Effect of post-deposition annealing on the electrical properties of B-Ga2O3 thin films grown on p-Si by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Ga2O3 dielectric thin films were deposited on (111)-oriented p-type silicon wafers by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition using trimethylgallium and oxygen plasma. Structural analysis of the Ga 2O3 thin films was carried out using grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction. As-deposited films were amorphous. Upon postdeposition annealing at 700, 800, and 900°C for 30min under N2 ambient, films crystallized into β-form monoclinic structure. Electrical properties of the β-Ga2O3 thin films were then investigated by fabricating and characterizing Al/β-Ga2O3/p-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors. The effect of postdeposition annealing on the leakage current densities, leakage current conduction mechanisms, dielectric constants, flat-band voltages, reverse breakdown voltages, threshold voltages, and effective oxide charges of the capacitors were presented. The effective oxide charges (Qeff) were calculated from the capacitance-voltage (C-V) curves using the flat-band voltage shift and were found as 2.6×1012, 1.9×1012, and 2.5×10 12 cm-2 for samples annealed at 700, 800, and 900°C, respectively. Effective dielectric constants of the films decreased with increasing annealing temperature. This situation was attributed to the formation of an interfacial SiO2 layer during annealing process. Leakage mechanisms in the regions where current increases gradually with voltage were well fitted by the Schottky emission model for films annealed at 700 and 900°C, and by the Frenkel-Poole emission model for film annealed at 800°C. Leakage current density was found to improve with annealing temperature. β-Ga2O3 thin film annealed at 800°C exhibited the highest reverse breakdown field value. © 2014 American Vacuum Society

Electrical characteristics of B-GaN2O3 thin films grown by PEALD

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this work, 7.5 nm Ga2O3 dielectric thin films have been deposited on p-type (111) silicon wafer using plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique. After the deposition, Ga2O3 thin films were annealed under N-2 ambient at 600, 700, and 800 degrees C to obtain beta-phase. The structure and microstructure of the beta-Ga2O3 thin films was carried out by using grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). To show effect of annealing temperature on the microstructure of beta-Ga2O3 thin films, average crystallite size was obtained from the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of Bragg lines using the Scherrer formula. It was found that crystallite size increased with increasing annealing temperature and changed from 0.8 nm to 9.1 nm with annealing. In order to perform electrical characterization on the deposited films, Al/beta-Ga2O3/p-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) type Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were fabricated using the beta-Ga2O3 thin films were annealed at 800 degrees C. The main electrical parameters such as leakage current level, reverse breakdown voltage, series resistance (R-S), ideality factor (n), zero-bias barrier height (phi(Bo)), and interface states (N-SS) were obtained from the current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements at room temperature. The RS values were calculated by using Cheung methods. The energy density distribution profile of the interface states as a function of (E-SS-E-V) was obtained from the forward bias I-V measurements by taking bias dependence of ideality factor, effective barrier height (phi(e)), and R-S into account. Also using the Norde function and C-V technique, phi(e) values were calculated and cross-checked. Results show that beta-Ga2O3 thin films deposited by PEALD technique at low temperatures can be used as oxide layer for MOS devices and electrical properties of these devices are influenced by some important parameters such as NSS, RS, and beta-Ga2O3 oxide layer. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effect of Film Thickness on the Electrical Properties of AlN Films Prepared by Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition

In this paper, AlN thin films with two different thicknesses, i.e., 7 and 47 nm, were deposited at 200 °C on p-type Si substrates by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition using trimethylaluminum and ammonia. To investigate the electrical characteristics of these AlN films, MIS capacitor structures were fabricated and characterized using current-voltage and high-frequency (1 MHz) capacitance-voltage measurements. The results showed that the current transport mechanism under accumulation mode is strongly dependent on the applied electric field and thickness of the AlN film. Possible conduction mechanisms were analyzed, and the basic electrical parameters were extracted and compared for AlN thin films with different thicknesses. Compared with 7-nm-thick film, a 47-nm-thick AlN film showed a lower effective charge density and threshold voltage along with a higher dielectric constant. © 2015 IEEE

