Metal, typically gold [Au], nanoparticles [NPs] embedded in a capping metal contact layer onto silicon carbide [SiC] are considered to have practical applications in changing the barrier height of the original contacts. Here, we demonstrate the use of silver [Ag] NPs to effectively lower the barrier height of the electrical contacts to 4H-SiC. It has been shown that the barrier height of the fabricated SiC diode structures (Ni with embedded Ag-NPs) has significantly reduced by 0.11 eV and 0.18 eV with respect to the samples with Au-NPs and the reference samples, respectively. The experimental results have also been compared with both an analytic model based on Tung's theory and physics-based two-dimensional numerical simulations.

No abstract

In this study, we have fabricated nano-scaled oxide structures on GaAs substrates that are doped in different conductivity types of p- and n-types and plane orientations of GaAs(100) and GaAs(711), respectively, using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip-induced local oxidation method. The AFM-induced GaAs oxide patterns were obtained by varying applied bias from approximately 5 V to approximately 15 V and the tip loading forces from 60 to 180 nN. During the local oxidation, the humidity and the tip scan speed are fixed to approximately 45% and approximately 6.3 μm/s, respectively. The local oxidation rate is further improved in p-type GaAs compared to n-type GaAs substrates whereas the rate is enhanced in GaAs(100) compared to and GaAs(711), respectively, under the identical conditions. In addition, the oxide formation mechanisms in different doping types and plane orientations were investigated and compared with two-dimensional simulation results.

No abstract

No abstract