• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.390-397
• /
• 2001

A novel self-aligned ESD (Elevated Source Drain) MOSFET structure which can effectively reduce the GIDL (Gate-Induced Drain Leakage) current is proposed and analyzed. The proposed ESD structure is characterized by sidewall spacer and recessed-channel depth which are determined by dry-etching process. Elevation of the Source/Drain extension region is realized so that the low-activation effect caused by low-energy ion implantation can be avoided. Unlike the conventional LDD structures, it is shown that the GIDL current of the ESD structure is suppressed without sacrificing the maximum driving capability. The main reason for the reduction of GIDL current Is the decreased electric field at the point of the maximum band-to-band tunneling as the peak electric field is shifted toward the drain side.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.251-255
• /
• 2021

a-Si is commonly considered as a primary candidate for the formation of passivation layer in heterojunction (HIT) solar cells. However, there are some problems when using this material such as significant losses due to recombination and parasitic absorption. To reduce these problems, a wide bandgap material is needed. A wide bandgap has a positive influence on effective transmittance, reduction of the parasitic absorption, and prevention of unnecessary epitaxial growth. In this paper, the adoption of a-SiO_x:H as the intrinsic layer was discussed. To increase lifetime and conductivity, oxygen concentration control is crucial because it is correlated with the thickness, bonding defect, interface density (D_it), and band offset. A thick oxygen-rich layer causes the lifetime and the implied open-circuit voltage to drop. Furthermore the thicker the layer gets, the more free hydrogen atoms are etched in thin films, which worsens the passivation quality and the efficiency of solar cells. Previous studies revealed that the lifetime and the implied voltage decreased when the a-SiOx thickness went beyond around 9 nm. In addition to this, oxygen acted as a defect in the intrinsic layer. The D_it increased up to an oxygen rate on the order of 8%. Beyond 8%, the D_it was constant. By controlling the oxygen concentration properly and achieving a thin layer, high-efficiency HIT solar cells can be fabricated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.170.1-170.1
• /
• 2016

$Bi_2Te_3$ has long been studied for its excellent thermoelectric characteristics. Recently, this material has been known as a topological insulator (TI). The surface states within the bulk band gap of a TI, which are protected by the time reversal symmetry, contribute to the conduction at the surface, while the bulk is in insulating state. In contrast to the bulk defects tuning the chemical potential to the Dirac energy, the native defects near the surface are expected not to change the shape of the Fermi surface and the related spin structure. Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we have systematically characterized surface or near surface defects in p- and n- doped $Bi_2Te_3$, and identified their structure by first principles calculations. In addition, bias-polarity dependences of STM images revealed the electron donor/acceptor nature of each defect. A detailed theoretical study of the surface states near the Dirac energy reveals the robustness of the Dirac point, which verifies the effectiveness of the disturbance on the backscattering from various kinds of defects.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.5 no.5
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 1996

Solar cells made of the edge-defined film-fed growth Si are characterized using current-voltage, surface photovoltage, electron beam induced current, electron microprobe, scanning electron microscopy, and electron backscattering. The weak temperature dependence of the I-V curves in the EFG solar cells is due to a voltage variable shunt resistance giving higher diode ideality factors than the ideal one. The voltage variable shunt resistance is modeled by a modified recombination mechanism which includes carrier tunneling to distributed impurity energy states in the band gap within the space-charge region. The junction integrity and the substrate quality are characterized simultaneously by combining I-V and surface photovoltage (SPV) measurements. The diode ideality factors and the surface photovoltages characterize the junction integrity while the SPV diffusion lengths characterizes the substrate quality. Most of the measured samples show the voltage variable shunt resistance although how serious it is depends on the solar cell efficiency. The voltage variable shunt resistance is understood as one of the most important factors of the degradation of EFG solar cells.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.245-248
• /
• 2014

$Pt/Al_2O_3/Si_3N_4/SiO_2/Si$ charge trap flash memory structures with various thicknesses of the $Si_3N_4$ charge trapping layer were fabricated. According to the calculated and measured results, we depicted electron loss in a schematic diagram that illustrates how the trap to band tunneling and thermal excitation affects electrons loss behavior with the change of $Si_3N_4$ thickness, temperature and trap energy levels. As a result, we deduce that $Si_3N_4$ thicknesses of more than 6 or less than 4.3 nm give no contribution to improving memory performance.

