Diamond Field Effect Transistors Research Articles

The heterointerface characterization of BaF2 or MgF2 on the hydrogenated diamond by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Group-II fluorides (BaF2 and MgF2) insulators are deposited on hydrogenated (C–H) diamonds by E-beam evaporator at room temperature. The bandgaps, chemical bonds and band offsets of fluorides are investigated by the high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The XPS results show bandgap energies of 9.4 ± 0.2 eV for BaF2 and 9.7 ± 0.2 eV for MgF2 by F 1s energy loss spectra. The valence band offsets (ΔEV's) of BaF2/MgF2 on the C–H diamond are determined as 5.2 ± 0.2 and 4.8 ± 0.2 eV, respectively. There are both type II energy band configuration for BaF2 and MgF2 on the C–H diamond with conduction band offsets of 1.3 ± 0.2 eV and 0.6 ± 0.2 eV, respectively. The relatively oxygen-weak or oxygen-free fluoride/C–H diamond interface and large ΔEV suggest that fluorides are an excellent gate dielectric for the C–H diamond field-effect transistors with high hole mobility and low gate leakage.

Performance of normally off hydrogen-terminated diamond field-effect transistor with Al2O3/CeB6 gate materials

In this work, we demonstrate a hydrogen-terminated diamond (H-diamond) field-effect transistor (FET) with Al2O3/CeB6 gate materials. The CeB6 and Al2O3 films have been deposited by electron beam evaporation technique, sequentially. For the 4/8/12/15 μm gate length (LG) devices, the whole devices demonstrate distinct p-type normally off characteristics, and all the threshold voltage are negative; all the absolute values of leakage current density are 10−4 A/cm2 at a VGS of −11 V, exhibiting a relatively low leakage current density compared with CeB6 FETs, and this further demonstrates the feasibility of the introduction of Al2O3 to reduce the leakage current density; the maximum drain–source current density is −114.6, −96.0, −80.9, and −73.7 mA/mm, which may be benefited from the well-protected channel. For the 12 μm LG devices, the saturation carrier mobility is 593.6 cm2/V s, demonstrating a good channel transport characteristic. This work may provide a promising strategy for the application of normally off H-diamond FETs significantly.

Exploring diamond multigate FET for next generation three-phase CCD

The escalating demand for imaging devices operating in harsh environments has prompted investigations into the applicability of diamond, often called the ultimate semiconductor material. A multigate field effect transistor (FET) is a crucial component of Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) for imaging devices, and we developed it on a hydrogen-terminated diamond (H-diamond) for the first time. This milestone not only showcased the potential realization of diamond CCDs but also provided key insights for future research. Specifically, this paper explores the electrical and structural needs to achieve signal transmission throughout the fabricated diamond multigate FET.

Diamond Electronics and Related Wideband Gap Semiconductors for High Temperature Applications

This presentation is focused on understanding the basic science of two-dimensional carrier systems in diamond-based semiconductor electronics. Over the course of the presentation, we will present the following: • Process technology for diamond power field effect transistors (FETs) based on two-dimensional (2D) carrier transport in subsurface boron delta-doped structures • The theory of carrier transport in diamond FETs with 2D conducting channels • The results from materials and defect characterization techniques to locate, characterize, and monitor radiation-induced defects in these structures over various timescales • New research directions in applying 2D conduction channels to ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor transistors based on diamond materials as well as related wide band gap semiconductors, • Understand the dominant failure mechanisms operative in diamond-based FETs exposed to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.

