Leakage currents and dielectric breakdown were studied in MIS capacitors of metal-aluminum oxide-silicon. The aluminum oxide was produced by thermally oxidizing AlN at 800-1100 C under dry O 2 conditions. The AlN films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on p-type Si (100) substrates. Thermal oxidation produced Al 2 O 3 with a thickness and structure that depended on the process time and temperature. The MIS capacitors exhibited the charge regimes of accumulation, depletion, and inversion on the Si semiconductor surface. The best electrical properties were obtained when all of the AlN was fully oxidized to Al 2 O 3 with no residual AlN. The MIS flatband voltage was near 0 V, the net oxide trapped charge density, ox , was less than 10 11 cm 2 , and the interface trap density, , was less than 10 11 cm 2 eV 1 . At an oxide electric field of 0.3 MV/cm, the leakage current density was less than 10 7 A cm 2 , with a resistivity greater than 10 12 -cm. The critical field for dielectric breakdown ranged from 4 to 5 MV/cm. The temperature dependence of the current versus electric field indicated that the conduction mechanism was Frenkel-Poole emission, which has the interesting property that higher temperatures reduce the current. This may be important for the reliability of circuits operating under extreme conditions. The dielectric constant ranged from 3 to 9. The excellent electronic quality of aluminum oxide may be attractive for field effect transistor applications.

We report the electrical detection of magnetization dynamics in an Al/AlOx/Ni80Fe20/Cu tunnel junction, where a Ni80Fe20 ferromagnetic layer is brought into precession under ferromagnetic resonance conditions. The dc voltage generated across the junction by the precessing ferromagnet is enhanced about an order of magnitude compared to the voltage signal observed when the contacts in this type of multilayered structure are Ohmic. We discuss the relation of this phenomenon to magnetic spin pumping and speculate on other possible underlying mechanisms responsible for the enhanced electrical signal.

Infrared electroluminescence was observed from GeSn/Ge p-n heterojunction diodes with 8% Sn, grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The GeSn layers were boron doped, compressively strained, and pseudomorphic on Ge substrates. Spectral measurements indicated an emission peak at 0.57 eV, about 50 meV wide, increasing in intensity with applied pulsed current, and with reducing device temperatures. The total integrated emitted power from a single edge facet was 54 μW at an applied peak current of 100 mA at 100 K. These results suggest that GeSn-based materials maybe useful for practical light emitting diodes operating in the infrared wavelength range near 2 μm.

Single crystal epitaxial Ge1−xSnx alloys with atomic fractions of tin up to x = 0.145 were grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy on Ge (001) substrates. The Ge1−xSnx alloys formed high quality, coherent, strained layers at growth temperatures below 250 °C, as shown by high resolution X-ray diffraction. The amount of Sn that was on lattice sites, as determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry channeling, was found to be above 90% substitutional in all alloys. The degree of strain and the dependence of the effective unstrained bulk lattice constant of Ge1−xSnx alloys versus the composition of Sn have been determined.

Resonant interband tunneling diodes on silicon substrates are demonstrated using a Si/Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 /Si heterostructure grown by low temperature molecular beam epitaxy which utilized both a central intrinsic spacer and ␦-doped injectors. A low substrate temperature of 370°C was used during growth to ensure a high level of dopant incorporation. A B ␦-doping spike lowered the barrier for holes to populate the quantum well at the valence band discontinuity, and an Sb ␦-doping reduces the doping requirement of the n-type bulk Si by producing a deep n ϩ well. Samples studied from the as-grown wafers showed no evidence of negative differential resistance ͑NDR͒. The effect of postgrowth rapid thermal annealing temperature was studied on tunnel diode properties. Samples which underwent heat treatment at 700 and 800°C for 1 min, in contrast, exhibited NDR behavior. The peak-to-valley current ratio ͑PVCR͒ and peak current density of the tunnel diodes were found to depend strongly on ␦-doping placement and on the annealing conditions. PVCRs ranging up to 1.54 were measured at a peak current density of 3.2 kA/cm 2 .