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Open framework Si24 is a cage-like silicon allotrope with a highly anisotropic character and predicted to possess fascinating optoelectronic and thermoelectric performance. In this paper, we systematically investigated the thermoelectric conversion performance of Si24 nanowires (Si24NWs) through using nonequilibrium Green's function method as implemented in the density functional based tight-binding framework. The calculations reveal that Si24NWs possess superb electronic transport properties, e.g., the Seebeck coefficient could approach 2.67 mV/k at room temperature (several times greater than that of diamond silicon nanowires). Meanwhile, evident anisotropic thermal transport is also observed in Si24NWs, where the room temperature phonon thermal conductance of Si24NW-[100]/[010]/[001] is 1.36/0.27/0.38 nW/k, respectively. Through analyzing the phonon spectra of Si24NWs, we explain the origin of such an anisotropic thermal transport property. By combining the electron and phonon transport properties, the thermoelectric properties of Si24NWs are predicted and the ZT value of Si24NW-[100]/[010]/[001] could, respectively, approach 0.18/1.28/0.85 at room temperature. In order to achieve better thermoelectric performance, the Si/Ge core–shell structures are constructed (based on Si24NW-[010]). The results show that the core–shell structure is indeed a viable and efficient way to improve the thermoelectric conversion efficiency (the figure of merit could be boosted to 2.2 at room temperature). The findings presented in this paper shed light on the thermoelectric performance of Si24NWs and could provide a helpful guideline for designing and fabricating excellent thermoelectric devices based on Si24NWs.

This paper investigates energy filtering in silicon nanowires and nanosheets by resonant electron tunneling through a geometric superlattice. A geometric superlattice is any kind of periodic geometric feature along the transport direction of the nanowire or nanosheet. Multivalley quantum-transport simulations are used to demonstrate the manifestation of minibands and minibandgaps in the transmission spectra of such a superlattice. We find that the presence of different valleys in the conduction band of silicon favors a nanowire with a rectangular cross section for effective energy filtering. The obtained energy filter can consequently be used in the source extension of a field-effect transistor to prevent high-energy electrons from contributing to the leakage current. Self-consistent Schrodinger-Poisson simulations in the ballistic limit show minimum subthreshold swings of 6 mV/decade for geometric superlattices with indentations. The obtained theoretical performance metrics for the simulated devices are compared with conventional III-V superlatticeFETs and TunnelFETs. The adaptation of the quantum transmitting boundary method to the finite-element simulation of 3-D structures with anisotropic effective mass is presented in Appendixes A and B. Our results bare relevance in the search for steep-slope transistor alternatives which are compatible with the silicon industry and can overcome the power-consumption bottleneck inherent to standard CMOS technologies.This paper investigates energy filtering in silicon nanowires and nanosheets by resonant electron tunneling through a geometric superlattice. A geometric superlattice is any kind of periodic geometric feature along the transport direction of the nanowire or nanosheet. Multivalley quantum-transport simulations are used to demonstrate the manifestation of minibands and minibandgaps in the transmission spectra of such a superlattice. We find that the presence of different valleys in the conduction band of silicon favors a nanowire with a rectangular cross section for effective energy filtering. The obtained energy filter can consequently be used in the source extension of a field-effect transistor to prevent high-energy electrons from contributing to the leakage current. Self-consistent Schrodinger-Poisson simulations in the ballistic limit show minimum subthreshold swings of 6 mV/decade for geometric superlattices with indentations. The obtained theoretical performance metrics for the simulated devices are ...

Luminescence imaging is currently being used to provide spatially resolved defect in high volume silicon solar cell production. One option to obtain the high throughput required for on the fly detection is the use a silicon line scan cameras. However, when using a silicon based camera, the spatial resolution is reduced as a result of the weakly absorbed light scattering within the camera's chip. This paper address this issue by applying deconvolution from a measured point spread function. This paper extends the methods for determining the point spread function of a silicon area camera to a line scan camera with charge transfer. The improvement in resolution is quantified in the Fourier domain and in spatial domain on an image of a multicrystalline silicon brick. It is found that light spreading beyond the active sensor area is significant in line scan sensors, but can be corrected for through normalization of the point spread function. The application of this method improves the raw data, allowing effecti...

