We utilize a very sensitive electron spin resonance technique called spin-dependent tunneling to identify defect centers involved in the negative bias temperature instability in plasma-nitrided p-channel metal-oxide-silicon field-effect transistors. The defect's ²⁹Si hyperfine... (Read more)

The authors combine metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gated diode measurements and very sensitive electrically detected electron spin resonance measurements to detect and identify negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) generated defect centers in fully processed HfO₂ pMOS field effect... (Read more)

Hafnium silicate has a high dielectric constant and is a leading candidate to act as a gate dielectric. The defect energy levels have been calculated. The oxygen vacancy is found to give rise to Si-like levels which lie within the band gap of Si. The vacancy states are very localized and are... (Read more)

Electron spin resonance measurements on 4 and 40 nm thick (HfO₂)_0.6(SiO₂)_0.4 and (HfO₂)_0.4(SiO₂)_0.6 high-κ films on (100)Si wafers detected P_b0 and P_b1... (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)

A laser-pump, positron-probe technique has been developed for measuring the dynamics of laser-induced paramagnetic centers in porous materials. The basis of the technique is the fact that the annihilation rate of ortho-positronium may increase in the presence of unpaired spins. By using an intense... (Read more)

The absorption and emission spectra of silicon nanocrystals up to 1 nm diameter have been calculated within a first-principles framework. Our calculations include geometry optimization and the many-body effects induced by the creation of an electron-hole pair. Starting from hydrogenated silicon... (Read more)

Contrary to ordinary solids, which are normally known to harden by compression, the compressibility of SiO₂ (silica) glass has a maximum at about 2–4 GPa and its mechanical strength shows a minimum around 10 GPa. At this pressure, the compression of silica glass undergoes a change... (Read more)

We have studied the structure and spectroscopic properties of the paramagnetic nonbridging oxygen hole center and of the Egamma^[prime]" align="middle"> center at the hydroxylated silica surfaces using density functional theory and an embedded-cluster model. To investigate the... (Read more)

The formation of hydrogenlike muonium (Mu) has been studied as a function of implantation energy in intrinsic Si, thin films of condensed van der Waals gases (N₂, Ne, Ar, Xe), fused and crystalline quartz, and sapphire. By varying the initial energy of positive muons... (Read more)

Unlike the Si-SiO₂ interface, the SiC-SiO₂ interface has large defect densities. Though nitridation has been shown to reduce the defect density, the effect of H remains an open issue. Here we combine experimental data and the results of first-principles calculations to... (Read more)

White electroluminescence from carbon- and silicon-rich silicon oxide layers is reported. The films were fabricated by Si and C ion implantation at low energy in 40 nm thick SiO₂, followed by annealing at 1100 °C. Structural and optical studies allow assigning the... (Read more)

Aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) has been grown by atomic layer deposition on n-type 4H-SiC with and without a thin silicon dioxide (SiO₂) intermediate layer. By means of capacitance-voltage and thermal dielectric relaxation current measurements, the interface... (Read more)

A 1.0 nm silicon nitride (SiN) layer can prevent reaction between HfO₂ and Si completely. In this case, the interface state spectra obtained from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements under bias have two peaks above and below the midgap, attributable to Si dangling bonds... (Read more)

Electron spin resonance analysis of (100)Si/LaAlO₃ structures reveals the absence of a Si/SiO₂-type interface in terms of archetypal Si-dangling bond-type Si/SiO₂ interface defects (P_b0,P_b1). With no... (Read more)

The effects of HfSiO nitridation on charge trapping and long-term dielectric reliability are investigated. A comparison between decoupled plasma nitridation, annealing in NH₃, and no nitridation is made. It was found that thinner HfSiO layers show less trapped charge. Decoupled plasma... (Read more)

Low pressure chemical vapor deposition of Si₃N₄ on oxidized Si (111) surfaces causes a change in the properties of the dominant interface defect, the P_b center, observed by electron paramagnetic resonance. The change in the signature of the... (Read more)

The authors modified the charge decay model of silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon-type memory at the temperatures above 150 °C. The modified model includes the effect of the internal electric field induced by the charges trapped in silicon nitride layer. The authors extracted the trap density... (Read more)

The authors describe the operation of an electro-optical photoluminescence quenching device based on CdSe nanoclusters formed using sequential ion implantation of Cd⁺ and Se⁺ in thermally grown SiO₂ on silicon. A sample geometry consisting of a semitransparent gold... (Read more)

