Search

This work aims to validate the feasibility of device-level analysis to reflect the effects of fabrication processes and operations, as contrasted with the conventional method of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which is widely employed in amorphous oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) but analyzes film-level specimens. First, an analysis setup was introduced to determine the optimal x-ray target position for device-level XPS, where the intensity of channel components is maximized, through imaging XPS. Then, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, the impact of channel composition and bias-stress was investigated through the implementation of device-level XPS on bottom-gate InGaZnO TFTs. The cationic composition ratios of the fabricated TFTs varied from 0.27:1:1.33 (In:Ga:Zn) and 0.28:1:2.21 when the subcycle of the Zn precursor increased by a factor of 1.5 in the atomic-layer deposition process. The device with a higher Zn ratio exhibited a more negative turn-on voltage and a twice larger subthreshold swing. These characteristics were validated from the comparisons in the relative amount of oxygen vacancies in O 1s of the channel and interface regions by 8.4%p and 5.6%p, respectively, between the devices. Furthermore, the electron trapping effect was verified for the devices subjected to a positive gate bias-stress of 3 MV/cm, as evidenced by the changes in the binding energy difference (0.35 eV) between the channel and gate insulator layers, in comparison to the non-stressed device. Consequently, this work demonstrates that device-level XPS can be an effective tool for understanding TFTs' characteristics in various ways beyond film-level analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors (TAOSs) are essential materials and ushering in information and communications technologies. The performance of TAOS depends on the microstructures relating to the defects and dopants. Density functional theory (DFT) is a powerful tool to understand the structure–property relationship relating to electronic state; however, the computation of DFT is expensive, which often hinders appropriate structural modeling of amorphous materials. This study, thus, applied machine-learning potential (MLP) to reproduce the DFT level of accuracy with enhanced efficiency, to model amorphous In 2 O 3 (a-In 2 O 3), instead of expensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with DFT. MLP-MD could reproduce a-In 2 O 3 structure closer to the experimental data in comparison with DFT-MD and classical MD simulations with an analytical force field. Using the relatively large models obtained by the MLP-MD simulations, it was unraveled that the anionic hydrogen atoms bonding to indium atoms attract electrons instead of the missing oxygen and remedy the optical transparency of the oxygen deficient a-In 2 O 3. The preferential formation of metal–H bonding through the reaction of oxygen vacancy was demonstrated as analogous to InGaZnO x thin films [Joonho et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 232105 (2017)]. The present simulation suggests that the same mechanism works in a-In 2 O 3 , and our finding on the structure–property relationship is informative to clarify the factors affecting the optical transparency of In-based TAOS thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (IGZO) semiconductor has become the most commonly used semiconductor material and is widely used in flat panel displays and various sensors, but its performance is greatly affected by environmental factors, especially water. This study investigates the instability of IGZO thin‐film transistors (TFTs) soaked in deionized water. After 24 h bathing, the field‐effect mobility and threshold voltage change a little, but the subthreshold swing, positive bias stress and negative bias stress stability undergo clear degradation. Through comprehensive examination of the changes in the chemical composition, surface morphology and thickness of the IGZO films, it's found that IGZO experiences selective etching by deionized water, and consequently the film surface becomes rough and rich of In and oxygen vacancies, which can explain the variations on device performance well. In addition to the bathing experiment performed on In2O3, Ga2O3, and ZnO TFTs, a schematic image of the reaction between water and IGZO is depicted, showing the preferential loss of Ga and Zn located next to the oxygen vacancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of space power systems is crucial for space products as it determines the operational capabilities, endurance, and efficiency of satellites, spacecraft, and other extraterrestrial devices. Unlike reliability analysis in aerospace systems, studying spacecraft power generation performance requires consideration of both hardware and software aspects. Existing failure models do not fully capture the self‐recovery process of control programs. Therefore, this study presents an impact degradation model for space power systems that incorporates competitive failures under irradiation conditions. The model analyzes solar arrays and power controllers to derive a performance degradation model by considering the defect formation mechanism of amorphous semiconductor materials. Additionally, two shock types are defined based on redundancy backup in power controllers and scrubbing frequency in field‐programmable gate array (FPGA) units. Within the case analysis section, the research meticulously investigates and elucidates the correlation probabilities among varying proton irradiation doses, scrubbing frequencies, and the aforementioned shock types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-component glass system has a composition of 10K2O–10ZnO–55 B2O3–(25–x)V2O5–xBi2O3 (x = 4, 5, 7.5, 9, 10 mol%) are synthesized by the melt-quenching method. Using X-ray diffraction examination, the amorphous phase in the material was confirmed. The physical characteristics of the produced compositions are examined using density (D) and molar volume (Vm). Calculations of physical properties showed that adding Bi2O3 from 4 to 10 mol% increased the glass density from 2.7878 to 3.3617 g cm−3 and decreased the molar volume from 40.4196 to 38.5895 cm3/mol. Studies of glass samples using the FTIR show bands of absorption for oxides in different structural groups. Octahedral [ BiO 6 ], [ BO 4 ], and tetrahedral [ BO 3 ] structural units are observed in the present glass matrices. The cutoff wavelength ( λ C ), and optical band gap energy were determined using UV absorption spectra. The increase in non-bridging oxygens can be linked to the decrease in optical band gap energy ( E opt ) (direct and indirect) and the increase in cutoff wavelength with an increase in Bi2O3 content. This is attributed to the existence of bismuth ions and the creation of non-bridging oxygens. Besides that, the values of optical parameters, viz., optical electronegativity, refractive index, and molar refractivity, are calculated. The metallization criterion values are less than 1 and the glass samples exhibit an increased tendency towards metallization. Both the conductivity and the dielectric constant increase with the rise in Bi2O3 content, however, the dielectric loss and the impedance reduce. The behavior and values of conductivity for the studied glasses reveal the semiconducting