Silicon nanocrystals embedded in silicon oxide that show room temperature photoluminescence (PL) have great potential in silicon light emission applications. Nanocrystalline silicon particle formation by laser irradiation has the unique advantage of spatially controlled heating, which is compatible with modern silicon micro-fabrication technology. In this paper, we employ continuous wave laser irradiation to decompose substrate-bound silicon-rich silicon oxide films into crystalline silicon particles and silicon dioxide. The resulting microstructure is studied using transmission electron microscopy techniques with considerable emphasis on the formation and properties of laser damaged regions which typically quench room temperature PL from the nanoparticles. It is shown that such regions consist of an amorphous matrix with a composition similar to silicon dioxide which contains some nanometric silicon particles in addition to pores. A mechanism referred to as “selective silicon ablation” is proposed which consistently explains the experimental observations. Implications for the damage-free laser decomposition of silicon-rich silicon oxides and also for controlled production of porous silicon dioxide films are discussed.Silicon nanocrystals embedded in silicon oxide that show room temperature photoluminescence (PL) have great potential in silicon light emission applications. Nanocrystalline silicon particle formation by laser irradiation has the unique advantage of spatially controlled heating, which is compatible with modern silicon micro-fabrication technology. In this paper, we employ continuous wave laser irradiation to decompose substrate-bound silicon-rich silicon oxide films into crystalline silicon particles and silicon dioxide. The resulting microstructure is studied using transmission electron microscopy techniques with considerable emphasis on the formation and properties of laser damaged regions which typically quench room temperature PL from the nanoparticles. It is shown that such regions consist of an amorphous matrix with a composition similar to silicon dioxide which contains some nanometric silicon particles in addition to pores. A mechanism referred to as “selective silicon ablation” is proposed which ...

In micro- and nano- electronic device fabrication, and particularly 3D designs, the diffusion of a metal into sublayers during annealing needs to be minimized as it is usually detrimental to device performance. Diffusion also causes the formation and growth of nanoprecipitates in solid matrices. In this paper, the diffusion behavior of low energy, low fluence, ion implanted iron into a thermally grown silicon oxide layer on silicon is investigated. Different ion beam analysis and imaging techniques were used. Magnetization measurements were also undertaken to provide evidence of nanocrystalline ordering. While standard vacuum furnace annealing and electron beam annealing lead to fast diffusion of the implanted species towards the Si/SiO2 interface, we show that furnace annealing in an oxygen rich atmosphere prevents the diffusion of iron that, in turn, limits the growth of the nanoparticles. The diffusion and particle growth is also greatly reduced when oxygen atoms are implanted in the SiO2 prior to Fe implantation, effectively acting as a diffusion barrier. The excess oxygen is hypothesized to trap Fe atoms and reduce their mean free path during the diffusion. Monte-Carlo simulations of the diffusion process which consider the random walk of Fe, Fick's diffusion of O atoms, Fe precipitation, and desorption of the SiO2 layer under the electron beam annealing were performed. Simulation results for the three preparation conditions are found in good agreement with the experimental data.In micro- and nano- electronic device fabrication, and particularly 3D designs, the diffusion of a metal into sublayers during annealing needs to be minimized as it is usually detrimental to device performance. Diffusion also causes the formation and growth of nanoprecipitates in solid matrices. In this paper, the diffusion behavior of low energy, low fluence, ion implanted iron into a thermally grown silicon oxide layer on silicon is investigated. Different ion beam analysis and imaging techniques were used. Magnetization measurements were also undertaken to provide evidence of nanocrystalline ordering. While standard vacuum furnace annealing and electron beam annealing lead to fast diffusion of the implanted species towards the Si/SiO2 interface, we show that furnace annealing in an oxygen rich atmosphere prevents the diffusion of iron that, in turn, limits the growth of the nanoparticles. The diffusion and particle growth is also greatly reduced when oxygen atoms are implanted in the SiO2 prior to Fe i...