High-angle annular dark-field imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to investigate thermal SiO₂ layers doped with Hf by ion implantation. Hf was mobile under the focused electron beam in the as-implanted samples. After... (Read more)

Crystal qualities of Si/SiGe/Si-on-insulator structures with different SiGe thicknesses were evaluated by photoluminescence (PL). The wafers were annealed at different temperatures with a ramping rate of 5 °C/min. Free exciton PL peaks were clearly observed for the as-grown wafers and decreased... (Read more)

Despite the observation by a number of groups of a strong luminescence sensitization effect of erbium ions by excitation exchange from silicon nanoclusters, there is considerable experimental evidence that the fraction of Er ions excited by Si-nc is actually very low for much of the material... (Read more)

Light-emitting centers in alkali-ion-implanted quartz have been investigated with respect to the solid phase epitaxial growth of the ion irradiation induced amorphous zone. Cathodoluminescence was studied under the conditions of chemical epitaxy in annealing the samples, implanted with... (Read more)

The dielectric breakdown (BD) kinetics of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) thin films thermally grown on 4H-SiC was determined by comparison between I-V measurements on large area (up to 1.96×10^–5 cm²) metal-oxide-semiconductor structures and... (Read more)

We have investigated the interface states in HfO₂/SiO₂/Si(100) systems that were prepared by using the in situ pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data revealed that when the HfO₂ film thickness exceeds 11 Å, the film... (Read more)

The effects of nitridation on open volumes in thin HfSiO_x films fabricated by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition were studied using monoenergetic positron beams. It was found that positrons were annihilated from the trapped state by open volumes that exist intrinsically in... (Read more)

The effect of forming gas and vacuum annealing on the concentration of carbon dangling bond (P_bC) centers at 3C- and 4H-SiC/SiO₂ interfaces has been studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Our results show efficient passivation at 400 °C and... (Read more)

The structure of the interface between SiO₂ and Si(100) is investigated using the replica-exchange method driven by classical molecular dynamics simulations based on ab initio-derived interatomic potentials. Abrupt interfaces are shown to be unstable, whereas a substoichiometric... (Read more)

Low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM) has been used to investigate void growth during thermal decomposition of 1–2-nm-thick silicon oxide on Si substrates. Real-time LEEM observations clarify that the void size (square root of the void area) grows linearly with time. The temperature dependence... (Read more)

It is generally believed that nitrogen transport in vitreous silica exclusively takes place in molecular form, although no evidence for this is found in the literature. Actually, an analysis of literature data of transport of nitrogen and noble gases in vitreous silica at 900 °C suggests it may... (Read more)

We report diffusion experiments where hydrogen permeates through a 1 mm wall of vitreous silica at 550 °C with applied gas pressures of 70, 460, 840, and 1200 mbars. For each pressure, and at steady state, the flux and the amount of hydrogen in the material are measured. Within the... (Read more)

The influence of Hf-based dielectrics on the underlying SiO₂ interfacial layer (IL) in high-k gate stacks is investigated. An increase in the IL dielectric constant, which correlates to an increase of the positive fixed charge density in the IL, is found to depend on the starting,... (Read more)

A major challenge for replacing gate SiON with HfO₂ is the instability and reliability of HfO₂. Unlike the SiON, there can be substantial amount of as-grown electron traps in HfO₂. These traps can cause instability in the threshold voltage and contribute to the... (Read more)

To determine if the only source of optical absorption between 5.8 and 5.9 eV is the E center (absorbing at 5.85 eV) two separate suites of type III silica samples were implanted, one with Si and one with O. Several ion energies were used for implantation to produce layers 600 and... (Read more)

Charge trapping properties of electrons and holes in ultrathin nitride-oxide-silicon (NOS) structures were quantitatively determined by variable-temperature electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). From charge retention characteristics obtained at temperatures between 250 and 370 °C and assuming... (Read more)

Photobleaching of self-trapped holes (STH) in low temperature UV-irradiated silica glass has been investigated by the electron spin resonance method. The bleaching time dependence of the decay of two kinds of STH, STH₁, and STH₂, could be well fitted by the stretched... (Read more)

In this work we perform a systematic study of the dissolution of a dislocation loop layer under the influence of inert SiO₂/Si and nitrogen-rich SiO₂/Si interfaces. The composition of the dislocation loop layer was just after its formation 10%–20% Frank dislocation loops... (Read more)