Theoretical Insights Into the Interface Properties of Hydrogen-Terminated and Oxidized Silicon-Terminated Diamond Field-Effect Transistors With h-BeO Gate Dielectric

Theoretical Insights Into the Interface Properties of Hydrogen-Terminated and Oxidized Silicon-Terminated Diamond Field-Effect Transistors With h-BeO Gate Dielectric

Mobility-enhanced normally off hydrogen-terminated diamond FET with low interface state density using Al2O3/Nd gate stack

A mobility-enhanced normally off hydrogen-terminated diamond (H-diamond) field-effect transistor (FET) with low interface state density has been realized using Al2O3/Nd gate stack deposited by electron beam evaporator. The threshold voltage is extracted to be −1.48 V, indicating an obvious normally off characteristic. The enhancement mode could be ascribed to the large work function difference between Nd and H-diamond. The subthreshold swing is deduced as low as 86.3 mV/dec, revealing a high working speed in the subthreshold region. More importantly, the mobility (518.5 cm2/V·s) has been enhanced due to the fairly low interface state density (3.19 × 1011 cm−2·eV−1). In addition, the device exhibits a relatively low trapped charge density and fixed charge density from the C–V characteristic. This work provides a simple method to realize the normally off device and suggests the great potential of adopting the Al2O3/Nd gate stack for achieving high-performance H-diamond FET.

High-threshold-voltage and low-leakage-current of normally-off H-diamond FET with self-aligned Zr/ZrO2 gate

Normally-off field effect transistor (FET) is highly required for the safe and energy-efficient operation of power switching system. The hydrogen-terminated diamond (H-diamond) FET possesses outstanding properties whereas it usually shows normally on operation. In this paper, high-threshold-voltage and low-leakage-current of normally-off H-diamond FET was achieved via ZrO2/Zr gate fabricated by thermal oxidation (TO) with merits of non-pollution and simple process. The normally-off operation owed to the work function difference between Zr and H-diamond and the positive fixed charge of ZrO2. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results reveal the ZrO2/Zr gate structure and the stoichiometric composition of Zr to O (1:2). The high threshold voltage (−2.7 V) and low drain-source leakage current (10−8 mA/mm) may be attributed to the Schottky barrier of Zr/H-diamond. Additionally, the gate leakage is suppressed by TO-ZrO2. The subthreshold swing, on-off current ratio and gate oxide capacitance per square centimeter are 161 mV/dec, 108 and 0.37 μF/cm2, respectively. These performances demonstrate that the ZrO2/Zr/H-diamond FET would provide an alternative approach for low power H-diamond FET.

Germanium gate hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistor with Al2O3 dielectric layer

Investigation of germanium gate hydrogen-terminated (H-terminated) diamond field effect transistor (FET) with Al2O3 dielectric layer has been successfully performed. The device demonstrates a normally-on characteristics, whose maximum drain-source current density, threshold voltage, maximum transconductance, on/off ratio, subthreshold swing, capacitance, carrier density, saturation carrier mobility, fixed charge density and interface state density are of −37.3 mA/mm, 0.22 V, 6.42 mS/mm, 108, 134 mV/dec, 0.33 μF/cm2, 9.83 × 1012 cm−2, 97.9 cm2/V·s, 7.63 × 1012 cm−2 and 2.56 × 1012 cm−2·eV−1, respectively. This work is significant to the development of H-terminated diamond FET.

Normally-off C-H Diamond FETs With Partial Al/C-O Diamond Junction Attaining Low off-State Current

Normally- OFF hydrogen-terminated diamond (C-H diamond) field effect transistor (FET) is desirable for safe and energy-saving power switching applications. Whereas, the OFF-state current driven by the power-supply voltage at zero gate bias is relatively high to date, which would generate large static power consumption. In this work, the partial Al/oxygen-terminated diamond (C-O diamond) Schottky gate was utilized to realize normally- OFF operation with a noise-level OFF-state current density (~ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{-{9}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mA/mm). The partial oxygen-terminated diamond was realized by ultraviolent ozone process with Al2O3-nanoparticle mask. Compared with Al/C-H diamond, the Al/C-O diamond junction possesses a higher Schottky barrier height (SBH) against hole flow, such that the OFF-state current of diamond FETs can be well-suppressed. Also, the enhanced SBH contributes to the negatively shifted threshold voltage, which may avoid device failure from gate overdrive. Moreover, a competitive current density of −91 mA/mm was achieved. Besides, the threshold voltage, ON/OFF ratio, and subthreshold swing were −1.3 V, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${9} \times {10} ^{{9}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , and 110 mV/dec, respectively. This approach will promote the application of diamond FETs in power switching system significantly.