properties of all glass samples. These results suggest that the produced glass samples may be employed as amorphous semiconductors in electronics and memory switching devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulations of exciton and charge hopping in amorphous organic materials involve numerous physical parameters. Each of these parameters must be computed from costly ab initio calculations before the simulation can commence, resulting in a significant computational overhead for studying exciton diffusion, especially in large and complex material datasets. While the idea of using machine learning to quickly predict these parameters has been explored previously, typical machine learning models require long training times, which ultimately contribute to simulation overheads. In this paper, we present a new machine learning architecture for building predictive models for intermolecular exciton coupling parameters. Our architecture is designed in such a way that the total training time is reduced compared to ordinary Gaussian process regression or kernel ridge regression models. Based on this architecture, we build a predictive model and use it to estimate the coupling parameters which enter into an exciton hopping simulation in amorphous pentacene. We show that this hopping simulation is able to achieve excellent predictions for exciton diffusion tensor elements and other properties as compared to a simulation using coupling parameters computed entirely from density functional theory. This result, along with the short training times afforded by our architecture, shows how machine learning can be used to reduce the high computational overheads associated with exciton and charge diffusion simulations in amorphous organic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glassy hybrid metal halides have emerged as promising materials in recent years due to their high structural adjustability and low melting points, offering unique merits that overcome the limitations of their crystalline and polycrystalline counterparts as well as other conventional amorphous semiconductors. This review article comprehensively explores the structural characteristics, electronic properties, and chemical coordination of hybrid metal halides, emphasizing their role in the glass transition from the crystalline phase to the amorphous phase. We examine the intrinsic disorder within the amorphous phase that facilitates light transmission and discuss recent advances in device architecture and interface engineering by optimizing the charge transport of glassy hybrid metal halides for high-quality applications. With full theoretical understanding and rational structural design, potential applications in displays, information storage, X-ray imaging, and sensing are highlighted, underscoring the transformative impact of glassy hybrid metal halides in the fields of materials science and information science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amorphous In─Ga─Zn─O (a‐IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) have attracted attention as a cell transistor for the next generation DRAM architecture because of its low leakage current, high mobility, and the back‐end‐of‐line (BEOL) compatibility that enables monolithic 3D (M3D) integration. IGZO‐based electronic devices used in harsh environments such as radiation exposure can be vulnerable, resulting in functional failure. Here, the behavior of subgap density‐of‐states (DOS) over full subgap range according to the impactful gamma‐ray irradiation in a‐IGZO TFTs is investigated by employing DC current–voltage (I−V) data with multiple‐wavelength light sources. To understand the origins of the radiation effect, IGZO films have been also analyzed by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Considering in‐depth electrical and chemical analysis, the unexpected increase of subthreshold leakage current caused by total ionizing dose (TID) is strongly correlated with newly discovered deep‐donor states (gDDγ(E)$g_{DD}^\gamma (E)$) at the specific energy level. In particular, oxygen vacancies caused by the gamma‐ray irradiation give rise to undesirable electrical characteristics such as hysteresis effect and negative shift of threshold voltage (VT). Furthermore, the TCAD simulation results based on DOS model parameters are found to exhibit good agreement with experimental data and plausible explanation including (gDDγ(E)$g_{DD}^\gamma (E)$). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain imaging is a critical aspect in the design and characterization of opto-electronics, microelectronics, flexible electronics, and on-chip photonics. However, strain mapping techniques are often material specific and strain measurements in amorphous materials remain a challenge. Here, we demonstrate strain mapping and optical characterization of an amorphous semiconductor using scanning reflectance anisotropy microscopy. Using reflection anisotropy spectroscopy and finite element simulations on evaporated amorphous germanium films, we showcase the strain sensitivity of the ellipsometric parameters. We demonstrate nondestructive mapping for simple and complex strain states in amorphous systems. The sub-degree phase and amplitude sensitivity of the microscope is able to determine strain states on the order of 10 − 3 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used Raman spectroscopy to compare the local structure of Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) thin films with thicknesses of 90 nm and 271 nm that were crystallized through thermal annealing and laser radiation (laser annealing) during the recording of Raman spectra in situ. We found that for all crystallized films, the position of the main peaks in the Raman spectra was almost the same, and their structure corresponded to a hexagonal close packed state. It is noteworthy that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the main peaks varies considerably depending on the crystallization method used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) is becoming an increasingly important technological material. Transport in this material is conceptualized as the heavy disorder of the material causing a conduction or mobility band-edge that randomly varies and undulates in space across the entire system. Thus, transport is envisioned as being dominated by percolation physics as carriers traverse this varying band-edge landscape of "hills" and "valleys". It is then something of a missed opportunity to model such a system using only a compact approach—despite this being the primary focus of the existing literature—as such a system can easily be faithfully reproduced as a true microscopic TCAD model with a real physically varying potential. Thus, in this work, we develop such a "microscopic" TCAD model of a-IGZO and detail a number of key aspects of its implementation. We then demonstrate that it can accurately reproduce experimental results and consider the issue of the addition of non-conducting band-tail states in a numerically efficient manner. Finally, two short studies of 3D effects are undertaken to illustrate the utility of the model: specifically, the cases of variation effects as a function of device size and as a function of surface roughness scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer-derived SiBCN ceramics with good high-temperature