Electroluminescence (EL) properties in the ultraviolet (UV) range were studied on Gd-implanted indium tin oxide/SiO₂:Gd/Si metal-oxide-semiconductor light emitting devices. The efficient UV line at 316 nm from Gd³⁺ centers shows a maximum power density of 2 mW/cm²... (Read more)

Oxygen bubble formation and evolution under a 300 keV electron beam are analyzed in a Li borosilicate glass under different irradiation conditions: temperature, flux, and dose. Oxygen bubbles are observed to form in a delimited flux and temperature region with a threshold requirement. This region... (Read more)

The impact of nitridation on open volumes in thin HfSiO_x films fabricated on Si substrates by atomic layer deposition was studied using monoenergetic positron beams. For HfSiO_x, positrons were found to annihilate from the trapped state due to open volumes which... (Read more)

The energy spectrum of the traps and thermal stability of stored charge have been studied by the thermostimulated exoelectron emission method in hydrogenated H and deuterated D oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) multilayer stacks of silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) nonvolatile memories. It is... (Read more)

An overview of the evolution of transistor parameters under negative bias temperature instability stress conditions commonly observed in p-MOSFETs in recent technologies is presented. The physical mechanisms of the degradation as well as the different defects involved have been discussed according to a systematic set of experiments with different stress conditions. According to our findings, a physical model is proposed which could be used to more accurately predict the transistor degradation. Finally, based on our new present understanding, a new characterization methodology is proposed, which would open the way to a more accurate determination of parameter shifts and thus allowing implementing the degradation into design rules. (Read more)

We have investigated by extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy the local order around Er atoms introduced by ion implantation in substoichiometric silica films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, where Si nanoclusters have been formed by different preimplantation... (Read more)

We investigate the hole trapping process of a neutral oxygen vacancy in amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO₂) using cluster calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) method. We show that trapping a hole at a neutral oxygen vacancy leads to the formation of several... (Read more)

Structural aspects of clustering of rare earth ions in oxide glasses have been studied for the last several years in relation to their applications in photonics. However, the mechanism of homogenization of the spatial distribution of rare earth ions by codoping, typically with Al or P, is still not... (Read more)

The interface between ultrathin SiO₂ films and 4H-SiC(0001) has been studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoelectron diffraction. The investigation was performed for two different films. An ordered silicate layer showed a clear (×)R30°... (Read more)

We report on the static magnetic field dependence of the random telegraph signal in a submicrometer silicon n-metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor. Using intense magnetic fields and low temperatures, we find that the characteristic time ratio changes by three orders of magnitude... (Read more)

Using ab initio calculations on clusters, we have identified a new reaction path between the dicoordinated silicon atom defect and the paramagnetic Egamma^[prime]" align="middle"> center in amorphous silica. Under ionizing irradiation, the dicoordinated silicon atom... (Read more)

The effects of isochronal thermal treatments on three -irradiation-induced point defects, named the E, ODC(II), and H(I) centers, are investigated in various types of commercial silica (a-SiO₂). ODC(II) is investigated by means of photoluminescence spectroscopy,... (Read more)

Based on first-principles calculations, we studied the generation behavior of P_b centers at SiO₂/Si interfaces, especially for P_b1 centers, under oxidation of Si(100) surfaces. P_b1 centers were found to be formed... (Read more)

The structure of the SiO₂/4H-SiC interface produced by dry oxidation has been studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy using energy-variable slow positron beams. Based on the Doppler broadening shape and wing parameter (S-W) correlation, the interface layer was... (Read more)

We study proton diffusion in amorphous SiO₂ from the atomic scale to the long-range percolative regime. Ab initio molecular dynamics suggest that the dominant atomic process consists in cross-ring interoxygen hopping assisted by network vibrations. A statistical analysis accounting... (Read more)

We report a study by electron paramagnetic resonance on the E_α point defect in amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO₂). Our experiments were performed on γ-ray irradiated oxygen-deficient materials and pointed out that the ²⁹Si... (Read more)

The measured activation energies for oxide growth rates at the initial and late stages of oxidation of Si are 2 and 1.2 eV, respectively. These values imply that oxidation can proceed at temperatures much smaller than the 800 °C normally used to obtain devices with exceptionally smooth... (Read more)

