Kurt W. Eisenbeiser

Field effect transistors with SrTiO3 gate dielectric on Si

SrTiO3 has been grown epitaxially by molecular beam epitaxy on Si. The capacitance of this 110 A dielectric film is electrically equivalent to less than 10 A of SiO2. This structure has been used to make capacitors and metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors. The interface trap density between the SrTiO3 and the Si is 6.4×1010 states/cm2 eV and the inversion layer mobility is 221 and 62 cm2/V s for n- and p-channel devices, respectively. The gate leakage in these devices is two orders of magnitude smaller than a similar SiO2 gate dielectric field effect transistor.

Epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films on Si

BiFeO3 was studied as an alternative environmentally clean ferro/piezoelectric material. 200-nm-thick BiFeO3 films were grown on Si substrates with SrTiO3 as a template layer and SrRuO3 as bottom electrode. X-ray and transmission electron microscopy studies confirmed the epitaxial growth of the films. The spontaneous polarization of the films was ∼45μC∕cm2. Retention measurement up to several days showed no decay of polarization. A piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of ∼60pm∕V was observed, which is promising for applications in micro-electro-mechanical systems and actuators.

Band discontinuities at epitaxial SrTiO3/Si(001) heterojunctions

We have used photoemission methods to directly measure the valence and conduction band offsets at SrTiO3/Si(001) interfaces, as prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy. Within experimental error, the measured values are the same for growth on n- and p-Si, with the entire band discontinuity occurring at the valence band edge. In addition, band bending is much larger at the p-Si heterojunction than at the n-type heterojunction. Previously published threshold voltage behavior for these interfaces can now be understood in light of the present results.

Epitaxial oxide thin films on Si(001)

Over the years, the development of epitaxial oxides on silicon has been a great technological challenge. Amorphous silicon oxide layer forms quickly at the interface when the Si surface is exposed to oxygen, making the intended oxide heteroepitaxy on Si substrate extremely difficult. Epitaxial oxides such as BaTiO3 (BTO) and SrTiO3 (STO) integrated with Si are highly desirable for future generation transistor gate dielectric and ferroelectric memory cell applications. In this article, we review the recent progress in the heteroepitaxy of oxide thin films on Si(001) substrate by using the molecular beam epitaxy technique at Motorola Labs. Structural, interfacial and electrical properties of the oxide thin films on Si have been characterized using in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmissi...

Epitaxial ferroelectric Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 thin films on Si using SrTiO3 template layers

In this letter, we report on the integration of epitaxial ferroelectric Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films on Si [100] substrates using a SrTiO3 (STO) template layer and a conducting perovskite (La0.5Sr0.5)CoO3 electrode. X-ray diffraction studies reveal both in-plane and out-of-plane alignment of the heterostructure. The epitaxial films show extremely high remnant polarization as well as piezoelectric d33 coefficients compared to textured and untextured polycrystalline films.

Realizing intrinsic piezoresponse in epitaxial submicron lead zirconate titanate capacitors on Si

We report on the out-of-plane piezoelectric response (d33), measured via piezoresponse scanning force microscopy, of submicron capacitors fabricated from epitaxial PbZrxTi1−xO3 thin films. Investigations on 1 μm2 and smaller capacitors show that the substrate-induced constraint is dramatically reduced by nanostructuring. At zero field, the experimentally measured values of d33 for clamped as well as submicron capacitors are in good agreement with the predictions from thermodynamic theory. The theory also describes very well the field dependence of the piezoresponse of clamped capacitors of key compositions on the tetragonal side of the PbZrxTi1−xO3 phase diagram as well as the behavior of submicron PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (hard ferroelectric) capacitors. However, the field-dependent piezoresponse of submicron capacitors in compositions closer to the morphotropic phase boundary (soft ferroelectrics) is different from the behavior predicted by the theoretical calculations.

GaAs MESFETs fabricated on Si substrates using a SrTiO 3 buffer layer

Heteroepitaxial growth of GaAs on an Si substrate has been achieved through the use of crystalline SrTiO/sub 3/ (STO) and amorphous SiO/sub 2/ buffer layers. The buffer layers serve to accommodate some of the lattice mismatch between the substrate and the GaAs epilayers. Field-effect transistors fabricated in the GaAs epilayers show performance comparable to similar devices fabricated on GaAs substrates. The mobility in the GaAs/STO/Si sample is 2524 cm/sup 2//Vs compared to a GaAs/GaAs sample with mobility of 2682 cm/sup 2//Vs. A 0.7 /spl mu/m gate length device has I/sub d max/ of 367 mA/mm and G/sub m max/ of 223 mS/mm. These devices also have good RF performance with f/sub max/ of 14.5 GHz and class AB power density of 90 mW/mm with an associated power-added efficiency of 38% at 1.9 GHz. This RF performance is within experimental error of similar devices fabricated on GaAs substrates. Preliminary reliability results show that after 800 h at 200/spl deg/C, the GaAs/STO/Si sample showed 1.2% degradation in drain current.

Epitaxial perovskite thin films grown on silicon by molecular beam epitaxy

Thin film perovskite-type oxide SrTiO3 has been grown epitaxially on Si(001) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Reflection high energy electron diffraction and x-ray diffraction analysis indicate high quality SrTiO3 heteroepitaxy on Si substrate with SrTiO3(001)//Si(001) and SrTiO3[010]//Si[110]. The SrTiO3 surface is atomically as smooth as the starting substrate surface, with a root mean square roughness of 1.2 A observed by atomic force microscopy. The thickness of the amorphous interfacial layer between SrTiO3 and Si has been engineered to minimize the device short channel effect. An effective oxide thickness <10 A has been obtained for a 110 A thick dielectric film. The interface state density between SrTiO3 and Si is 6.4×1010 cm−2 eV−1, and the inversion layer carrier mobilities are 221 and 62 cm2 V−1 s−1 for n- and p-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor devices with 1.2 μm effective channel length, respectively. The gate leakage in these devices is two orders of magnitude smaller than a comparable S...

Colossal magnetoresistive manganite-based ferroelectric field-effect transistor on Si

An all-perovskite ferroelectric field-effect transistor with a ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 (PZT) gate and a colossal magnetoresistive La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 (LCMO) channel has been successfully fabricated by pulsed-laser deposition on Si. A clear and square channel resistivity hysteresis loop, commensurate with the ferroelectric hysteresis loop of PZT, is observed. A maximum modulation of 20% after an electric field poling of 1.5×105 V/cm, and 50% under a magnetic field of 1 T, are achieved near the metal-insulator transition temperature of the LCMO channel. A data retention time of at least one day is measured. The effects of electric and magnetic fields on the LCMO channel resistance are discussed within the framework of phase separation scenario.

High-performance carbon nanotube transistors on SrTiO3/Si substrates

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been grown via chemical vapor deposition on high-κ dielectric SrTiO3/Si substrates, and high-performance semiconducting SWNT field-effect transistors have been fabricated using the thin SrTiO3 as gate dielectric and Si as gate electrode. The transconductance per channel width is 8900 μS/μm. The high transconductance cannot be explained by the increased gate capacitance; it is proposed that the increased electric field at the nanotube–electrode interface due to the high-κ SrTiO3 decreases or eliminates the nanotube-electrode Schottky barrier.