Approaches for the RCWA-based non-destructive characterization of subwavelength-structured gratings. - In: EOS Annual Meeting (EOSAM 2022), (2022), 05012, S. 1-2
Nano-structuring enables us to add additional degrees of freedom to the design of optical elements. Especially the possibility of controlling the polarization is of great interest in the field of nano-structured optics. For being able to exploit the whole range of form-birefringent phase shifts, the aspect ratios of the resulting element are typically much higher than the aspect ratios of conventional diffractive optical elements (DOEs), which does not only pose a challenge on fabrication but also on characterization. We evaluate several well-established approaches for the nondestructive characterization, including Müller-Matrix-Ellipsometry, measurement of the diffraction efficiencies, scattering measurements and calibration with rigorous coupled-wave modelling. The goal is to understand the challenges with all these techniques and combine them to a reliable method for structural reconnaisance of high aspect ratio nanostructures.
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202226605012
Hysteresis associated with intrinsic-oxide traps in gate-tunable tetrahedral CVD-MoS2 memristor. - In: IEEE 22nd International Conference on Nanotechnology (NANO), (2022), S. 527-530
We introduce back gated memristor based on CVD-grown 30-40 nm thick MoS2 channel. The device demonstrates bipolar behaviour and the measurements are consistent with the simulations performed within the intrinsic-oxide traps model. This confirms the theory that the source of hysteresis in thin-film MoS2 memristors is charge trapping on MoS2/SiO2 interface and the grain boundaries. The impact of back gate voltage bias, voltage sweep range and channel area on memristive effect was studied and quantified using hysteresis area. Hysteresis in bipolar memristors can be tuned by back gate voltage, which makes these devices promising for neuromorphic computing.
https://doi.org/10.1109/NANO54668.2022.9928717
Formation and characterization of three-dimensional tetrahedral MoS2 thin films by chemical vapor deposition. - In: Crystal growth & design, ISSN 1528-7505, Bd. 22 (2022), 9, S. 5229-5238
A method to synthesize the three-dimensional arrangement of bulk tetrahedral MoS2 thin films by solid source chemical vapor deposition of MoO3 and S is presented. The developed synthesizing recipe uses a temperature ramping with a constant N2 gas flow in the deposition process to grow tetrahedral MoS2 thin film layers. The study analyses the time-dependent growth morphologies, and the results are combined and presented in a growth model. A combination of optical, electron, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction are used to study the morphological and structural features of the tetrahedral MoS2 thin layers. The grown MoS2 is c-axis oriented 2H-MoS2. Additionally, the synthesized material is further used to fabricate back-gated field-effect transistors (FETs). The fabricated FET devices on the tetrahedral MoS2 show on/off current ratios of 10^6 and mobility up to ∼56 cm^2 V^-1 s^-1 with an estimated carrier concentration of 4 × 10^16 cm-3 for VGS = 0 V.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.2c00333
The ASi-Sii defect model of light-induced degradation (LID) in silicon: a discussion and review. - In: Physica status solidi, ISSN 1862-6319, Bd. 219 (2022), 19, 2200099, S. 1-10
The ASi-Sii defect model as one possible explanation for light-induced degradation (LID) in typically boron-doped silicon solar cells, detectors, and related systems is discussed and reviewed. Starting from the basic experiments which led to the ASi-Sii defect model, the ASi-Sii defect model (A: boron, or indium) is explained and contrasted to the assumption of a fast-diffusing so-called “boron interstitial.” An LID cycle of illumination and annealing is discussed within the conceptual frame of the ASi-Sii defect model. The dependence of the LID defect density on the interstitial oxygen concentration is explained within the ASi-Sii defect picture. By comparison of electron paramagnetic resonance data and minority carrier lifetime data related to the assumed fast diffusion of the “boron interstitial” and the annihilation of the fast LID component, respectively, the characteristic EPR signal Si-G28 in boron-doped silicon is related to a specific ASi-Sii defect state. Several other LID-related experiments are found to be consistent with an interpretation by an ASi-Sii defect.