Current transport mechanisms in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposited AlN thin films

Here, we report on the current transport mechanisms in AlN thin films deposited at a low temperature (i.e., 200°C) on p-type Si substrates by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. Structural characterization of the deposited AlN was carried out using grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction, revealing polycrystalline films with a wurtzite (hexagonal) structure. Al/AlN/ p-Si metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitor structures were fabricated and investigated under negative bias by performing current-voltage measurements. As a function of the applied electric field, different types of current transport mechanisms were observed; i.e., ohmic conduction (15.2-21.5 MV/m), Schottky emission (23.6-39.5 MV/m), Frenkel-Poole emission (63.8-211.8 MV/m), trap-assisted tunneling (226-280 MV/m), and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling (290-447 MV/m). Electrical properties of the insulating AlN layer and the fabricated Al/AlN/p-Si MIS capacitor structure such as dielectric constant, flat-band voltage, effective charge density, and threshold voltage were also determined from the capacitance-voltage measurements. © 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Electrical conduction and dielectric relaxation properties of AlN thin films grown by hollow-cathode plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition

In this study, aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films were deposited at 200 �C, on p-type silicon substrates utilizing a capacitively coupled hollow-cathode plasma source integrated atomic layer deposition (ALD) reactor. The structural properties of AlN were characterized by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, by which we confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite single-phase crystalline structure. The films exhibited an optical band edge around ∼5.7 eV. The refractive index and extinction coefficient of the AlN films were measured via a spectroscopic ellipsometer. In addition, to investigate the electrical conduction mechanisms and dielectric properties, Al/AlN/p-Si metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor structures were fabricated, and current density-voltage and frequency dependent (7 kHz-5 MHz) dielectric constant measurements (within the strong accumulation region) were performed. A peak of dielectric loss was observed at a frequency of 3 MHz and the Cole-Davidson empirical formula was used to determine the relaxation time. It was concluded that the native point defects such as nitrogen vacancies and DX centers formed with the involvement of Si atoms into the AlN layers might have influenced the electrical conduction and dielectric relaxation properties of the plasma-assisted ALD grown AlN films. � 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd

The effects of intramuscular tenotomy on the lengthening characteristics of tibialis posterior: high versus low intramuscular tenotomy

BACKGROUND: Lengthening of soft-tissue contractures is frequently required in children with a wide variety of congenital and acquired deformities. However, little is known about the biomechanics of surgical procedures which are commonly used in contracture surgery, or if variations in technique may have a bearing on surgical outcomes. We investigated the hypothesis that the site of intramuscular tenotomy (IMT) within the muscle-tendon-unit (MTU) of the tibialis posterior (TP) would affect the lengthening characteristics. METHODS: We performed a randomized trial on paired cadaver tibialis posterior muscle-tendon-units (TP-MTUs). By random allocation, one of each pair of formalin-preserved TP-MTUs received a high IMT, and the other a low IMT. These were individually tensile-tested with an Instron(®) machine under controlled conditions. A graph of load (Newtons) versus displacement (millimetres) was generated for each pair of tests. The differences in lengthening and load at failure for each pair of TP-MTUs were noted and compared using paired t tests. RESULTS: We found 48% greater lengthening for low IMT compared to high IMT for a given load (P = 0.004, two tailed t test). Load at failure was also significantly lower for the low IMT. These findings confirm our hypothesis that the site of the tenotomy affects the amount of lengthening achieved. This may contribute to the reported variability in clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the relationship between tenotomy site and lengthening may allow surgeons to vary the site of the tenotomy in order to achieve pre-determined surgical goals. It may be possible to control the surgical "dose" by altering the position of the intramuscular tenotomy within the muscle-tendon-unit

