Dependence of the Si-SiO2 barrier height on SiO2 thickness in MOS tunnel structures

Kasprzak, Lucian; Laibowitz, R. B.; Ohring, Milton

doi:10.1063/1.323415

Cited by 51 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…19,20 Among them, tunneling current oscillations seem to be a useful tool to characterize t ox as well as the Si roughness as the Si/SiO 2 interface. 12 These oscillations occur for an oxide thickness ranging between 2.7 and 7 nm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fowler–Nordheim conduction in polysilicon (n+)-oxide–silicon (p) structures: Limit of the classical treatment in the barrier height determination

Hadjadj

Salace

Petit

2001

Journal of Applied Physics

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Articles you may be interested inEllipsometric study of the polysilicon/thin oxide/single-crystalline silicon structure and its change upon annealing Boron penetration and thermal instability of p + polycrystalline-Si/ZrO 2 / SiO 2 /n-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor structures J. Appl. Phys. 91, 65 (2002); 10.1063/1.1419207 Effects of interface roughness and conducting filaments in metal-oxide-semiconductor tunnel structuresFowler-Nordheim current in Si-poly (n ϩ )-SiO 2 -Si(p) structures, with an oxide thickness varying between 3 and 12 nm, has been measured and numerically computed with the exact electric field in the oxide, the field dependence of the barrier shape with the image force, and the temperature effects. The fit of the experimental data leads to an accurate determination of the electron affinity difference and the barrier height at the emitting Si-poly (n ϩ )-gate-electrode-oxide interface. The evolution of these two parameters with temperature is discussed in relation with the oxide thickness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several attempts have been made to determine it from current-voltage (I -V) characteristics. [9][10][11][12][13] More recently, it has become possible to deduce other device parameters such as the SiO 2 conduction-band effective mass [14][15][16][17] or the gate-oxide thickness, [18][19][20][21][22] from I -V measurements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fowler–Nordheim conduction in polysilicon (n+)-oxide–silicon (p) structures: Limit of the classical treatment in the barrier height determination

Hadjadj

Salace

Petit

2001

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…Among the various attempts that have been made in the past to gain a comprehensive understanding of the barrier height or the energy band profile for ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interfaces, [3][4][5][6][7][8] the consistent picture of the energy band profile has not yet been drawn. Horiguchi and Yoshino 3 have reported that the barrier height for SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ decreases when the oxide thickness becomes thinner than 3.1 nm.…”

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confidence: 99%

The valence band alignment at ultrathin SiO2/Si interfaces

Alay

Hirose

1997

Journal of Applied Physics

162

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High resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to determine the valence band alignment at ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interfaces. In the oxide thickness range 1.6-4.4 nm the constant band-offset values of 4.49 and 4.43 eV have been obtained for the dry SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ and the wet SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ interfaces, respectively. The valence band alignment of dry SiO 2 /Si͑111͒ ͑4.36 eV͒ is slightly smaller than the case of the dry SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ interface. © 1997 American Institute of Physics. ͓S0021-8979͑97͒00203-X͔ Ultralarge scale integration ͑ULSI͒ of metal-oxidesemiconductor ͑MOS͒ devices will need reliable gate oxides thinner than 5.0 nm in the near future. In order to predict the tunneling leakage current through the ultrathin gate oxides, an accurate description of the energy band profile at the ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interfaces or a precise knowledge on the value of the valence band alignment and the conduction band barrier height is required.1 Although the energy band profile of thick SiO 2 /Si interfaces has been determined by an internal photoemission technique, 2 reliable values for the electron or hole barrier height at ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interfaces remain an unresolved issue. Among the various attempts that have been made in the past to gain a comprehensive understanding of the barrier height or the energy band profile for ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interfaces, 3-8 the consistent picture of the energy band profile has not yet been drawn. Horiguchi and Yoshino 3 have reported that the barrier height for SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ decreases when the oxide thickness becomes thinner than 3.1 nm. On the other hand, by using an electron-beam-assisted scanning tunneling microscopy technique, Heike et al. 4 have concluded that the barrier height at the SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ interfaces keeps a constant value of 2.7 eV in the oxide thickness range 1.8-4.5 nm. Grunthaner and Grunthaner 9 have measured valence band spectra of ϳ6-nm-thick SiO 2 thermally grown on Si͑111͒ by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and found the valence band offset of 4.5 eV. Also, Himpsel et al. 10 have obtained a valence band alignment of 4.3 eV for the SiO 2 /Si͑100͒ interface by using the Si 2 p core level spectrum. Thus well established values of the valence band alignment or the barrier height at ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interfaces are not available.The purpose of our study is to directly determine the magnitude of the valence band alignment or the hole barrier height at the ultrathin SiO 2 /Si interface and derive a value for the conduction band barrier height by using a measured SiO 2 band gap, based on the valence band density of states ͑VB-DOS͒ for ultrathin gate oxides ͑below 5.0 nm͒ thermally grown on Si͑100͒ and Si͑111͒ surfaces by employing highresolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ͑XPS͒.Ultrathin gate oxides were grown at 1000°C in a 2% dry O 2 gas diluted with N 2 or at 850°C in wet ambient. Hydrogen-terminated p-type Si͑100͒ substrates ͑10 ⍀ cm͒ were obtained by modified RCA cleaning with a low concentration of NH 4 OH followed by a chemical...

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“…For a SiO 2 dielectric layer with a thickness of only 1-2 nm, the contact resistivity could reach values on the order of 1 Ω.cm 2 , matching our experimental results. 18 When Al is added to the Ag paste, the Al interacts with the Ag and Si causing the formation of micro-and nano-spikes that would disrupt any thermal oxide layer and allow direct contact to the p + -Si layer (as we can see from the microstructures in figures 3 and 4 below). This effect enables the contact resistivity to be much lower.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of aluminum in silver paste contact to boron-doped silicon emitters

Roelofs

Subramoney

et al. 2017

AIP Advances

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The addition of aluminum to silver metallization pastes has been found to lower the contact resistivity of a silver metallization on boron-doped silicon emitters for n-type Si solar cells. However, the addition of Al also induces more surface recombination and increases the Ag pattern′s line resistivity, both of which ultimately limit the cell efficiency. There is a need to develop a fundamental understanding of the role that Al plays in reducing the contact resistivity and to explore alternative additives. A fritless silver paste is used to allow direct analysis of the impact of Al on the Ag-Si interfacial microstructure and isolate the influence of Al on the electrical contact from the complicated Ag-Si interfacial glass layer. Electrical analysis shows that in a simplified system, Al decreases the contact resistivity by about three orders of magnitude. Detailed microstructural studies show that in the presence of Al, microscale metallic spikes of Al-Ag alloy and nanoscale metallic spikes of Ag-Si alloy penetrate the surface of the boron-doped Si emitters. These results demonstrate the role of Al in reducing the contact resistivity through the formation of micro- and nano-scale metallic spikes, allowing the direct contact to the emitters.

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Dependence of the Si-SiO2 barrier height on SiO2 thickness in MOS tunnel structures

Cited by 51 publications

References 33 publications

Fowler–Nordheim conduction in polysilicon (n+)-oxide–silicon (p) structures: Limit of the classical treatment in the barrier height determination

Fowler–Nordheim conduction in polysilicon (n+)-oxide–silicon (p) structures: Limit of the classical treatment in the barrier height determination

The valence band alignment at ultrathin SiO2/Si interfaces

Role of aluminum in silver paste contact to boron-doped silicon emitters

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