Semiconductor metallization

Phase transitions are involved in critical temperature thermistors. Vanadium, VO2, and vanadium trioxide [1314-34-7] V2O3, have semiconductors—metal transitions in which the conductivity decreases by several orders of magnitude on cooling. Electronic phase transitions are also observed in superconducting ceramics like YBa2Cu30y but here the conductivity increases sharply on cooling through the phase transition. 

Deposition of Thin Films. Laser photochemical deposition has been extensively studied, especially with respect to fabrication of microelectronic stmctures (see Integrated circuits). This procedure could be used in integrated circuit fabrication for the direct generation of patterns. Laser-aided chemical vapor deposition, which can be used to deposit layers of semiconductors, metals, and insulators, could define the circuit features. The deposits can have dimensions in the micrometer regime and they can be produced in specific patterns. Laser chemical vapor deposition can use either of two approaches. 

Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy has been used for quality control and test analysis in many industries including computers, semiconductors, metals, cement, paper, and polymers. EDS has been used in medicine in the analysis of blood, tis-... 

As the nanotube diameter increases, more wave vectors become allowed for the circumferential direction, the nanotubes become more two-dimensional and the semiconducting band gap disappears, as is illustrated in Fig. 19 which shows the semiconducting band gap to be proportional to the reciprocal diameter l/dt. At a nanotube diameter of dt 3 nm (Fig. 19), the bandgap becomes comparable to thermal energies at room temperature, showing that small diameter nanotubes are needed to observe these quantum effects. Calculation of the electronic structure for two concentric nanotubes shows that pairs of concentric metal-semiconductor or semiconductor-metal nanotubes are stable [178]. 

J. C. Carrano, P. A. Grudowski, C. J. Biting, R. D. Dupuis, J. C. Campbell. Very low dark current metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetectors fabricated on single-crystal GaN epitaxial layers. Appl Phys Lett 70 1992, 1997. 

Tungsten i s a highly refractory, high-density metal. It has excellent chemical resistance except that it oxidizes readily. It is brittle mostly because of impurities and is difficult to form by standard metallurgical processes. It can be produced easily by CVD as a very pure and relatively ductile metal. CVD tungsten is used in many applications and is an important semiconductor metal. Its properties are summarized in Table 6.13. 

Copper is intrinsically a better metal than aluminum for the metallization of IC s. Latest developments in MOCVD show that it can be readily deposited without major changes in existing processing equipment. Diffusion problems are minimized and it appears that present barrier materials, such as titanium nitride or titanium-tungsten alloys, should provide adequate diffusion barriers for the copper-silicon couple, certainly up to the highest temperatures presently used in IC s processing (see Ch. 6). The development of CVD copper for semiconductor metallization is on a considerable scale at this time.Clt ]... 

Fi.g 1 a—e. Charge transfer processes at pn-junctions (left side) and semiconductor-metal Schottky junctions (right side). 

The forward current at a semiconductor-metal junction is mainly determined by a majority carrier transfer i.e. electrons for n-type, as illustrated in Fig. 1 d. In this majority carrier device the socalled thermionic emission model is applied according to which all electrons reaching the surface are transferred to the metal. In this case we have ... 

Figure 9.60 Many different thiol-containing linkers can be used to prepare water-soluble QDs. The monothiol compounds suffer from the deficiency of being easily oxidized or displaced off the surface, thus creating holes for potential nonspecific binding. The dithiol linkers are superior in this regard, as they form highly stable dative bonds with the semiconductor metal surface that do not get displaced. The PEG-based linkers are especially effective at creating a biocompatible surface for conjugation with biomolecules.

Energy level diagram for an n-type semiconductor-metal photoelectrolysis cell in which the flat-band potential lf(b lies above the H+/H2 potential, whereas the 02/H20 potential lies above the valence band of the n-type semiconductor. 

Semiconductor metal Response influenced by humidity, pressure, 100- 500... 

The Schottky-Mott theory predicts a current / = (4 7t e m kB2/h3) T2 exp (—e A/kB 7) exp (e n V/kB T)— 1], where e is the electronic charge, m is the effective mass of the carrier, kB is Boltzmann s constant, T is the absolute temperature, n is a filling factor, A is the Schottky barrier height (see Fig. 1), and V is the applied voltage [31]. In Schottky-Mott theory, A should be the difference between the Fermi level of the metal and the conduction band minimum (for an n-type semiconductor-to-metal interface) or the valence band maximum (for a p-type semiconductor-metal interface) [32, 33]. Certain experimentally observed variations of A were for decades ascribed to pinning of states, but can now be attributed to local inhomogeneities of the interface, so the Schottky-Mott theory is secure. The opposite of a Schottky barrier is an ohmic contact, where there is only an added electrical resistance at the junction, typically between two metals. 

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