stability and temperature-sensitive properties can be used in real-time temperature monitoring in the aeronautical industry. However, previous investigations mostly focus on the temperature sensitivity of SiBCN ceramics but neglect the fast temperature conversion of the real operating environment and its effect on the temperature sensitivity, which hinders their further practical application. In this study, the response to rapid temperature changes of polymer-derived SiBCN was studied. SiBCN ceramics maintain excellent high-temperature semiconductor performance under rapid heating, and its direct-current (DC) conductivity increases with increasing temperature. The conductive mechanism conforms to the amorphous semiconductor formula, following three different transition mechanisms in different temperature regions. The resistance of SiBCN increases with the number of cycles during 100 cycles of 500–1200 °C, presenting excellent temperature-sensitivity and relatively good sensing stability. This work demonstrates that SiBCN ceramics can maintain excellent temperature-resistance under extreme environments with rapid heating and cooling, and it is hoped that this work could guide the development of temperature sensors for extreme environments in the future. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron nitride (BN) is a layered two-dimensional insulator with excellent chemical, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties. We present a comprehensive characterization of hBN as a dielectric thin film using a high impedance measurement system (100 T Ω) to reveal the AC conductivity and dielectric properties of reactively RF sputtered 200 nm thick films to 480 °C. The experimental results are analyzed with reference to various theoretical models proposed for electrical conduction in disordered or amorphous semiconductors. Electrical measurements indicate that the mechanism behind hBN AC conductivity is via correlated barrier hopping (CBH) and is assigned to localized states at the Fermi level, where N(EF) ∼ 1018 eV−1 cm−3. Our measurements also reveal a σ dc component, with resistance reducing from ∼1010 Ω (50 °C) to 3 × 108 Ω (480 °C). Single RC parallel circuit fits to Cole–Cole plots are achieved signifying a sole conduction path with capacitance values of ∼8 × 10−11 F. These findings may be of interest to material and device scientists and could open new pathways for hBN both as a dielectric material encapsulant and for semiconductor device applications including high-temperature operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raman spectra of (As1–xBix)2S3 glass samples with x ≤ 0.2 measured at the excitation with above‐bandgap (532 nm) laser light at a relatively low power density (Pexc = 4 kW/cm2) clearly confirm the amorphous character, thereby markedly extending the known compositional interval of existence of the (As1–xBix)2S3 glass previously known (x ≤ 0.06). Spectra measured at an increased Pexc (40 kW/cm2) reveal a photostructural transformation in the illuminated area of the glass leading to an additional contribution of Bi–S bonds as well as to an increasing number of cage‐type As4S4 units with homopolar As–As bonds. A number of new features in a broad range up to about 1,000 cm−1, which emerge in the Raman spectra of the (As1–xBix)2S3 glasses with high (x ≥ 0.14) Bi content and increase in intensity with the exposure time, are related to a photochemical transformation, namely, oxidation of arsenic and sulphur on the (As1–xBix)2S3 glass surface with formation of units containing arsenate AsO43− and sulphate SO42− ions. These processes are irreversible and occur only in the presence of a sufficient amount of bismuth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the multiple-trapping (MT) model to comprehend the transport of nonequilibrium charge carriers in amorphous semiconductors has proven highly effective. Under specific conditions, this model generates anomalous diffusion equations characterized by fractional time derivatives. This underscores the utility of the MT model in interpreting fractional transport equations, establishing initial and boundary conditions, and developing numerical methods for solving fractional kinetic equations. Also, this work provides a concise overview of applying fractional MT equations to address challenges in time-of-flight (TOF) experiments. Furthermore, it delves into the connection between the MT model and generalized fractional kinetic equations. In addition, the study introduces analytic approximate solutions of the fractional diffusion equation, incorporating MT phenomena and employing Laplace transforms. This approach is suitable for analyzing both the pre- and post-regimes of TOF transient current, applicable to amorphous semiconductors that display either nondispersive or dispersive transport characteristics. The effectiveness of this method is illustrated through numerical simulations of TOF transient current using the inverse Laplace transform technique with the Padé approximation. The practicality of the method is confronted with the experimental data obtained from thin films of amorphous selenium (a-Se), and the results of this confrontation are deemed satisfactory. The results of this study offer a new promising perspective for the two following reasons. First, employing fractional calculus to address the MT equations introduces a distinct approach compared to methodologies in the existing literature. This is substantiated by the inclusion of memory effects in fractional calculus, implying that the present solution is influenced by preceding time steps. Second, the numerical results demonstrate good agreement with experimental data. Consequently, the introduction of fractional calculus has the potential to offer fresh insights into the behavior of charge carriers in amorphous semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electron conduction mechanism in indium oxide (In2O3) and its implications for amorphous transport have been investigated from an orbital overlap perspective. Combined density functional theory and empirical tight binding modeling reveal that the electron transport is facilitated by the neighboring metal atomic s orbital overlap "without" oxygen's p-orbital involvement. In other words, the electron transport pathway in oxides is only due to the metal-metal medium range connection. This electron conduction mechanism is extended to amorphous In2O3 which unveils that the amorphous disorder influences the electron transport through impacting the metal-metal medium range order including metal-metal coordination number and metal-metal separation. Our results provide an insight into the current theoretical understanding of electron transport in amorphous oxide semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to balance the stability and mobility of amorphous oxide semiconductor thin‐film transistors (AOS TFTs), we designate a stacked channel TFT structure incorporating an electron relaxation layer (CRL) and an electron transport layer (CTL). Rich In‐ITZO is chosen as the CTL, and a rich Ga‐IGZO material with a short photogenerated electron lifetime served as the CRL. Bilayer TFTs with CRL/CTL ratios of 5/20, 10/20, 15/20, 20/20, and 30/20 nm are prepared. The results reveal that the CRL/CTL stacked structure effectively enhances stability while maintaining high