In this paper, we proposed a novel nano-gap thermophotovoltaic (TPV) device made up of thin-films including the radiator. The optical, electrical, and thermal responses and performance of the device were assessed using coupled opto-electro-thermal numerical simulation. The device design consists of a thin-film tungsten radiator which is paired with a thin-film silicon TPV cell across a nanometric vacuum gap. Results were simulated based on experimental properties available in the current literature database. It is discovered that the maximum electrical power output of the thin-film nano-gap TPV device increases with cell temperature up to a certain threshold value due to improvements in generated photocurrent. Thin-film tungsten as a radiator is shown to improve radiative heat transfer above the bandgap compared to conventional bulk tungsten. The effect of cell thickness on responses and performance was also analysed. A 1-μm cell produces better performance over thinner thicknesses at the cost of greater cooling requirements. However, the improvements in output power offset the cooling costs, allowing for consistently favourable efficiencies. Finally, it is shown that the temperature profile in silicon thin-films under convective cooling can be approximated as uniform, simplifying the heat transport modelling process.In this paper, we proposed a novel nano-gap thermophotovoltaic (TPV) device made up of thin-films including the radiator. The optical, electrical, and thermal responses and performance of the device were assessed using coupled opto-electro-thermal numerical simulation. The device design consists of a thin-film tungsten radiator which is paired with a thin-film silicon TPV cell across a nanometric vacuum gap. Results were simulated based on experimental properties available in the current literature database. It is discovered that the maximum electrical power output of the thin-film nano-gap TPV device increases with cell temperature up to a certain threshold value due to improvements in generated photocurrent. Thin-film tungsten as a radiator is shown to improve radiative heat transfer above the bandgap compared to conventional bulk tungsten. The effect of cell thickness on responses and performance was also analysed. A 1-μm cell produces better performance over thinner thicknesses at the cost of greater ...

Ferroelectric hafnium oxide is a promising candidate for logic and memory applications as it maintains excellent ferroelectric properties at nm-size ensuring compatibility with state of the art semiconductor manufacturing. Most of the published papers report on the study of this material through Metal-Insulator-Metal capacitors or Metal-Insulator-Silicon transistors. However, for 3D vertical transistors in which both the channel and gate are polysilicon, the case of silicon-based electrodes cannot be ignored. In this paper, we report the fabrication of various ferroelectric capacitors with silicon (S) based conductive layers and titanium nitride metal (M) electrodes using aluminum doped hafnium oxide (I). The ferroelectric device with silicon-based electrodes shows superior polarization and steeper switching. These results pave the way toward 3D integration for potential 3D NAND replacement.

Atomic layer deposited aluminum oxide (ALD-Al2O3) is a dielectric material, which is widely used in organic light emitting diodes in order to prevent their organic layers from humidity related degradation. Unfortunately, there are strong hints that in some cases, ALD-Al2O3 itself is suffering from humidity related degradation. Especially, high temperature and high humidity seem to enhance ALD-Al2O3 degradation strongly. For this reason, the degradation behavior of ALD-Al2O3 films at high temperature and high humidity was investigated in detail and a way to prevent it from degradation was searched. The degradation behavior is analyzed in the first part of this paper. Using infrared absorbance measurements and X-ray diffraction, boehmite (γ-AlOOH) was identified as a degradation product. In the second part of the paper, it is shown that ALD-Al2O3 films can be effectively protected from degradation using a silicon oxide capping. The deposition of very small amounts of silicon in a molecular beam epitaxy syst...

