Related papers: First-Principles Study on Leakage Current through …
We present first-principles calculations of the structural and electronic properties of Si(001)-SiO2 interfaces. We first arrive at reasonable structures for the c-Si/a-SiO2 interface via a Monte-Carlo simulated annealing applied to an…
Leakage currents through insulators received continuous attention for decades, owing to their importance for a wide range of technologies, and interest in their fundamental mechanisms. This work investigates the leakage currents through…
The dielectric breakdown at metal-oxide interfaces is a critical electronic device failure mechanism. Electronic tunneling through dielectric layers is a well-accepted explanation for this phenomenon. Theoretical band alignment studies,…
A number of electronic devices involve metal/oxide interfaces in their structure where the oxide layer plays the role of electrical insulator. As the downscaling of devices continues, the oxide thickness can spread over only a few atomic…
We investigate the effect of SiC stacking on the 4H-SiC/SiO$_2$ interface, both in the presence and absence of O defects, which appear during thermal oxidation, via first principles calculations. It is known that 4H-SiC(0001) has two…
We present the evidence of the low defect density at Ge/GeO$_2$ interfaces in terms of first-principles total energy calculations. The energy advantages of the atom emission from the Ge/GeO$_2$ interface to release the stress due to the…
We report the density-functional calculations that systematically clarify the stable forms of carbon-related defects and their energy levels in amorphous SiO$_2$ using the melt-quench technique in molecular dynamics. Considering the…
We report that annealing in low-oxygen-partial-pressure (low-p$_{\rm O2}$) ambient is effective in reducing the interface state density (D$_{\rm IT}$) at a SiC (0001)/SiO$_{\rm 2}$ interface near the conduction band edge (E$_{\rm C}$) of…
Silicon has long been synonymous with semiconductor technology. This unique role is due largely to the remarkable properties of the Si-SiO_2 interface, especially the (001)-oriented interface used in most devices. Although Si is crystalline…
Silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs) enable high-voltage and high-temperature power conversion. Compared to Si devices, they suffer from pronounced gate leakage due to the reduced electron…
The increase of the leakage current of NMOS transistors during exposure to ionizing radiation is known and well studied. Radiation hardness by design techniques have been developed to mitigate this effect and have been successfully used.…
In this contribution we argue that the main discrepancies between model calculations and experimental data for leakage current after hadron irradiation could be explained considering the contributions of primary defects in silicon: vacancy,…
We propose the atomic structures of the 4H-SiC/SiO$_2$ interface for the $a$, $m$, C, and Si faces after NO annealing. Our proposed structures preferentially form at the topmost layers of the SiC side of the interface, which agrees with the…
The structural, electronic and optical properties of Si nanocrystals of different size and shape, passivated with hydrogens, OH groups, or embedded in a SiO2 matrix are studied. The comparison between the embedded and free, suspended…
The observation of metallic behavior at the interface between insulating oxides has triggered worldwide efforts to shed light on the physics of these systems and clarify some still open issues, among which the dimensional character of the…
In this paper, SiO2 layers deposited on 4H-SiC and subjected to different post deposition annealing (PDA) in NO and N2O were studied to identify the key factors influencing the channel mobility and threshold voltage stability in 4H-SiC…
We report first-principles calculations that reveal the atomic forms, stability, and energy levels of carbon-related defects in SiC (0001)/SiO$_{\rm 2}$ systems. We clarify the stable position (SiC side, SiO$_{\rm 2}$ side, or just at the…
Strain is commonly used in metal-oxide-semiconductor technologies to boost on-state performance. This booster has been in production for at least a decade. Despite this, a systematic study of the impact of strain on off-state leakage…
Evidence of the absence of the clear electron spin-resonance signal from Ge dangling bonds (DBs) at Ge/GeO$_2$ interfaces is explored by means of first-principles electronic-structure calculations. Comparing the electronic structures of the…
The paper reviews methods used to study the electronic and structural properties of silicon/insulator interfaces. Methodological approaches to study the interface states and charge trapping in the oxide are considered. An overview of…