mobility. With an increase in CTL thickness, the TFT mobility also increases. Ultimately, three groups of devices with both high mobility and stability are fabricated: 10/20 TFT with a field‐effect mobility (μFE) of approximately 48.58 cm2V-1s-1 and a negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) threshold voltage shift (|ΔVth|) of around ‐1.14 V; 15/20 TFT with µFE~54.08 cm2V-1s-1 and NBIS |ΔVth|~ ‐2.35 V; and 20/20 TFT with µFE~65.98 cm2V-1s-1 and NBIS |ΔVth|~ ‐2.07 V. This suggests that the CRL/CTL structure can achieve high‐performance TFTs suitable for various display applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses critical performance metrics wit hin active matrix pixel circuits that occur between acti vation stages (i.e. between programming and emission). It uses an all amorphous oxide semiconductor (AO S) 2T1C (2‐transistor, 1‐capacitor) pixel circuit to dem onstrate kickback voltage, charge sharing, and charge rejection through simulation and experimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous semiconductors without perfect crystalline lattice structures are usually considered to be unfavorable for photocatalysis due to the presence of enriched trap states and defects. Here we demonstrate that breaking long-range atomic order in an amorphous ZnCdS photocatalyst can induce dipole moments and generate strong electric fields within the particles which facilitates charge separation and transfer. Loading 1 wt.% of low-cost Co-MoSx cocatalysts to the ZnCdS material increases the H2 evolution rate to 70.13 mmol g−1 h−1, which is over 5 times higher than its crystalline counterpart and is stable over the long-term up to 160 h. A flexible 20 cm × 20 cm Co-MoSx/ZnCdS film is prepared by a facile blade-coating technique and can generate numerous observable H2 bubbles under natural sunlight, exhibiting potential for scale-up solar H2 production. The rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers is a key challenge for photocatalytic hydrogen production. Here, the authors report an amorphous ZnCdS to break the symmetry of atom arrangement that induces strong dipole fields, thus providing extra driving forces for charge separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmittance self-oscillation discovered in amorphous GeSe2 films has attracted considerable interest, while its underlying mechanism remains controversial. We suggest that the oscillation is governed by at least two kinds of changes; one occurs in absorption for thin (∼ 6 μ m) films and the other in refractive-index for thick (∼ 1 mm) plates. We also detail a model, which assumes recoverable micro-crystallization. An idea for increasing the oscillation frequency is proposed for possible applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the purpose of investigating the chemical enhancement of amorphous semiconductors as well as increasing the sensitivity of the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate, titanium dioxide (TiO2) precursors were calcined at different temperatures to generate crystallized TiO2 (c-TiO2) and amorphous TiO2 (a-TiO2) nanosheets, respectively. Afterward, a two-dimensional (2D) a-TiO2/Ag nanosheet SERS substrate was successfully fabricated using electrostatic interaction between a-TiO2 and Ag nanoparticles. In order to demonstrate a greater SERS sensitivity on a-TiO2/Ag compared to either c-TiO2 or Ag nanoparticles alone, the SERS probe molecules rhodamine 6G (R6G) and malachite green (MG) were utilized. Based on the results of SERS detections for probe molecules and contaminants, it demonstrates that a-TiO2/Ag nanosheets produce highly sensitive and repeatable Raman signals. The detectable concentration limits for R6G and MG were found to be 10−11 M and 10–10 M, respectively. And it has been determined that the system exhibits an enhancement factor (EF) of up to 1 × 108. The limit of detection for 4-mercaptobenzoic acid and alizarin red can both reach 1 × 10–8. Furthermore, a finite-difference time-domain simulation is performed in order to evaluate the magnetic field strength generated by Ag nanoparticles. As a result of the simulation, it is evident that the actual EF is smaller than the calculated one, leading support to the view that a-TiO2 nanosheets have a beneficial effect on the chemical enhancement of SERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of the dark conductivity and thermoelectric power in hydrogenated amorphous silicon–germanium alloys (a-Si1-xGex:H) reveal that charge transport is not well described by an Arrhenius expression. For alloys with concentrations of Ge below 20%, anomalous hopping conductivity is observed with a power-law exponent of 3/4, while the temperature dependence of the conductivity of alloys with higher Ge concentrations is best fit by a combination of anomalous hopping and a power-law temperature dependence. The latter has been attributed to charge transport via multi-phonon hopping. Corresponding measurements of the Seebeck coefficient reveal that the thermopower is n-type for the purely a-Si:H and a-Ge:H samples but that it exhibits a transition from negative to positive values as a function of the Ge content and temperature. These findings are interpreted in terms of conduction via hopping through either exponential band tail states or dangling bond defects, suggesting that the concept of a mobility edge, accepted for over five decades, may not be necessary to account for charge transport in amorphous semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of low‐frequency noise (LFN) in amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) is of utmost concern, prompting extensive investigations into the analysis of LFN. However, prior research endeavors have tended to overlook the significance of the sub‐gap density of states (DOS) in the LFN analysis, resulting in an incomplete comprehension. To bridge this knowledge gap, the influence of sub‐gap DOS is demonstrated on LFN in Si‐doped ZnSnO (SZTO) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) under various conditions. The SZTO TFTs is intentionally subjected to positive bias stress and hot carrier stress in order to control the sub‐gap DOS and investigate how this change affects the LFN characteristics. It is revealed that the non‐uniform energetic distribution of sub‐gap DOS induces bias‐dependent excess noise in the SZTO TFTs. Additionally, self‐recovery behavior after the HCS is observed, accompanied by a commensurate reduction in 1/f noise. These empirical observations provide evidence that the conventional correlated mobility fluctuation model used to explain LFN in AOS TFTs is insufficient and underscores the critical importance of considering subgap DOS when analyzing LFN of AOS TFTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous photonic structures are mesoscopic optical structures described by electrical permittivity distributions with underlying spatial randomness. They offer a unique platform for studying a broad set of electromagnetic phenomena, including transverse Anderson localization, enhanced wave transport, and suppressed diffusion in random media. Despite this, at a more practical level, there is insufficient work on both understanding the nature of optical transport and the conditions conducive to vector-wave localization in these planar structures, as well as their potential applications