• Solar Energy
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.12-18
• /
• 1988

The effect of surface recombination current density on the saturation current density in Si solar cell has been studied. Theoretical model for surface recombination current was set up from emitter transparent model of M.A. Shibib, and saturation current of Si solar cell made by ion implantation method was also measured by digital electrometer. The theoretical surface recombination current density which is the same as saturation surface recombination current density in Shibib model was $10^{-11}[A/cm^2]$ and the measured value was ranged from $8{\times}10^{-10}$ to $2{\times}10^{-9}[A/cm^2]$. Comparing with the ideal p-n junction of Shockley, transparent emitter model shows improved result by $10^2$ order of saturation current density. But there still exists $10^2$ order of difference of saturation current density between theoretical and actual values, which are assumed to be caused by 1) leakage current through solar cell edge, 2) recombination of carriers in the depletion layer, 3) the series resistance effect and 4) the tunneling of carriers between states in the band gap.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1993.07b
• /
• pp.1280-1282
• /
• 1993

We investigated theoretically the current-voltage characteristics of resonant tunneling diodes with a single quantum well structure, using a self-consistent method. This method is a numerical analysis which is able to include the effects of the undoped spacer layer and the band bending by charge accumulation and depletion on the contact layers, so that it is better suited to explain experimental results. The structure used is an $Al_{0.5}Ga_{0.5}$As/GaAs/$Al_{0.5}Ga_{0.5}As$ single quantum well. In this work, we estimate the theoretical current-voltage characteristics, and then, the dependence of the current-voltage curves on the thickness of undoped spacer layers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.603-609
• /
• 2022

Passivation quality is mainly governed by epitaxial growth of crystalline silicon wafer surface. Void-rich intrinsic a-Si:H interfacial layer could offer higher resistivity of the c-Si surface and hence a better device efficiency as well. To reduce the resistivity of the contact area, a modification of void-rich intrinsic layer of a-Si:H towards more ordered state with a higher density is adopted by adapting its thickness and reducing its series resistance significantly, but it slightly decreases passivation quality. Higher resistance is not dominated by asymmetric effects like different band offsets for electrons or holes. In this study, multilayer of intrinsic a-Si:H layers were used. The first one with a void-rich was a-Si:H(I₁) and the next one a-SiO_x:H(I₂) were used, where a-SiO_x:H(I₂) had relatively larger band gap of ~2.07 eV than that of a-Si:H (I₁). Using a-SiO_x:H as I₂ layer was expected to increase transparency, which could lead to an easy carrier transport. Also, higher implied voltage than the conventional structure was expected. This means that the a-SiO_x:H could be a promising material for a high-quality passivation of c-Si. In addition, the i-a-SiO_x:H microstructure can help the carrier transportation through tunneling and thermal emission.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.25 no.12
• /
• pp.1822-1828
• /
• 2004

Electrochemical, in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope (EC-STM), and attenuated total reflectance-FTIR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic methods were employed to investigate the preparation of atomically flat Si(111)-H surface in ammonium fluoride solutions. Electrochemical properties of atomically flat Si(111)-H surface were characterized by anodic oxidation and cathodic hydrogen evolution with the open circuit potential (OCP) of ca. -0.4 V in concentrated ammonium fluoride solutions. As soon as the natural oxide-covered Si(111) electrode was immersed in fluoride solutions, OCP quickly shifted to near -1 V, which was more negative than the flat band potential of silicon surface, indicating that the surface silicon oxide had to be dissolved into the solution. OCP changed to become less negative as the oxide layer was being removed from the silicon surface. In situ EC-STM data showed that the surface was changed from the initial oxidecovered silicon to atomically rough hydrogen-terminated surface and then to atomically flat hydrogenterminated surface as the OCP moved toward less negative potentials. The atomically flat Si(111)-H structure was confirmed by in situ EC-STM and ATR-FTIR data. The dependence of atomically flat Si(111)-H terrace on mis-cut angle was investigated by STM, and the results agreed with those anticipated by calculation. Further, the stability of Si(111)-H was checked by STM in ambient laboratory conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.125-128
• /
• 2023

Recently, as the process of the MOS device becomes more detailed, and the degree of integration thereof increases, many problems such as leakage current due to an increase in electron tunneling due to the thickness of SiO₂ used as a gate oxide have occurred. In order to overcome the limitation of SiO₂, many studies have been conducted on HfO₂ that has a thermodynamic stability with silicon during processing, has a higher dielectric constant than SiO₂, and has an appropriate band gap. In this study, HfO₂, which is attracting attention in various fields, was doped with Al and the change in properties according to its concentration was studied. Al-doped HfO₂ thin film was deposited using Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD), and the structural and electrical characteristics of the fabricated MIM device were evaluated. The results of this study are expected to make an essential cornerstone in the future field of next-generation semiconductor device materials.