Atomic Layer Deposition of Layered Boron Nitride for Large-Area 2D Electronics.

Hexagonal boron nitride (-BN) has been considered a promising dielectric for two-dimensional (2D) material-based electronics due to its atomically smooth and charge-free interface with an in-plane lattice constant similar to that of graphene. Here, we report atomic layer deposition of boron nitride (ALD-BN) using BCl and NH precursors directly on thermal SiO substrates at a relatively low temperature of 600 °C. The films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy wherein the uniform, atomically smooth, and nanocrystalline layered-BN thin film growth is observed.

Realization of Spatially Addressable Library by a Novel Combinatorial Approach on Atomic Layer Deposition: A Case Study of Zinc Oxide.

Though the synthesis of libraries of multicomponent metal oxide systems is prevalent using the combinatorial approach, the combinatorial approach has been rarely realized in studying simple metal oxides, especially applied to the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. In this literature, a novel combinatorial approach technique is utilized within an ALD grown simple metal oxide to synthesize a "spatially addressable combinatorial library". The two key factors in gradients were defined during the ALD process: (1) the process temperature and (2) a nonuniform flow of pulsed gases inside a cross-flow reactor.

Hollow Cathode Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Silicon Nitride Using Pentachlorodisilane.

In this work, a novel chlorodisilane precursor, pentachlorodisilane (PCDS, HSiCl), was investigated for the growth of silicon nitride (SiN ) via hollow cathode plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). A well-defined self-limiting growth behavior was successfully demonstrated over the growth temperature range of 270-360 °C. At identical process conditions, PCDS not only demonstrated approximately >20% higher growth per cycle than that of a commercially available chlorodisilane precursor, hexachlorodisilane (SiCl), but also delivered a better or at least comparable film quality determined by characterizing the refractive index, wet etch rate, and density of the films.

Performance Enhancement via Incorporation of ZnO Nanolayers in Energetic Al/CuO Multilayers.

Al/CuO energetic structure are attractive materials due to their high thermal output and propensity to produce gas. They are widely used to bond components or as next generation of MEMS igniters. In such systems, the reaction process is largely dominated by the outward migration of oxygen atoms from the CuO matrix toward the aluminum layers, and many recent studies have already demonstrated that the interfacial nanolayer between the two reactive layers plays a major role in the material properties.

Sub-10 nm Tunable Hybrid Dielectric Engineering on MoS for Two-Dimensional Material-Based Devices.

The successful realization of high-performance 2D-materials-based nanoelectronics requires integration of high-quality dielectric films as a gate insulator. In this work, we explore the integration of organic and inorganic hybrid dielectrics on MoS and study the chemical and electrical properties of these hybrid films. Our atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman, and photoluminescence results show that, aside from the excellent film uniformity and thickness scalability down to 2.

Atomic Layer Deposition of Silicon Nitride Thin Films: A Review of Recent Progress, Challenges, and Outlooks.

With the continued miniaturization of devices in the semiconductor industry, atomic layer deposition (ALD) of silicon nitride thin films (SiN) has attracted great interest due to the inherent benefits of this process compared to other silicon nitride thin film deposition techniques. These benefits include not only high conformality and atomic-scale thickness control, but also low deposition temperatures. Over the past 20 years, recognition of the remarkable features of SiN ALD, reinforced by experimental and theoretical investigations of the underlying surface reaction mechanism, has contributed to the development and widespread use of ALD SiN thin films in both laboratory studies and industrial applications.

Partially Fluorinated Graphene: Structural and Electrical Characterization.

Despite the number of existing studies that showcase the promising application of fluorinated graphene in nanoelectronics, the impact of the fluorine bonding nature on the relevant electrical behaviors of graphene devices, especially at low fluorine content, remains to be experimentally explored. Using CF4 as the fluorinating agent, we studied the gradual structural evolution of chemical vapor deposition graphene fluorinated by CF4 plasma at a working pressure of 700 mTorr using Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). After 10 s of fluorination, our XPS analysis revealed a co-presence of covalently and ionically bonded fluorine components; the latter has been determined being a dominant contribution to the observation of two Dirac points in the relevant electrical measurement using graphene field effect transistor devices.

Atomic layer deposition of a high-k dielectric on MoS2 using trimethylaluminum and ozone.

We present an Al2O3 dielectric layer on molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) with ozone/trimethylaluminum (TMA) and water/TMA as precursors. The results of atomic force microscopy and low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy show that using TMA and ozone as precursors leads to the formation of uniform Al2O3 layers, in contrast to the incomplete coverage we observe when using TMA/H2O as precursors. Our Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicate minimal variations in the MoS2 structure after ozone treatment at 200 °C, suggesting its excellent chemical resistance to ozone.