Electrical characteristics of normally off hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistors with lanthanum oxide gate dielectric

A normally off hydrogen-terminated diamond (H-diamond) metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is realized by using lanthanum oxide (La2O3) gate dielectric. The threshold voltage is demonstrated to be −0.797 V, indicating that the La2O3-gated H-diamond MOSFET has normally off characteristics. The normally off mode could be greatly ascribed to the low work function of La2O3. Based on the capacitance–voltage (C–V) curves, the dielectric constant of La2O3 is calculated to be as high as 25.6. Moreover, the small hysteresis voltage extracted from the C–V curves exhibits low trapped charge density in the La2O3 layer. The maximum drain–source current, maximum transconductance, subthreshold swing, effective mobility, current on/off ratio, and sheet hole density of La2O3-gated MOSFET with a gate length of 2 μm are calculated to be −13.55 mA/mm, 4.37 mS/mm, 161 mV/dec, 202.2 cm2/V·s, 108, and 6.53 × 1012 cm−2, respectively. This work will significantly promote the development of normally off H-diamond MOSFET devices.

Electrical properties of cerium hexaboride gate hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistor with normally-off characteristics

Fabrication of hydrogen-terminated (H-terminated) diamond field effect transistor (FET) with low work function cerium hexaboride (CeB6) gate material has been successfully performed. For the 8 μm gate length device, the threshold voltage (VTH) is extracted to be −0.46 V, demonstrating a normally-off characteristics. The maximum drain source current density (IDmax) is −83.8 mA/mm, and the competitive IDmax may be ascribed to the undamaged two-dimensional hole gas channel. The interface state density (Dit) is evaluated to be 1.93 × 1012 cm−2·eV−1, and the relatively low value may be attributed to the uncontaminated interface in gate material. This work provides a promising strategy to realize normally-off H-terminated diamond FET for fail-safety and energy-efficient power electronic devices.

Normally-off Hydrogen-Terminated Diamond Field-Effect Transistor with SnOx Dielectric Layer Formed by Thermal Oxidation of Sn

SnOx films were deposited on a hydrogen-terminated diamond by thermal oxidation of Sn. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy result implies partial oxidation of Sn film on the diamond surface. The leakage current and capacitance–voltage properties of Al/SnOx/H-diamond metal-oxide-semiconductor diodes were investigated. The maximum leakage current density value at −8.0 V is 1.6 × 10−4 A/cm2, and the maximum capacitance value is measured to be 0.207 μF/cm2. According to the C–V results, trapped charge density and fixed charge density are determined to be 2.39 × 1012 and 4.5 × 1011 cm−2, respectively. Finally, an enhancement-mode H-diamond field effect transistor was obtained with a VTH of −0.5 V. Its IDMAX is −21.9 mA/mm when VGS is −5, VDS is −10 V. The effective mobility and transconductance are 92.5 cm2V−1 s−1 and 5.6 mS/mm, respectively. We suspect that the normally-off characteristic is caused by unoxidized Sn, whose outermost electron could deplete the hole in the channel.

Leakage current reduction of normally off hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistor utilizing dual-barrier Schottky gate

Normally Off diamond field-effect transistor (FET) is demanded for energy saving and safety for practical application. Metal/diamond Schottky junction serving as the gate is a simple and effective approach to deplete holes under the gate, whereas low Schottky barrier height (SBH) is undesirable. In this work, a dual-barrier Schottky gate hydrogen,oxygen-terminated diamond (H,O-diamond) FET (DBG-FET) with Al gate was realized. Normally Off DBG-FET with enhanced SBH and reduced leakage was achieved. H,O-diamond, which was defined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique, was realized by ultraviolet ozone (UV/O3) treatment with nanoparticle-Al mask. The enlarged SBH of 0.94 eV owing to the C–O bond minimized the diode reverse current and nicely shut down the DBG-FET at zero gate bias. Moreover, the forward current of diode can be well-reduced by hundred times ascribed to oxidized Al nanoparticles during the UV/O3 process. Based on this diode gate structure, the maximum drain current density, transconductance, on/off ratio, and subthreshold swing of the normally off DBG-FET are 21.8 mA/mm, 9.1 mS/mm, 109, and 96 mV/dec, respectively. The DBG-FET is expected to promote the development of normally off diamond FETs.