to photonic nanodevices. In this study, we fill this gap by investigating experimentally and theoretically the characteristics of optical transport in a class of amorphous photonic structures and by demonstrating their use to some basic waveguiding nanostructures. We demonstrate that these 2-D structures have unique isotropic and asymmetric band gaps for in-plane propagation, controlled from first principles by varying the scattering strength and whose properties are elucidated by establishing an analogy between photon and carrier transport in amorphous semiconductors. We further observe Urbach band tails in these random structures and uncover their relation to frequency- and disorder-dependent Anderson-like localized modes through the modified Ioffe-Regel criterion and their mean free path - localization length character. Finally, we illustrate that our amorphous structures can serve as a versatile platform in which photonic devices such as disorder-localized waveguides can be readily implemented. Editors Summary: Amorphous photonic structures offer a unique platform for studying unique optical transport phenomena in random media. The authors examine both experimentally and theoretically TE (in-plane) polarized near-infrared light in amorphous structures, demonstrating isotropic and asymmetric bandgaps, Anderson-like localized states at the midgap, and readily available practical waveguide structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on investigating the structural and electronic properties of semiconducting and insulating layers produced in a process resembling percolation in a unique cold plasma fabrication method (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition—PECVD). Amorphous carbon–tin films (Sn–C) produced from tetramethyl tin (TMT) with an acoustic-frequency glow discharge in a three-electrode reactor were investigated. The layers, after air exposure, oxidized to SnO2/Sn–C. Depending on the coupling capacitance applied to the plasma reactor, the films could be obtained in the form of an amorphous semiconductor or an amorphous insulator. We assume that the semiconductor consists of an internal network of channels auto-organized during deposition. The insulator does not demonstrate any internal structure features. An investigation on conductive filaments creating low-dimensional (LD) nanojunctions in the semiconductor and the location of energetic levels in the insulator was performed. The main parameters of the electronic band structure of the insulating film, such as the transport gap EG (5.2 eV), optical gap Eopt (3.1 eV), electron affinity Χ (2.1 eV), and ionization potential J (7.3 eV), were determined. We have demonstrated a simple approach for developing a catalyst candidate consisting of amorphous semiconductor–insulator nanojunctions for (photo)catalytic hydrogen evolution or CO2 reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐performance thin‐film transistors (TFTs) integrated circuits (ICs) have become increasingly necessary to meet the emerging demands such as healthcare, edge computing, and the Internet of Things, etc. This article aims to point out the potential development trends and bottlenecks of TFT ICs, enhancing their performance in terms of electronic performance, stability, consistency, CMOS design, and manufacturing capability. Basic device structures and overall metrics of TFT ICs are explored, as well as their superiority compared to silicon‐based ultrathin chips. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon, low‐temperature polycrystalline silicon, and amorphous oxide semiconductors are widely used in displays due to their ability to be deposited on large areas at low processing temperatures and low cost, and are validated in many prototypes for TFT ICs. Their conduction mechanisms, process flows, performance evaluation, and recent advances are comprehensively viewed. In addition, the potential of emerging low‐dimensional materials as next‐generation channel materials is discussed, along with their limitations and progress in this field. Finally, the major challenges in manufacturing high‐performance TFT ICs and future perspectives are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous oxide semiconductor photodetectors (PDs) are promising ultrasensitive and power-efficient ultraviolet (UV) PDs because they generate low dark current in the dark and exhibit high photoresponse under UV irradiation owing to their superior UV absorption and photocarrier transport characteristics. Herein, we demonstrate UV-sensitive and power-efficient oxide phototransistors through the nanometer-scale engineering of oxide semiconductors and appropriate modulation of gate bias conditions. The dark current and photocurrent of an oxide phototransistor exhibit a trade-off relationship in terms of the thickness of the oxide semiconductor film. Ultrathin InZnO is disadvantageous for fabricating UV-sensitive PDs because of its low photoresponse. In contrast, excessively thick InZnO is disadvantageous for fabricating power-efficient UV PDs owing to its high dark current. However, the InZnO film with an optimal film thickness of 8 nm can simultaneously provide the advantages of both ultrathin and excessively thick cases owing to its low intrinsic carrier concentration and sufficient UV absorption depth. Consequently, an InZnO phototransistor with high UV-sensing performance (Smax = 1.25 × 106), low-power operation capability (Idark = ∼10−13A), and excellent repeatability is realized by using an 8-nm-thick InZnO semiconductor and applying appropriate gate bias modulation (constant gate bias for maximized photosensitivity and temporal positive bias pulse for persistence photocurrent elimination). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous In–Ga–Sn–O (IGTO), as an n-type amorphous oxide semiconductor, has attracted interest owing to its potential applications to the vertical NAND or 3D DRAM channels as well as in high-mobility thin-film transistors (TFTs) for high-resolution displays. In this study, ternary Ga–Sn–O (GTO) and quaternary IGTO films were deposited through plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) at 200 °C, using dimethyl(N-ethoxy-2,2-dimethylcarboxylicpropanamide)indium, trimethylgallium, and bis(1-dimethylamino-2-methyl-2-propoxide)tin as the In, Ga, and Sn precursors, respectively. First, GTO films were fabricated through PEALD with varying Ga2O3:SnO2 subcycle ratios. The remarkable evolutions of the microstructure and electrical properties of the PEALD GTO films were observed depending on the Ga/Sn cationic ratio. Subsequently, the growth characteristics of the quaternary PEALD IGTO films were examined by introducing In2O3 subcycles, and the In:Ga:Sn cationic composition was precisely engineered by varying the ratios of In2O3, SnO2, and Ga2O3 subcycles in the IGTO deposition process. Composition-controlled IGTO bottom gate staggered-type TFTs were fabricated, and their electrical performance was evaluated depending on the In:Ga:Sn cationic composition of the IGTO channel layer. The optimized TFT with the In0.38Ga0.32Sn0.30Ox film exhibited a high field-effect mobility of 22.5 cm2/V s, turn-on voltage of −4.4 V, and subthreshold swing of 0.26 V/dec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In amorphous oxide semiconductors, rough interfaces influence transport in two main ways: