Ding Hong-Lin

Capacitance characteristics of metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors with a single layer of embedded nickel nanoparticles for the application of nonvolatile memory

This paper reports that metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with a single layer of Ni nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by using electron-beam evaporation and rapid thermal annealing for application to nonvolatile memory. Experimental scanning electron microscopy images showed that Ni nanoparticles of about 5 nm in diameter were clearly embedded in the SiO2 layer on p-type Si (100). Capacitance–voltage measurements of the MOS capacitor show large flat-band voltage shifts of 1.8 V, which indicate the presence of charge storage in the nickel nanoparticles. In addition, the charge-retention characteristics of MOS capacitors with Ni nanoparticles were investigated by using capacitance–time measurements. The results showed that there was a decay of the capacitance embedded with Ni nanoparticles for an electron charge after 104 s. But only a slight decay of the capacitance originating from hole charging was observed. The present results indicate that this technique is promising for the efficient formation or insertion of metal nanoparticles inside MOS structures.

Origin of Electron and Hole Charging Current Peaks in Nanocrystal-Si Quantum Dot Floating Gate MOS Structure

The nanocrystal-Si quantum dot (nc-Si QD) floating gate MOS structure is fabricated by using plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) and furnace oxidation technology. The capacitance hysteresis in capacitance-voltage (C – V) measurements confirm the charging effect of nc-Si QDs. Asymmetric charging current peaks both for electrons and holes have been observed in current-voltage (I – V) measurements at room temperature for the first time. The characteristic and the origin of these current peaks in this nc-Si QD MOS structure is investigated systematically. Moreover, the charge density (10−7 C/cm2) calculated from the charging current peaks in the I – V measurements at different sweep rates shows that each quantum dot is charged by one carrier. The difference of charging threshold voltages between the electrons and holes charging peaks, ΔVG, can be explained by the quantum confinement effect of the nc-Si dots in size of about 3.5 nm.

Resonant Tunnelling and Storage of Electrons in Si Nanocrystals within a-SiNx/nc-Si/a-SiNx Structures

The a-SiNx/nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si)/a-SiNx sandwiched structures with asymmetric double-barrier are fabricated in a plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) system on p-type Si substrates. The nc-Si layer in thickness 5nm is fabricated from a hydrogen-diluted silane gas by the layer-by-layer deposition technique. The thicknesses of tunnel and control SiNx layers are 3nm and 20nm, respectively. Frequency-dependent capacitance spectroscopy is used to study the electron tunnelling and the storage in the sandwiched structures. Distinct frequency-dependent capacitance peaks due to electrons tunnelling into the nc-Si dots and capacitance-voltage (C - V) hysteresis characteristic due to electrons storage in the nc-Si dots are observed with the same sample. Moreover, conductance peaks have also been observed at the same voltage region by conductance-voltage (G - V) measurements. The experimental results demonstrate that electrons can be loaded onto nc-Si dots via resonant tunnelling and can be stored in our a-SiNx/nc-Si/a-SiNx structures.

Eigenmode Splitting in all Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Nitride Coupled Microcavity

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride based coupled optical microcavity is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical calculation of the transmittance spectra of optical microcavity with one cavity and coupled microcavity with two-cavity is performed. The optical eigenmode splitting for coupled microcavity is found due to the interaction between the neighbouring localized cavities. Experimentally, the coupled cavity samples are prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition and characterized by photoluminescence measurements. It is found that the photoluminescence peak wavelength agrees well with the cavity mode in the calculated transmittance spectra. This eigenmode splitting is analogous to the electron state energy splitting in diatom molecules.

Large Storage Window in a-SiNx/nc-Si/a-SiNx Sandwiched Structure for Nanocrystalline Silicon Floating Gate Memory Application

An a-SiNx/nanocrystalline silicon [(nc-Si)/a-SiNx] sandwiched structure is fabricated in a plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) system at low temperature (250° C). The nc-Si layer is fabricated from a hydrogen-diluted silane mixture gas by using a layer-by-layer deposition technique. Atom force microscopy measurement shows that the density of nc-Si is about 2 × 1011 cm−2. By the pretreatment of plasma nitridation, low density of interface states and high-quality interface between the Si substrate and a-SiNx insulator layer are obtained. The density of interface state at the midgap is calculated to be 1 × 1010 cm−2eV−1 from the quasistatic and high frequency C – V data. The charging and discharging property of nc-Si quantum dots is studied by capacitance-voltage (C – V) measurement at room temperature. An ultra-large hysteresis is observed in the C – V characteristics, which is attributed to storage of the electrons and holes into the nc-Si dots. The long-term charge-loss process is studied and ascribed to low density of interface states at SiNx/Si substrate.