Nanocomposite of polycrystalline silicon and carbon nanotubes for micro- and nanomechanical systems

The high spatial resolution available from TEM can be used with great advantage in the field of microelectronics to identify problems associated with the continually shrinking geometries of integrated circuit technology. In many cases the location of the problem can be the most problematic element of sample preparation. Focused ion beams (FIB) have previously been used to prepare TEM specimens, but not including using the ion beam imaging capabilities to locate a buried feature of interest. Here we describe how a defect has been located using the ability of a FIB to both mill a section and to search for a defect whose precise location is unknown. The defect is known from electrical leakage measurements to be a break in the gate oxide of a field effect transistor. The gate is a square of polycrystalline silicon, approximately 1μm×1μm, on a silicon dioxide barrier which is about 17nm thick. The break in the oxide can occur anywhere within that square and is expected to be less than 100nm in diameter.

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Interface morphology of thermal oxide grown on polycrystalline silicon by different processes

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100131619 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 1396-1397

Author(s):

H. Yen ◽

E. P. Kvam ◽

R. Bashir ◽

S. Venkatesan ◽

G. W. Neudeck

Keyword(s):

Integrated Circuits ◽

Polycrystalline Silicon ◽

Silicon Films ◽

Interface Morphology ◽

Oxide Interface ◽

Poly Silicon ◽

Thermal Oxide ◽

Grain Orientations ◽

Polycrystalline Silicon Films ◽

P Type

Polycrystalline silicon, when highly doped, is commonly used in microelectronics applications such as gates and interconnects. The packing density of integrated circuits can be enhanced by fabricating multilevel polycrystalline silicon films separated by insulating SiO2 layers. It has been found that device performance and electrical properties are strongly affected by the interface morphology between polycrystalline silicon and SiO2. As a thermal oxide layer is grown, the poly silicon is consumed, and there is a volume expansion of the oxide relative to the atomic silicon. Roughness at the poly silicon/thermal oxide interface can be severely deleterious due to stresses induced by the volume change during oxidation. Further, grain orientations and grain boundaries may alter oxidation kinetics, which will also affect roughness, and thus stress.Three groups of polycrystalline silicon films were deposited by LPCVD after growing thermal oxide on p-type wafers. The films were doped with phosphorus or arsenic by three different methods.

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Structural phenomena in the growth of carbon nanotubes

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100149581 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 750-751

Author(s):

Jun Jiao

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotubes ◽

Growth Mechanism ◽

Carbonaceous Material ◽

Cluster Growth ◽

Structural Elements ◽

Rich Variety ◽

Different Shapes ◽

Point To Point

HREM studies of the carbonaceous material deposited on the cathode of a Huffman-Krätschmer arc reactor have shown a rich variety of multiple-walled nano-clusters of different shapes and forms. The preparation of the samples, as well as the variety of cluster shapes, including triangular, rhombohedral and pentagonal projections, are described elsewhere.The close registry imposed on the nanotubes, focuses attention on the cluster growth mechanism. The strict parallelism in the graphitic separation of the tube walls is maintained through changes of form and size, often leading to 180° turns, and accommodating neighboring clusters and defects. Iijima et. al. have proposed a growth scheme in terms of pentagonal and heptagonal defects and their combinations in a hexagonal graphitic matrix, the first bending the surface inward, and the second outward. We report here HREM observations that support Iijima’s suggestions, and add some new features that refine the interpretation of the growth mechanism. The structural elements of our observations are briefly summarized in the following four micrographs, taken in a Hitachi H-8100 TEM operating at an accelerating voltage of 200 kV and with a point-to-point resolution of 0.20 nm.

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