Hot carrier effects in sub-micron lightly doped drain (LDD) n-channel
MOSFETs under static (DC) stress are studied in order to establish the degradation
mechanisms of such devices. Degradation is monitored as a function of time at various
gate voltages. Under accelerated aging conditions (i.e. large drain voltages) the gate
voltage...
This thesis focuses on two aspects of oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs), contact resistance and instability assessment.
First, determination of the contact resistance of indium tin oxide (ITO) on two wide-band gap semiconductors, zinc oxide (ZnO) and indium gallium oxide (IGO), is attempted and the effects of contact resistance on device...
Amorphous metal thin films (AMTFs) are of potential use for metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunnel diode applications due to their ultra-smooth surfaces, a consequence of their amorphous microstructure. The objective of this thesis is to design a thermally-stable AMTF capable of maintaining MIM tunnel diode performance after a post-deposition anneal in excess...
Due to a lack of grain boundaries, an amorphous metal thin film (AMTF) possesses advantageous mechanical properties and enhanced chemical stability that is potentially useful for thermal inkjet (TIJ) printing applications. The use of an AMTF as a TIJ resistor or cavitation plate could lead to a thinner TIJ cavitation...
In this thesis the concept of inhomogeneous
dielectrics is demonstrated for various optical coating
applications. Compositionally-varying silicon oxynitride
(SiON) dielectric layers, with the refractive index
varying as a function of position, are grown by computer-controlled
plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition
(PECVD) using silane, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide reactant
gases. Compositionally graded...
The atomic solid state energy (SSE) scale is introduced as a tool for inorganic materials design. The SSE scale is obtained by assessing an average electron affinity (EA) (for a cation) or an average ionization potential (IP) (for an anion) for each atom using data from compounds having that specific...
The objective of the work reported herein is to explore the impact of decreasing channel thickness on radio-frequency (RF) sputtered amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) electrical performance through the evaluation of drain current versus gate voltage (I[subscript D] − V[subscript G]) transfer curves. For a fixed set of...
Current cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium diselenide thin-film solar cells
(TFSCs) utilize thick absorbers (2 - 4 μm). For efficient carrier extraction in these TFSCs,
the absorber layer requires high carrier mobilities and a long minority carrier lifetime, which
necessitates the use of a high purity, defect-free thin film....