Hydrogen-terminated diamond MOSFETs on (0 0 1) single crystal diamond with state of the art high RF power density

Diamond field-effect transistor (FET) has great application potential for high frequency and high power electronic devices. In this work, diamond FETs were fabricated on (0 0 1) single crystal diamond with homoepitaxial layer. The nitrogen impurity content in the homoepitaxial layer is greatly decreased as measured by the Raman and photoluminescence spectra. The diamond field effect transistor with 100 nm Al2O3 as gate dielectric shows ohomic contact resistance of 35 Ω . mm, maximum drain saturation current density of 500 mA/mm, and maximum transconductance of 20.1 mS/mm. Due to the high quality of Al2O3 gate dielectric and single crystal diamond substrate, the drain work voltage of −58 V is achieved for the diamond FETs. A continuous wave output power density of 4.2 W/mm at 2 GHz is obtained. The output power densities at 4 and 10 GHz are also improved and achieve 3.1 and 1.7 W/mm, respectively. This work shows the application potential of single crystal diamond for high frequency and high power electronic devices.

Vertical 3D diamond field effect transistors with nanoscale gate-all-around

Recent studies have shown that diamond field effect transistors (FETs) have great potential in high-power and high-frequency electronics, exhibiting the maximum leakage current of 1.35 A·mm−1 and the breakdown voltage of 2 kV. However, there is still a lack of preliminary exploration on diamond FETs with a three-dimensional (3D) architecture, which has been evidenced as a promising approach to increase device performance and density for silicon transistors. In this paper, we present a systematic investigation of 3D vertical gate-all-around (GAA) diamond transistors, combined with numerical simulation, device fabrication and characterization of device performance. The p-type conductivity of the diamond channel in a transistor is obtained by Boron-ion implantation. Our numberical simulations address the close correlation of transfer characteristics of the 3D vertical GAA diamond transistors with the ion implanted impurities. In the device fabrication, we introduce the focused ion and electron beam technology for the electrode interconnections in the 3D devices. Finally, we demonstrate that the 3D vertical GAA diamond transistor exhibits the on-off ratio of 2.5 × 103, subthreshold swing of 334.3 mV·dec−1, and threshold voltage of 0.64 V. And the temperature dependence of transfer characteristics of the 3D devices indicates that 3D vertical GAA diamond transistors have potential application prospects in extreme environments such as high temperature.

Solution-processed tin oxide thin film for normally-off hydrogen terminated diamond field effect transistor

The solution processed method has been wildly used in the thin film fabrication because of the advantages of low cost, high efficiency, large scale for production, and long-term stability. In this paper, a normally-off hydrogen-terminated diamond field-effect transistor (FET) has been realized by using a solution processed SnO2 (sp-SnO2) film as an insulator layer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrated the stoichiometry of the sp-SnO2 film, which shows good insulator properties with leakage current density less than 2.1 × 10−5 A·cm−2 at gate voltages from −6.0 to 6.0 V. The drain–source current maximum, threshold voltage, extrinsic transconductance maximum, and effective mobility of the FET with a gate length of 10 μm are −17.6 mA·mm−1, −0.5 V, 5.7 mS·mm−1, and 41.3 cm2/V s, respectively. According to the capacitance voltage characteristic, the enhancement mode could be ascribed to the high positive fixed charge density in the sp-SnO2 film, which will repel the hole in the channel. This paper provides a simple method and a low temperature process to fabricate an insulator layer.