Atomic structure and structural stability of neutral oxygen vacancies on amorphous silica are investigated using combined Monte Carlo and density functional calculations. We find that, unlike their bulk counterparts, the Si-Si dimer configuration of surface oxygen vacancies is likely to be unstable... (Read more)

By analyzing atomic force microscopy images, we derive a continuum equation that quantitatively explains the roughening at the Si(001)-SiO₂ interface during thermal oxidation at the temperature at 1200 °C in an Ar atmosphere containing a small fraction of O₂. We also show... (Read more)

Silicon oxynitride films were deposited using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. The bond configurations of the constituent atoms in the deposited film were analyzed using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Analysis of the Si 2p spectra showed the presence of... (Read more)

We utilize a very sensitive electron paramagnetic resonance technique called spin-dependent recombination to observe and identify defect centers generated by modest negative bias and moderately elevated temperatures in fully processed p-channel metal-oxide-silicon field-effect transistors.... (Read more)

The electrical behavior of high-permittivity (high-k) hafnium titanium silicate (Hf_xTi_ySi_zO) layers with different Hf:Ti ratios in the films is investigated. The films were deposited by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition using a... (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)

We utilize spin-dependent recombination (SDR) to observe deep level trap defects at or very near the interface of 6H silicon carbide and the SiO₂ gate dielectric in SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors. The SDR response is strongly correlated to SiC/SiO₂... (Read more)

Interfacial defect structures of NO-nitride oxide on Si(100) were characterized by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. We confirmed that the effective g values of the P_b1 center are affected by interfacial nitridation even at a small nitrogen concentration of 5 at. %, while those of the P_b0 center proved to be unchanged. We observed that the shifted P_b1 line appeared gradually with interfacial nitrogen concentration, which suggests that the nitrogen-induced modified structure substitutes for the original P_b1 structure. Angular variations of the shifted P_b1 lines were also significantly different from those of pure oxide. Based on our analysis, we attributed the g value shift of the P_b1 center to dangling bond tilting, caused by the displacement of nearest-neighbor Si atoms. (Read more)

Using constrained ab initio molecular dynamics, we investigate the reaction of the O₂ molecule at the Si(100)–SiO₂ interface during Si oxidation. The reaction proceeds sequentially through the incorporation of the O₂ molecule in a Si-Si bond and the... (Read more)

We report the formation processes of interface dangling bonds (P_b centers) during initial oxidation of a clean Si(111) surface using an ultrahigh-vacuum electron-spin-resonance technique. At the oxidation of one or two Si layer(s), the P_b center... (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)

We report the observation of a paramagnetic interface defect in thermally oxidized porous n-type doped 4H–SiC/SiO₂. Based on its axial symmetry and resolved hyperfine interactions it is attributed to an sp³ carbon dangling bond center situated... (Read more)

An unexpected physical phenomenon—dynamic recovery of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI)—is reported. NBTI degradation in p-type metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors is significantly (by ~40%) reduced after stress interruption. NBTI recovery... (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)

The influence of nitrogen concentration at a nitrided oxide/silicon interface on the activation energies of both near-interface fixed-charge trapping and interface state generation caused by negative bias temperature instability stress has been studied quantitatively. It is observed that the charge... (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)

Dry oxidation kinetics of the Si(001) surface has been investigated using reflectance difference oscillation to resolve atomic-scale phenomena. The activation energy for oxidation has been found to increase as the oxide-Si interface moves in the depth direction, reaching the value for bulk... (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)

The structural degradation of thermal SiO₂ on (100)Si under isochronal vacuum annealing in the range T_an = 950 °C–1250 °C was monitored by electron spin resonance (ESR) in terms of point defect creation, including... (Read more)

The electronic properties of the (100) Si/SiO₂ interfacial defect called P_b1 are quite controversial. We present electron spin resonance measurements that demonstrate: (1) that the P_b1 defects have levels in the silicon band gap, (2) that... (Read more)

Thermal growth of silicon oxide films on silicon carbide in O₂ was investigated using oxygen isotopic substitution and narrow resonance nuclear reaction profiling. This investigation was carried out in parallel with the thermal growth of silicon oxide films on Si. Results demonstrate that... (Read more)

