometry and electronic structure have been correlated with the emission of Si+ ions from these surfaces. From the results a general model for the Si+ ion emission is proposed combining the resonant tunneling and local-bond-breaking models.