Noemi Graziana Sparta

Micro- and nanoscale electrical characterization of large-area graphene transferred to functional substrates

Summary Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) on catalytic metals is one of main approaches for high-quality graphene growth over large areas. However, a subsequent transfer step to an insulating substrate is required in order to use the graphene for electronic applications. This step can severely affect both the structural integrity and the electronic properties of the graphene membrane. In this paper, we investigated the morphological and electrical properties of CVD graphene transferred onto SiO2 and on a polymeric substrate (poly(ethylene-2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate), briefly PEN), suitable for microelectronics and flexible electronics applications, respectively. The electrical properties (sheet resistance, mobility, carrier density) of the transferred graphene as well as the specific contact resistance of metal contacts onto graphene were investigated by using properly designed test patterns. While a sheet resistance R sh ≈ 1.7 kΩ/sq and a specific contact resistance ρc ≈ 15 kΩ·μm have been measured for graphene transferred onto SiO2, about 2.3× higher R sh and about 8× higher ρc values were obtained for graphene on PEN. High-resolution current mapping by torsion resonant conductive atomic force microscopy (TRCAFM) provided an insight into the nanoscale mechanisms responsible for the very high ρc in the case of graphene on PEN, showing a ca. 10× smaller “effective” area for current injection than in the case of graphene on SiO2.

Characterization of the high density plasma etching process of CCTO thin films for the fabrication of very high density capacitors

In this work the feasibility of CCTO (Calcium Copper Titanate) patterning by etching process is demonstrated and fully characterized in a hard to etch materials etcher. CCTO sintered in powder shows a giant relative dielectric constant (105) measured at 1 MHz at room temperature. This feature is furthermore coupled with stability from 101 Hz to 106 Hz in a wide temperature range (100K – 600K). In principle, this property can allow to fabricate very high capacitance density condenser. Due to its perovskite multi-component structure, CCTO can be considered a hard to etch material. For high density capacitor fabrication, CCTO anisotropic etching is requested by using high density plasma. The behavior of etched CCTO was studied in a HRe- (High Density Reflected electron) plasma etcher using Cl2/Ar chemistry. The relationship between the etch rate and the Cl2/Ar ratio was also studied. The effects of RF MHz, KHz Power and pressure variation, the impact of HBr addiction to the Cl2/Ar chemistry on the CCTO etch rate and on its selectivity to Pt and photo resist was investigated.

Materials and processing issues for the manufacturing of integrated passive and active devices on flexible substrates

Plast_ICs is a Public/Private Laboratory funded by Italian Government aimed to build a novel technological platform for the development of flexible electronics, mainly, but not solely, based on thin inorganic films. Integration of different functions, on single and/or multiple plastic foils, to generate a smart system is the final goal of the project. The building blocks of the platform will be presented, starting from the different plastic substrates characterization, going through the development of active devices, such as thin-film- transistors, and passive devices, like thin-film- resistors, capacitors, inductors. Fully inorganic elementary devices, based on optical patterning and in vacuum thin films deposition on plastic foil will be reported. The performance of each elementary device will be related to fundamental properties of the enabling materials and to the processing conditions. The ability to control and tailor the microstructural properties of the very low temperature deposited thin films enable good dielectric properties for the formation of high density capacitors and good thermal behavior for the formation of precision resistors. The use of optimized laser process allows the poly Si regrowth for the formation of active regions of transistors.