changing the trap distributions and interface roughness scattering. Interface roughness scattering is expected to become important in high-mobility semiconductors in which charge transport takes place through a combination of trapping and band transport. Interface roughness scattering is quantitatively analyzed for amorphous oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) within the framework of the Boltzmann transport equation. It is shown to be the main mobility limiting mechanism at room temperature under the conditions when carrier concentration is high and the interface is rough. The use of the precise extent of wavefunction overlap with the interface is important and the use of a finite potential barrier height at the insulator–semiconductor interface leads to more accurate calculations. The specific semiconductors considered are zinc tin oxide and indium gallium zinc oxide. It is shown that the consideration of interface roughness scattering can become important in evaluating transport in high-mobility TFTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively enhance the mobility without other degradations, such as much negative threshold voltage, this work fabricated the a‐IGZO/a‐IZO heterojunction‐channel TFTs with dual‐gate structure. The fabricated a‐IZO/a‐IGZO with thicker a‐IGZO TFT shows high performance, including high mobility of 54.6 cm2 /Vs, small subthreshold swing of 0.26 V/dec, and good stability under PBTS and NBTIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) is becoming an increasingly important technological material. Transport in this material is conceptualized as the heavy disorder of the material causing a conduction or mobility band-edge that randomly varies and undulates in space across the entire system. Thus, transport is envisioned as being dominated by percolation physics as carriers traverse this varying band-edge landscape of “hills” and “valleys”. It is then something of a missed opportunity to model such a system using only a compact approach—despite this being the primary focus of the existing literature—as such a system can easily be faithfully reproduced as a true microscopic TCAD model with a real physically varying potential. Thus, in this work, we develop such a “microscopic” TCAD model of a-IGZO and detail a number of key aspects of its implementation. We then demonstrate that it can accurately reproduce experimental results and consider the issue of the addition of non-conducting band-tail states in a numerically efficient manner. Finally, two short studies of 3D effects are undertaken to illustrate the utility of the model: specifically, the cases of variation effects as a function of device size and as a function of surface roughness scattering.

The region of fundamental absorption in the optical spectra of amorphous semiconductors is theoretically studied using the Davis-Mott approximation according to the Kubo-Greenwood formula. As is known, three types of optical transitions of the electron can be observed in the fundamental absorption region; from the tail of the valence band to the conduction band, from the valence band to the conduction band and from the valence band to the tail of the conduction band. For all these electronic transitions, analytical expressions of the partial absorption spectra are obtained from two different types of the Kubo-Greenwood formula. The width of the optical mobility gap and the proportionality coefficient were determined in the analytical form of the interband absorption spectrum by fitting them to the experimental interband absorption spectrum. A new method is presented for calculating the density of distribution of electronic states in the conduction band of amorphous carbon based on the experimental interband absorption spectrum and the analytical expression of the Kubo-Greenwood formula written for the interband absorption spectrum.

In this work, defect absorption spectra for defects characteristic of hydrogenated amorphous silicon are theoretically studied. It is shown that in order to determine defect absorption spectra using the Kubo-Greenwood formula, the indefinite integral in this formula must be written in a certain form. It was discovered that electronic transitions involving defect states are divided into two parts depending on the energy of absorbed photons. The values of the partial defect absorption spectrum at low energies of absorbed photons have almost no effect on the overall defect absorption spectrum. It has been established that the main role in determining the defect absorption spectrum is played by partial spectra determined by optical transitions of electrons between allowed bands and defects. It is shown that with a power-law distribution of the density of electronic states in allowed bands, the spectra of optical transitions between them and defects do not depend on the value of this power.

Growing high-quality core-shell heterostructure nanowires is still challenging due to the lattice mismatch issue at the radial interface. Herein, a versatile strategy is exploited for the lattice-mismatch-free construction of III-V/chalcogenide core-shell heterostructure nanowires by simply utilizing the surfactant and amorphous natures of chalcogenide semiconductors. Specifically, a variety of III-V/chalcogenide core-shell heterostructure nanowires are successfully constructed with controlled shell thicknesses, compositions, and smooth surfaces. Due to the conformal properties of obtained heterostructure nanowires, the wavelength-dependent bi-directional photoresponse and visible light-assisted infrared photodetection are realized in the type-I GaSb/GeS core-shell heterostructure nanowires. Also, the enhanced infrared photodetection is found in the type-II InGaAs/GeS core-shell heterostructure nanowires compared with the pristine InGaAs nanowires, in which both responsivity and detectivity are improved by more than 2 orders of magnitude. Evidently, this work paves the way for the lattice-mismatch-free construction of core-shell heterostructure nanowires by chemical vapor deposition for next-generation high-performance nanowire optoelectronics. A versatility growth strategy is developed for the lattice-mismatch-free construction of core-shell heterostructure NWs by adopting the promising III-V semiconductors and amorphous chalcogenide semiconductors using simple chemical vapor deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tauc plot is a method originally developed to derive the optical gap of amorphous semiconductors such as amorphous germanium or silicon. By measuring the absorption coefficient α(hν) and plotting (αhv)12$(\alpha {hv})^{\frac{1}{2}}$ versus photon energy hν, a value for the optical gap (Tauc gap) is determined. In this way non‐direct optical transitions between approximately parabolic bands can be examined. In the last decades, a modification of this method for (poly‐) crystalline semiconductors has become popular to study direct and indirect interband transitions. For this purpose, (ahν)n (n = 12$\frac{1}{2}$, 2) is plotted against hν to determine a value of the electronic bandgap. Due to the ease of performing UV–vis measurements, this method has nowadays become a standard to analyze various (poly‐) crystalline solids, regardless of their different electronic structure. Although this leads partially to widely varying values of the respective bandgap of nominally identical materials, there is still no study that critically questions which peculiarities in the electronic structure prevent a use of the Tauc plot for (poly‐) crystalline solids and to which material classes this applies. This study aims to close this gap by discussing the Tauc plot and its limiting factors for exemplary (poly‐) crystalline solids with different electronic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Internet of things (IOT) industry continues to grow with an ever‐increasing number of connected devices, the need for processing large amounts of data in a fast and energy‐efficient way becomes an even more pressing issue. Alternative computation devices such as resistive random access memories (RRAM), or memristors, started taking centre stage as prime candidates to tackle this issue due to their in‐memory computation capabilities. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs), more specifically eco‐friendly zinc‐tin oxide (ZTO), show great promise as a memristive active material for flexible and sustainable applications due to its low required fabrication temperature, amorphous structure, low‐cost, and critical‐raw‐material‐free composition. In this perspective article, the research progress on ZTO‐based memristors is reviewed in terms of device structure and material compositions. The effects on the electrical performance of the devices are studied. Additionally, neuromorphic and optoelectronic capabilities are analyzed with the objective of finding the best approaches toward implementing these devices in novel computing paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of direct current (DC) analytical equations is formulated for the analysis and design of a single‐layer thin‐film transistor (TFT). For a specified TFT structure, drain current is calculated as a function of drain and gate voltage (taking the source as ground) according to the Enz, Krummenacher, Vittoz (EKV) compact model. One model parameter function is required to implement this EKV‐based equation, that is, drift mobility as a function of gate voltage. Drift mobility is evaluated as a consequence of accumulation layer electrostatics assessment of the TFT structure specified. In order to implement the model, three semiconductor properties (low‐frequency (static) relative dielectric constant, free electron concentration, and maximum (no trapping) mobility), two structure properties (insulator capacitance density and TFT width‐to‐length ratio), and one physical operating parameter (temperature) must be specified. Optimal TFT mobility performance is achieved when the thickness of the semiconductor channel layer is constrained to be less than 2.22 times the channel layer Debye length such that "short‐base" TFT operation obtains. Additionally, higher mobility TFT performance is obtained by selecting a channel layer with a small electron effective mass, reducing channel layer trap density, reducing channel layer thickness, reducing the free electron concentration, and/or increasing gate capacitance density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to suppress the crosstalk and provide a high on-current to melt the incorporated phase change materials in the PCRAM array and 3D stacking chips, the authors [[8]] investigated the influence of Si concentration on the electrical properties of the Si-Te ovonic threshold selector. 36986003 3 Wang K., He Q., Yang D., Pi X. Highly Efficient Energy Transfer from Silicon to Erbium in Erbium-Hyperdoped Silicon Quantum Dots. 10.3390/nano13010121 2 Sun T., Li D., Chen J., Wang Y., Han J., Zhu T., Li W., Xu J., Chen K. Enhanced Electroluminescence from a Silicon Nanocrystal/Silicon Carbide Multilayer Light-Emitting Diode. [Extracted from the article]

High-performance oxide transistors have recently attracted significant attention for use in various electronic applications, such as displays, sensors, and back-end-of-line transistors. In this study, we demonstrate atomically thin indium–oxide (InOx) semiconductors using a solution process for high-performance thin-film transistors (TFTs). To achieve superior field-effect mobility and switching characteristics in TFTs, the bandgap and thickness of the InOx were tuned by controlling the InOx solution molarity. As a result, a high field-effect mobility and on/off-current ratio of 13.95 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 1.42 × 1010, respectively, were achieved using 3.12-nanometer-thick InOx. Our results showed that the charge transport of optimized InOx with a thickness of 3.12 nm is dominated by percolation conduction due to its low surface roughness and appropriate carrier concentration. Furthermore, the atomically thin InOx TFTs showed superior positive and negative gate bias stress stabilities, which are important in electronic applications. The proposed oxide TFTs could provide an effective means of the fabrication of scalable, high-throughput, and high-performance transistors for next-generation electronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a simple model of the local order in amorphous organic semiconductors, which naturally produces a spatially correlated exponential density of states (DOS). The dominant contribution to the random energy landscape is provided by electrostatic contributions from dipoles or quadrupoles. An assumption of the preferable parallel orientation of neighbor quadrupoles or antiparallel orientation of dipoles directly leads to the formation of the exponential tails of the DOS even for a moderate size of the ordered domains. The insensitivity of the exponential tail formation to the details of the microstructure of the material suggests that this mechanism is rather common in amorphous organic semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the role of the third metal oxide in In–Ga–Zn-type oxides (IGZO), Ga2O3, by comparing the calculated electronic properties of various alternatives (Al, Y, Hf, Ti, Si, and W) with Ga. It is found that Ga2O3 causes little disorder in the conduction band minimum (CBM) energy based on In or Zn oxides, and it has a large O vacancy suppression effect, which benefits both a high mobility and a low OFF current of IGZO. However, other alternatives give a pronounced conduction band disorder potential due to their higher CBM energies and thus are not ideal components in amorphous oxide semiconductors. Si and W may reduce the negative bias illumination stress instability by lowering hydrogen-induced states to below the bulk valence band maximum, but Si is not beneficial for mobility. Their role in back-end-of-line transistors is also noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding heat transport in semiconductors and insulators is of fundamental importance because of its technological impact in electronics and renewable energy harvesting and conversion. Anharmonic lattice dynamics provides a powerful framework for the description of heat transport at the nanoscale. One of the advantages of this method is that it naturally includes quantum effects due to atoms vibrations, which are needed to compute the thermal properties of semiconductors widely used in nanotechnology, like silicon and carbon, even at room temperature. While the heat transport picture substantially differs between amorphous and crystalline semiconductors from a microscopic standpoint, a unified