The rearrangement of silicon dangling bonds induced by pulsed laser heating of monohydride-covered Si(001) surfaces has been studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The initial configurations, which were created by laser-induced thermal desorption, consist of isolated pairs of... (Read more)

The effect of HF etching of the silicon oxide shell covering the surface of Si nanocrystals (NCs) on the subsequent room-temperature atmospheric oxidation of Si-NCs has been investigated by means of photoluminescence measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic... (Read more)

We present a detailed study of the comparative thermal evolutions of H- and D-related defects in silicon implanted with 2×10¹⁶ H or D/cm², or coimplanted with 0.25×10¹⁶ He/cm² and 0.7×10¹⁶ H/cm², in both orders.... (Read more)

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) films have been deposited using magnetron sputtering technique. An integrated investigation of the effect of vacuum annealing temperature on photoluminescence properties and paramagnetic defects and its correlation with structural... (Read more)

We present a detailed analysis of the fundamental atomic-scale processes that determine the surface smoothness of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films. The analysis is based on a synergistic combination of molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of radical precursor migration on surfaces... (Read more)

Negative bias temperature instability has become an important reliability concern for ultra-scaled Silicon IC technology with significant implications for both analog and digital circuit design. In this paper, we construct a comprehensive model for NBTI phenomena within the framework of the standard reaction–diffusion model. We demonstrate how to solve the reaction–diffusion equations in a way that emphasizes the physical aspects of the degradation process and allows easy generalization of the existing work. We also augment this basic reaction–diffusion model by including the temperature and field-dependence of the NBTI phenomena so that reliability projections can be made under arbitrary circuit operating conditions. (Read more)

Interface defects related to negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) in an ultrathin plasma-nitrided SiON/ Si<100> system were characterized by using conductance–frequency measurements, electron-spin resonance measure- ments, and synchrotron radiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was confirmed that NBTI is reduced by using D₂-annealing instead of the usual H₂-annealing. Interfacial Si dangling bonds (P_b1 and P_b0 centers) were detected in a sample subjected to negative-bias temperature stress (NBTS). Although we suggest that NBTS also generates non-Pb defects, it does not seem to generate nitrogen dangling bonds. These results show that NBTI of the plasma-nitrided SiON/Si system is predominantly due to P_b depassivation. Plasma nitridation was also found to increase the P_b1/P_b0 density ratio, modify the P_b1 defect structure, and increase the latent interface trap density by generating Si suboxides at the interface. These changes are likely to be the causes of NBTI in ultrathin plasma-nitrided SiON/Si systems. (Read more)

The mechanism of hydrogen release from the anode Si/SiO₂ interface that triggers defect generation and finally the dielectric breakdown of the oxide in metal-oxide-semiconductor structures is investigated. Extensive experimental charge-to-breakdown statistics are used to derive the defect... (Read more)

Interface defects generated by negative-bias temperature stress (NBTS) in an ultrathin plasma- nitrided SiON/Si(100) system were characterized by using D₂ annealing, conductance-frequency measurements, and electron-spin resonance measurements. D₂ annealing was shown to lower... (Read more)

We present an overview of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) commonly observed in p-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors when stressed with negative gate voltages at elevated temperatures. We discuss the results of such stress on device and circuit... (Read more)

Poly-Si/SiO₂/Si diodes in which oxides were grown thermally under wet oxidation conditions and subsequently treated by a post-oxidation anneal (POA) have been characterized electrically and chemically before and after applying negative-bias-temperature stress (NBTS). It was confirmed that... (Read more)

We report first-principles calculations showing that protons in the vicinity of a Si–SiO₂ interface can behave in two different ways. At an abrupt interface without suboxide bonds (Si–Si bonds at the oxide side of the interface) H⁺ does not become trapped but migrates... (Read more)

We used a density functional method to investigate the mechanism of negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) and resultant structural changes of Si/SiO₂ and Si/SiO_xN_y interfaces. The reaction energies for the water- and hydrogen-originated... (Read more)

Hydrogen is known to passivate Si dangling bonds at the Si-SiO ₂ interface, but the subsequent arrival of H ⁺ at the interface causes depassivation of Si-H bonds. Here we report first-principles density functional calculations, showing that, contrary to conventional... (Read more)

Hydrogen-related defects in oxygen-deficient silica, representing the material of a thermal gate oxide, are analyzed using first-principles calculations. Energetics and charge-state levels of oxygen vacancies, hydrogen, and their complexes in the silica framework are mapped out. The neutral hydrogen... (Read more)

Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements on float-zone silicon implanted with protons at ?50 K followed by heating to room temperature have revealed two signals S1_a and S1_b belonging to the S1 group of signals. S1_a and S1_b both originate from defects... (Read more)

(Read more)

The interactions between interstitial H and substitutional B, C, and Si in crystalline silicon and germanium are studied in molecular clusters at the ab initio Hartree-Fock level with large basis sets. The energetics, electronic structures, and relative stabilities of these pairs are determined. Our... (Read more)

The behavior of hydrogen in crystalline silicon is examined with state-of-the-art theoretical techniques, based on the pseudopotential-density-functional method in a supercell geometry. Stable sites, migration paths, and barriers for different charge states are explored and displayed in total-energy... (Read more)

Experimental results are presented which identify the following chemical reaction as being responsible for compensation of shallow-acceptor impurities when single-crystal silicon is exposed to monatomic hydrogen: A^-+h⁺+H⁰↔(AH)⁰, where A^-... (Read more)