The diffusion and reactions of hydrogenous species generated by single-pulsed F₂ laser photolysis of SiO-H bond in SiO₂ glass were studied in situ between 10 and 330 K. Experimental evidence indicates that atomic hydrogen (H⁰) becomes mobile even at temperatures as... (Read more)

We report first-principles calculations in terms of which we describe the role of hydrogen in passivating or activating oxygen complexes in Si. In particular we find that attaching H to a pre-existing oxygen cluster can change the electric activity of the cluster. Furthermore, the addition of a... (Read more)

We recently published a letter in which we utilized spin-dependent recombination (SDR) measurements to demonstrate that P_b1 centers, silicon dangling-bond defects at the (001) Si/SiO₂ interface, have electronic levels in the silicon band gap.¹ In their comment on our... (Read more)

The depth distributions of oxygen-related defects in separation-by-implanted oxygen wafers were determined from measurements of Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation. Vacany–oxygen complexes were introduced by implanting 180-keV oxygen at (2–6)×10¹⁷ ... (Read more)

It is important to understand the distribution of recoil-implanted atoms and the impact on device performance when ion implantation is performed at a high dose through surface materials into single crystalline silicon. For example, in ultralarge scale integration impurity ions are often implanted... (Read more)

We have characterized the leakage current paths of ultra-thin gate dielectrics using spin-dependent tunneling (SDT) spectroscopy. A spin-dependent current was detected in metal-oxide-semiconductor diodes with chemical-vapor-deposition SiN gate films with thickness less than 3 nm. We examined the nature of the trap sites in terms of g-value, bias-dependent signal intensity, and magnetic-field orientation dependence. The main feature of the observed spectrum is attributed to a paramagnetic Si site in the SiN films. By using a quantitative model of electron spin-polarization, we were able to estimate the ratio of trap-assisted current to the total leakage current. (Read more)

Defect reactions pertaining to Si-SiO₂ interfaces are investigated using a first-principles total-energy approach. Interesting results on the atomic structures of interstitial H⁺ and OH^-, H₂O, and H₃O⁺ in SiO₂ are... (Read more)

Experimental studies of size-related effects in silicon nanocrystals are reported. We present investigations carried out on nanocrystals prepared from single-crystal Si:P wafer by ball milling. The average final grain dimension varied depending on the way of preparation in the range between 70 and... (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)

We present theoretical evidence that the paramagnetic E^? defect centers in amorphous silicon dioxide ( a-SiO₂) do not have the same microscopic structures as those well-defined in the corresponding crystalline counterparts such as ?-quartz. We then present alternative models of... (Read more)

We provide a new model of the peroxy-radical defect in amorphous silica on the basis of quantum-chemical calculations applied to clusters of atoms to model the defect. In this model, the ²⁹Si hyperfine splittings of the peroxy radical arise from a single silicon, in agreement with the... (Read more)

The C(000) face of silicon carbide (SiC) has superior properties such as a faster oxidation ratio and a smoother surface compared with the Si(0001) face. We have investigated the oxidation and post-oxidation annealing effects on the capacitance–voltage and the interface state density... (Read more)

The electronic properties of the (001) Si/SiO₂ P_b1 defect are the subject of considerable controversy. We present spin-dependent recombination results which indicate most strongly that the P_b1 centers have levels in the Si band gap. Our... (Read more)

The effects of hydrogen annealing on capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics and interface-state density (D_it) of 4H–SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structures have been investigated. The D_it was reduced to as low as... (Read more)

We have previously concluded that the oxygen-precipitate-associated defects that we identified by the deep levels at E_v + 0.30 eV and E_c–0.25 eV were the P_b centers generated in the interface between the oxygen... (Read more)

An electron-spin-resonance study has been carried out, both isothermally and isochronically, of the recovery under vacuum annealing from the hydrogen passivated state (symbolized as HP_b) of paramagnetic P_b centers (Si₃?Si^?) at the (111)Si/SiO₂... (Read more)

An electron spin resonance (ESR) study has been carried out on the P_b centers (interfacial ?Si?Si₃) in standard thermal (111)Si/SiO₂, of which, in the as-grown state, a density 4.9?10¹² cm^-2 is inherently incorporated. The P_b density... (Read more)

Using a first-principles approach, we characterize dangling bond defects at Si-SiO₂ interfaces by calculating hyperfine parameters for several relaxed structures. Interface models, in which defect Si atoms remain close to crystalline sites of the substrate upon relaxation, successfully... (Read more)