The gated polysilicon field emitter arrays coated with diamondlike carbon (DLC) were fabricated by a transfer mold method using anisotropic etching of Si and the deposition of DLC using methane ion beam. This paper describes significant enhancement in electron emission and considerable reduction in turn-on voltage for the emitter arrays by the DLC coating. In addition, the paper discusses the emission mechanism from the energy band diagram of a field emitter coated with a sufficiently thin dielectric material having a low electron affinity, and shows that an effective work function of the DLC coated polysilicon field emitter is about 2.9 eV.

This paper provides a detailed description explaining how to calculate the relation between the silicon Raman frequency and local stress or strain in the silicon, applied to stress measurements in microelectronics. This relation is well known for measurements from the (100) surface of silicon. However, it is often used in the wrong way, neglecting non-zero stress tensor elements. Especially, in current 3D microelectronics technology, where the stress caused by through Si vias or micro-bumps is of large importance, the vertical stress component, which highly affects the measured Raman frequency shift, is often erroneously neglected. In addition, the equations for the (100) surface are also often used incorrectly for cross-sectional measurements from a (110) surface. In this paper, different ways to calculate the relation between Raman frequency and triaxial stress, and the related Raman peak intensities, are discussed in detail.

The paper is the second part of the study on the influence of very low dopant content in silicon on CoSi2 precipitation during high-temperature cobalt ion implantation into transmission electron microscope samples. It deals with the computational justification of various assumptions used in Paper I when rationalizing the kinetics of cobalt clustering in ion-implanted intrinsic silicon (both undoped and containing low concentrations of phosphorus atoms). In particular, it is proven that divacancies are efficient nucleation centers for the new Co-Si phase. It is shown that the capture of vacancies and divacancies on phosphorus atoms increases their lifetime in silicon matrix, but practically does not affect the mechanism of their interaction with interstitial cobalt atoms. Finally, it is demonstrated that the mobility of phosphorus interstitials at temperatures of our experiment is orders of magnitude higher than might be expected from the published literature data.

International audience; no abstract; In this paper, the conduction properties of dielectric ultra-thin layers are studied using atomic force microscopy. Especially, the conductive-atomic force microscope allows to measure the leakage current at the nanoscale and to study the degradation mechanisms locally. Nonetheless, the dielectric layer seems to be damaged by a technique's specific phenomenon: hillocks appear when a positive tip bias is applied on different dielectrics. In this paper, the formation of these hillocks is studied. Contrary to what is observed during the dielectric breakdown, the conductivity is reduced after hillocks formation which occurs after the dielectric breakdown. Moreover, we have observed the formation of cavities in the silicon substrate linked to the formation of hillocks, which is not compatible with a swelling process (as dielectric breakdown induced epitaxy). We propose that these results may be explained by an electro-thermal effect due to the large dissipated energy, maybe combined with the oxidation of the substrate. Finally, the interdependence of measurements is demonstrated during serial acquisition.

In a previous paper we showed that selective etching of porous SiOCH with respect to SiO2 and SiCH is clearly enhanced when using a pulsed bias in inductively coupled fluorocarbon plasma. To understand this pulsed process, a model for etch rate calculation is developed in the present paper. This model explains the etching/deposition threshold shift toward higher bias voltage in pulsed conditions. Rather good confidence is obtained with experimental SiO2, Si, SiOCH and SiCH etch rates. Porous SiOCH etching is found to behave slightly differently compared to SiO2 or SiCH; its chemical etching is assumed to occur even during the beginning of off period. This point could explain why good selectivities between porous SiOCH and SiO2 and SiCH are obtained.

This paper presents a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation tool which is applied to describe the ion beam induced damage generated by electronic excitation in LiNbO3. Based on a previously published thermal spike based analytical model, the MC technique allows for a more flexible and accurate treatment of the problem. A main advantage of this approach with respect to the analytical one is the possibility of studying the role of statistical fluctuations, relevant at low fluences. The paper recalls the main features of the physical model, describes the MC algorithm, and compares simulation results to experimental data (irradiations of LiNbO3 using silicon ions at 5 and 7.5 MeV and oxygen ions at 5 MeV). © 2006 American Institute of Physics.