https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.202200099
The angle dependent ΔE effect in TiN/AlN/Ni micro cantilevers. - In: Sensors and actuators, ISSN 1873-3069, Bd. 345 (2022), 113784, S. 1-12
In this work, magnetoelectric MEMS sensors based on a TiN/AlN/Ni laminate are investigated for the first time in regards of the anisotropic elastic properties when using hard magnetic Nickel as magnetostrictive layer. The implications of crystalline, uniaxial and shape anisotropy are analysed arising from the anisotropic ΔE effect in differently oriented cantilevers with 25 µm length and 15˚ spacing. The ΔE effect is derived analytically to consider the angular dependency of the different anisotropies within the sensors. In the measured frequency spectra complex profiles are observable consisting of contributions from neighbouring structures which are connected by a common electrode. The crosstalk effect is strongly depending on the cantilever orientation and reflects the anisotropic mechanical properties of the material stack. The intensity of the crosstalk effect is increasing for shortened cantilevers and narrowing distance between structures. The ΔE effect is investigated based on cantilevers of different angular spacing and of a single cantilever that is rotated in the magnetic field. The derived peak sensitivities are reaching values of 1.15 and 1.31T-1. The angular dependency of the sensitivity is found to be approximately constant for differently oriented cantilevers. In contrast, for a singly rotated cantilever an angular dependency of the 4th order is observed.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2022.113784
Development of low-gain avalanche detectors in the frame of the acceptor removal phenomenon. - In: Physica status solidi, ISSN 1862-6319, Bd. 219 (2022), 17, 2200177, S. 1-7
Low-gain avalanche detectors (LGAD) suffer from an acceptor removal phenomenon due to irradiation. This acceptor removal phenomenon is investigated in boron, gallium, and indium implanted samples by 4-point-probe (4pp) measurements, low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy (LTPL), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) before and after irradiation with electrons and protons. Different co-implantation species are evaluated with respect to their ability to reduce the acceptor removal phenomenon. In case of boron, the beneficial effect is found to be most pronounced for the low-dose fluorine and high-dose nitrogen co-implantation. In case of gallium, the low-dose implantations of carbon and oxygen are found to be beneficial. For indium, the different co-implantation species have no beneficial effect. SIMS boron concentration depth profiles measured before and after irradiation show no indication of a fast movement of boron at room temperature. Hence, the discussed BSi-Sii-defect explanation approach of the acceptor removal phenomenon seems to be more likely than the other discussed Bi-Oi-defect explanation approach.
https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.202200177
Low-temperature photoluminescence investigation of light-induced degradation in boron-doped CZ silicon. - In: Physica status solidi, ISSN 1862-6319, Bd. 219 (2022), 17, 2200180, S. 1-9
Light-induced degradation (LID) in boron-doped Czochralski grown (CZ) silicon is a severe problem for silicon devices such as solar cells or radiation detectors. Herein, boron-doped CZ silicon is investigated by low-temperature photoluminescence (LTPL) spectroscopy. An LID-related photoluminescence peak is already found while analyzing indium-doped p-type silicon samples and is associated with the ASi-Sii defect model. Herein, it is investigated whether a similar peak is present in the spectra of boron-doped p-type CZ silicon samples. The presence of change in the photoluminescence signal intensity due to activation of the boron defect is investigated as well. Numerous measurements on boron-doped samples are made. For this purpose, samples with four different boron doping concentrations are analyzed. The treatments for activation of the boron defect are based on the LID cycle. During an LID cycle, an additional peak or shoulder neither in the areas of the boron-bound exciton transverse acoustic and nonphonon-assisted peaks (BTA, BNP) nor in the area of the boron-bound exciton transverse optical phonon-assisted peak (BTO) is found. The defect formation also does not lead to a lower photoluminescence (PL) intensity ratio BTO(BE)/ITO(FE).
https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.202200180
Ellipsometry and polarimetry - classical measurement techniques with always new developments, concepts, and applications. - In: Advanced Optical Technologies, ISSN 2192-8584, Bd. 11 (2022), 3/4, S. 57-58
https://doi.org/10.1515/aot-2022-0025
Anisotropy of the ΔE effect in Ni-based magnetoelectric cantilevers: a finite element method analysis. - In: Sensors, ISSN 1424-8220, Bd. 22 (2022), 13, 4958, S. 1-16
In recent investigations of magnetoelectric sensors based on microelectromechanical cantilevers made of TiN/AlN/Ni, a complex eigenfrequency behavior arising from the anisotropic ΔE effect was demonstrated. Within this work, a FEM simulation model based on this material system is presented to allow an investigation of the vibrational properties of cantilever-based sensors derived from magnetocrystalline anisotropy while avoiding other anisotropic contributions. Using the magnetocrystalline ΔE effect, a magnetic hardening of Nickel is demonstrated for the (110) as well as the (111) orientation. The sensitivity is extracted from the field-dependent eigenfrequency curves. It is found, that the transitions of the individual magnetic domain states in the magnetization process are the dominant influencing factor on the sensitivity for all crystal orientations. It is shown, that Nickel layers in the sensor aligned along the medium or hard axis yield a higher sensitivity than layers along the easy axis. The peak sensitivity was determined to 41.3 T−1 for (110) in-plane-oriented Nickel at a magnetic bias flux of 1.78 mT. The results achieved by FEM simulations are compared to the results calculated by the Euler-Bernoulli theory.
https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134958
Coherent acoustic phonon oscillations and transient critical point parameters of Ge from femtosecond pump-probe ellipsometry. - In: Physica status solidi, ISSN 1862-6270, Bd. 16 (2022), 7, 2200058, S. 1-7
Herein, the complex pseudodielectric function of Ge and Si from femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopic ellipsometry with 267, 400, and 800 nm pump-pulse wavelengths is analyzed by fitting analytical lineshapes to the second derivatives of the pseudodielectric function with respect to energy. This yields the critical point parameters (threshold energy, lifetime broadening, amplitude, and excitonic phase angle) of E 1 and E 1 + Δ 1 in Ge and E 1 in Si as functions of delay time. Coherent longitudinal acoustic phonon oscillations with a period of about 11 ps are observed in the transient critical point parameters of Ge. From the amplitude of these oscillations, the laser-induced strain is found to be on the order of 0.03% for Ge measured with the 800 nm pump pulse, which is in reasonable agreement with the strain calculated from theory.
https://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.202200058