approach to simulate both crystals and glasses has been devised. Here, we introduce a unified workflow, which implements both the Boltzmann Transport equation and the quasi-harmonic Green-Kubo methods. We discuss how the theory can be optimized to exploit modern parallel architectures, and how it is implemented in κ ALD o : a versatile and scalable open-source software to compute phonon transport in solids. This approach is applied to crystalline and partially disordered silicon-based systems, including bulk silicon and clathrates, and on silicon–germanium alloy clathrates with largely reduced thermal conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural disorder has been known to suppress carrier concentration and carrier mobility in common covalent semiconductors, such as silicon, by orders of magnitude. This is expected from a reduced overlap of the electron clouds on neighboring orbitals and the formation of localized tail states near the band edges caused by local distortions and lack of periodicity in the amorphous phase. In striking contrast to the covalent semiconductors, wide-bandgap oxides of post-transition metals with ionic bonding not only allow for crystalline-like electron mobility upon amorphization, but also exhibit two orders of magnitude higher carrier concentration in the disordered phase as compared to the crystalline oxide. Here, the results of computationally intensive ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, comprehensive structural analysis, and accurate density-functional calculations reveal complex interplay between local distortions, coordination, and long-range bond morphology and help establish the microscopic origin of carrier generation and transport across the crystalline–amorphous transition in In 2 O 3 − x . Departing from traditional oxygen vacancy in crystalline oxides, the derived structural descriptors help categorize "defects" in disordered ionic oxides, quantify the degree of the associated electron localization and binding energy, and determine their role in the resulting electronic and optical properties. The results will be instrumental in the development of next-generation transparent amorphous semiconductors with a combination of properties not achievable in Si-based architectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the gas-sensing mechanism in bottom-gate organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) using poly(triarylamine) (PTAA). A comparison of different device architectures revealed that the top-contact structure exhibited superior gas-sensing performance in terms of field-effect mobility and sensitivity. The thickness of the active layer played a critical role in enhancing these parameters in the top-contact structure. Moreover, the distance and pathway for charge carriers to reach the active channel were found to significantly influence the gas response. Additionally, the surface treatment of the SiO2 dielectric with hydrophobic self-assembled mono-layers led to further improvement in the performance of the OFETs and gas sensors by effectively passivating the silanol groups. Under optimal conditions, our PTAA-based gas sensors achieved an exceptionally high response (>200%/ppm) towards NO2. These findings highlight the importance of device and interface engineering for optimizing gas-sensing properties in amorphous polymer semiconductors, offering valuable insights for the design of advanced gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) are hotly pursued for advanced displays, flexible electronics, optoelectronics, and neuromorphic systems, the AOS Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) have been tried only using the mainstream amorphous InGaZnO (a‐IGZO) and the conservative bottom‐anode structure. To deepen the study on AOS SBDs, the more challenging top‐anode SBD is developed in this work using a versatile but vulnerable AOS, amorphous InZnO (a‐IZO). Unsurprisingly, the Schottky interface defects are seriously increased by the top‐anode process and the defective a‐IZO, which cannot be effectively passivated using the incumbent oxidizing treatments. The hydrogenation is proposed to considerably suppress these annoying interface defects and thus correspondingly reduces the large leakage current, while the hydrogen doping easily deteriorates a‐IGZO SBD. The underlying mechanism of such distinction is revealed to be the tricky interactions between defect and hydrogen in AOSs. Based on the sophisticated utilization of such defect‐hydrogen interplay, the a‐IZO/a‐IGZO stack is hydrogenated together to simultaneously realize a high‐conductivity bulk and low‐defect interface, noticeably enhancing the performance metrics. Such top‐anode SBD based on hydrogenated multilayer AOSs successfully blazes a novel evolution path for AOS SBDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To strengthen the downscaling potential of top-gate amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistors (TFTs), the ultra-thin gate insulator (GI) was comparatively implemented using the atomic-layer-deposited (ALD) AlO x and HfO x. Both kinds of high- k GIs exhibit good insulating properties even with the physical thickness thinning to 4 nm. Compared to the amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) TFTs with 4 nm AlO x GI, the 4 nm HfO x enables a larger GI capacitance, while the HfO x -gated TFT suffers higher gate leakage current and poorer subthreshold slope, respectively originating from the inherently small band offset and the highly defective interface between a-IGZO and HfO x. Such imperfect a-IGZO/HfO x interface further causes noticeable positive bias stress instability. Both ALD AlO x and HfO x were found to react with the underneath a-IGZO channel to generate the interface defects, such as metal interstitials and oxygen vacancies, while the ALD process of HfO x gives rise to a more severe reduction of a-IGZO. Moreover, when such a defective interface is covered by the top gate, it cannot be readily restored using the conventional oxidizing post-treatments and thus desires the reduction-resistant pre-treatments of AOSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic semiconductors with superior plasticity are highly desired in current flexible electronics, which however are rarely discovered owing to their intrinsic covalent and ionic bonds. The Ag2Te0.6S0.4 semiconductor with an amorphous phase has recently been reported to exhibit plastic deformability. In this study, the reversible brittle‐plastic transition is found in this inorganic semiconductor, and the plasticity of the Ag2Te0.6S0.4 sample is highly related to the phase structures. The Ag2Te0.6S0.4 with a monoclinic phase exhibits a brittle behavior, while the one with cubic‐crystalline/amorphous structure shows exceptional plasticity with a compressive strain of over 80%. Significantly, the reversible plastic‐brittle transition in Ag2Te0.6S0.4 inorganic semiconductor can be achieved by simple heat treatment. Besides the plasticity, the cubic‐crystalline/amorphous Ag2Te0.6S0.4 composites also possess good thermoelectric performance. This study uncovers the influence of phase structure on the mechanical properties of Ag2Te0.6S0.4 and realizes the reversible brittle‐plastic transition, facilitating its prospective application in flexible/wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]