Transport Properties of the Two-Dimensional Hole Gas for H-Terminated Diamond with an Al2O3 Passivation Layer

Diamonds are thought to be excellent candidates of next-generation semiconductor materials for high power and high frequency devices. A two-dimensional hole gas in a hydrogen-terminated diamond shows promising properties for microwave power devices. However, high sheet resistance and low carrier mobility are still limiting factors for the performance improvement of hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistors. In this work, the carrier scattering mechanisms of a two-dimensional hole gas in a hydrogen-terminated diamond are studied. Surface roughness scattering and ionic impurity scattering are found to be the dominant scattering sources. Impurity scattering enhancement was found for the samples after a high-temperature Al2O3 deposition process. This work gives some insight into the carrier transport of hydrogen-terminated diamonds and should be helpful for the development of diamond field effect transistors.

High Mobility Normally-OFF Hydrogenated Diamond Field Effect Transistors With BaF₂ Gate Insulator Formed by Electron Beam Evaporator

High performance normally-OFF hydrogenated diamond (C-H diamond) metal&#x2013;insulator&#x2013;semiconductor (MIS) field-effect transistors (FETs) have been achieved with Al/BaF₂ gate materials. The 15-nm BaF₂ film was formed by electron beam evaporation at room temperature. The flat-band voltage and hysteresis voltage extracted from the capacitance&#x2013;voltage characteristics of the Al/BaF₂/ C-H diamond MIS diode indicate low positive fixed charges and trapped charges in the BaF₂ film. The 4-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> FET device with a threshold voltage (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of &#x2212;0.90 V exhibits distinct pinch-off characteristics. The enhancement mode could be due to primarily the Schottky barrier depletion effect of the gate metal on the channel, and secondarily the positive fixed charges present in the BaF₂ layer. The maximum transconductance and maximum saturated drain current are 30 mS/mm and &#x2212;96.5 mA/mm, respectively. The device performance benefits from the decent conductivity at the BaF₂/C-H diamond interface with an almost constant effective hole mobility of about 225.0 cm²/<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{V}\cdot \text{s}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for &#x2212;2.1 V <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\le {V}_{\text {GS}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>&#x2013;<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}} \le -4.1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> V.

Normally-off hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistor with a bilayer dielectric of Er2O3/Al2O3

A normally-off hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistor with an Er2O3/Al2O3 bilayer dielectric was fabricated. Dielectric materials Er2O3 and Al2O3 were deposited on H-diamond surface using radio frequency sputtering and atomic layer deposition, respectively. The threshold voltage of the device was −0.49 V at VDS of −20 V, which indicated a normally off characteristic, that could be attributed to the low work function of Er2O3 and the polar character of amorphous Er2O3. The maximum drain-source current for the hydrogen-terminated diamond field effect transistor with 6 μm gate length was −16.1 mA/mm and the sheet carrier density integrated was 1.08 × 1013 cm−2. The maximum effective hole mobility was 110.47 cm2/V·s and the interfacial trapped charge density was 3.16 × 1012 eV−1 cm−2. This bilayer dielectric of Er2O3/Al2O3 provides an alternative plan for the fabrication of normally-off diamond device.

HfAlOx/Al2O3 Bilayer Dielectrics for a Field Effect Transistor on a Hydrogen-Terminated Diamond.

In this work, a hydrogen-terminated (H-terminated) diamond field effect transistor (FET) with HfAlOx/Al2O3 bilayer dielectrics is fabricated and characterized. The HfAlOx/Al2O3 bilayer dielectrics are deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, which can protect the H-terminated diamond two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) channel. The device demonstrates normally-on characteristics, whose threshold voltage (VTH) is 8.3 V. The maximum drain source current density (IDSmax), transconductance (Gm), capacitance (COX) and carrier density (ρ) are −6.3 mA/mm, 0.73 mS/mm, 0.22 μF/cm2 and 1.53 × 1013 cm−2, respectively.