Electrical conduction properties of Si δ-doped GaAs grown by MBE

The temperature dependent Hall effect and resistivity measurements of Si δ-doped GaAs are performed in a temperature range of 25-300 K. The temperature dependence of carrier concentration shows a characteristic minimum at about 200 K, which indicates a transition from the conduction band conduction to the impurity band conduction. The temperature dependence of the conductivity results are in agreement with terms due to conduction band conduction and localized state hopping conduction in the impurity band. It is found that the transport properties of Si δ-doped GaAs are mainly governed by the dislocation scattering mechanism at high temperatures. On the other hand, the conductivity follows the Mott variable range hopping conduction (VRH) at low temperatures in the studied structures. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

DX-center energy calculation with quantitative mobility spectrum analysis in n-AlGaAs/GaAs structures with low Al content

Experimental Hall data that were carried out as a function of temperature (60-350 K) and magnetic field (0-1.4 T) were presented for Si-doped low Al content (x=0.14) n-AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs heterostructures that were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). A 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) conduction channel and a bulk conduction channel were founded after implementing quantitative mobility spectrum analysis (QMSA) on the magnetic field dependent Hall data. An important decrease in 2DEG carrier density was observed with increasing temperature. The relationship between the bulk carriers and 2DEG carriers was investigated with 1D self consistent Schrödinger-Poisson simulations. The decrement in the 2DEG carrier density was related to the DX-center carrier trapping. With the simulation data that are not included in the effects of DX-centers, 17 meV of effective barrier height between AlGaAs/GaAs layers was found for high temperatures (T>300 K). With the QMSA extracted values that are influenced by DX-centers, 166 meV of the DX-center activation energy value were founded at the same temperatures. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

3 years of liraglutide versus placebo for type 2 diabetes risk reduction and weight management in individuals with prediabetes: a randomised, double-blind trial

Background Liraglutide 3\ub70 mg was shown to reduce bodyweight and improve glucose metabolism after the 56-week period of this trial, one of four trials in the SCALE programme. In the 3-year assessment of the SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes trial we aimed to evaluate the proportion of individuals with prediabetes who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults with prediabetes and a body-mass index of at least 30 kg/m2, or at least 27 kg/m2 with comorbidities, were randomised 2:1, using a telephone or web-based system, to once-daily subcutaneous liraglutide 3\ub70 mg or matched placebo, as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Time to diabetes onset by 160 weeks was the primary outcome, evaluated in all randomised treated individuals with at least one post-baseline assessment. The trial was conducted at 191 clinical research sites in 27 countries and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01272219. Findings The study ran between June 1, 2011, and March 2, 2015. We randomly assigned 2254 patients to receive liraglutide (n=1505) or placebo (n=749). 1128 (50%) participants completed the study up to week 160, after withdrawal of 714 (47%) participants in the liraglutide group and 412 (55%) participants in the placebo group. By week 160, 26 (2%) of 1472 individuals in the liraglutide group versus 46 (6%) of 738 in the placebo group were diagnosed with diabetes while on treatment. The mean time from randomisation to diagnosis was 99 (SD 47) weeks for the 26 individuals in the liraglutide group versus 87 (47) weeks for the 46 individuals in the placebo group. Taking the different diagnosis frequencies between the treatment groups into account, the time to onset of diabetes over 160 weeks among all randomised individuals was 2\ub77 times longer with liraglutide than with placebo (95% CI 1\ub79 to 3\ub79, p<0\ub70001), corresponding with a hazard ratio of 0\ub721 (95% CI 0\ub713\u20130\ub734). Liraglutide induced greater weight loss than placebo at week 160 (\u20136\ub71 [SD 7\ub73] vs 121\ub79% [6\ub73]; estimated treatment difference 124\ub73%, 95% CI 124\ub79 to 123\ub77, p<0\ub70001). Serious adverse events were reported by 227 (15%) of 1501 randomised treated individuals in the liraglutide group versus 96 (13%) of 747 individuals in the placebo group. Interpretation In this trial, we provide results for 3 years of treatment, with the limitation that withdrawn individuals were not followed up after discontinuation. Liraglutide 3\ub70 mg might provide health benefits in terms of reduced risk of diabetes in individuals with obesity and prediabetes. Funding Novo Nordisk, Denmark