High-field Mobility Research Articles

Separation of Structurally Similar Anabolic Steroids as Cation Adducts in FAIMS-MS

Novel synthetic anabolic androgenic steroids have been developed not only to dodge current antidoping tests at the professional sports level, but also for consumption by noncompetitive bodybuilders. These novel anabolic steroids are commonly referred to as "designer steroids" and pose a significant risk to users because of the lack of testing for toxicity and safety in animals or humans. Manufacturers of designer steroids dodge regulation by distributing them as nutritional or dietary supplements. Improving the throughput and accuracy of screening tests would help regulators to stay on top of illicit anabolic steroids. High-field asymmetric-waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) utilizes an alternating asymmetric electric field to separate ions by their different mobilities at high- and low-fields as they travel through the separation space. When coupled to mass spectrometry (MS), FAIMS enhances the separation of analytes from other interfering compounds with little to no increase in analysis time. Here we investigate the effects of adding various cation species to sample solutions for the separation of structurally similar or isomeric anabolic androgenic steroids. FAIMS-MS spectra for these cation-modified samples show an increased number of compensation field (CF) peaks, some of which are confirmed to be unique for one steroid isomer over another. The CF peaks observed upon addition of cation species correspond to both monomer steroid-cation adduct ions and larger multimer ion complexes. Notably, the number of CF peaks and their CF shifts do not appear to have a straightforward relationship with cation size or electronegativity. Future directions aim at investigating the structures for these analyte-cation adduct ions for building a predictive model for their FAIMS separations.

Design and analysis of novel tri‐active layer channel amorphous‐IGZO thin‐film transistor

Among high-field mobility materials, amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (In–Ga–ZnO) (α-IGZO) has been prominent for their use in thin-film transistors (TFTs). In this Letter, the authors present a novel structure of TFT with tri-active layer (TAL) channel consisting of α-IGZO and In–SnO (ITO) materials. Further, the simulation-based analysis of the proposed device and characteristics in comparison to the single and double active layer channel structures have been reported. This work also analyses the effect of front–back channel thickness-ratios in double-active layer channel TFTs. The proposed TAL channel TFT describes improved switching parameters such as lower threshold voltage (V TH) − 4.24 V, high field-effect mobility (µ FE) 38.4 cm2/V-s, moderate subthreshold swing 0.398 mV/decade, and reasonably high ON-to-OFF current ratio (I ON/I OFF) 0.18 × 1012. The electrical characteristics persuade the significance of the proposed structure in next-generation flat-panel displays.

Design, Fabrication and Mass-spectrometric Studies of a Micro Ion Source for High-Field Asymmetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry.

A needle-to-cylinder electrode, adopted as an ion source for high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), is designed and fabricated by lithographie, galvanoformung and abformung (LIGA) technology. The needle, with a tip diameter of 20 μm and thickness of 20 μm, and a cylinder, with a diameter of 400 μm, were connected to the negative high voltage and ground, respectively. A negative corona and glow discharge were realized. For acetone with a density of 99.7 ppm, ethanol with a density of 300 ppm, and acetic ether with a density of 99.3 ppm, the sample gas was ionized by the needle-to-cylinder chip and the ions were detected by an LTQ XL™ (Thermo Scientific Corp.) mass spectrometer. The mass spectra show that the ions are mainly the protonated monomer, the proton bound dimer, and an ion-H2O molecule cluster. In tandem with a FAIMS system, the FAIMS spectra show that the resolving power increases with an increase in the RF voltage. The obtained experimental results showed that the micro needle-to-cylinder chip may serve as a miniature, low cost and non-radioactive ion source for FAIMS.

Effects of Solvent Vapor Modifiers for the Separation of Opioid Isomers in Micromachined FAIMS-MS.

Opioid addiction is an escalating problem that is compounded by the introduction of synthetic opiate analogues such as fentanyl. Screening methods for these compound classes are challenged by the availability of synthetically manufactured analogues, including isomers of existing substances. High-field asymmetric-waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) utilizes an alternating asymmetric electric field to separate ions by their different mobilities at high and low fields as they travel through the separation space. When coupled to mass spectrometry (MS), FAIMS enhances the separation of analytes from other interfering compounds with little to no increase in analysis time. Addition of solvent vapor into the FAIMS carrier gas has been demonstrated to enable and improve the separation of isomers. Here we investigate the effects of several solvents for the separation of four opioids. FAIMS-MS spectra with added solvent vapors show dramatic compensation field (CF) shifts for opioid [M+H]+ ions when compared to spectra acquired using dry nitrogen. Addition of vapor from aprotic solvents, such as acetonitrile and acetone, produces significantly improved resolution between the tested opioids, with baseline resolution achieved between certain opioid isomers. For protic solvents, notable CF shift differences were observed in FAIMS separations between addition of water vapor and vapors from small alcohols. Graphical Abstract.

Measuring the Integrity of Gas-Phase Conformers of Sodiated 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 by Drift Tube, Traveling Wave, Trapped, and High-Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility.

Quantitation of the serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D is a high-demand assay that suffers from long chromatography time to separate 25-hydroxyvitamin D from its inactive epimer; however, ion mobility spectrometry can distinguish the epimer pair in under 30 ms due to the presence of a unique extended or "open" gas-phase sodiated conformer, not shared with the epimer, reducing the need for chromatographic separation. Five ion mobility mass spectrometers utilizing commercially available IMS technologies, including drift tube, traveling wave, trapped, and high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry, are evaluated for their ability to resolve the unique open conformer. Additionally, settings for each instrument are evaluated to understand their influence on ion heating, which can drive the open conformer into a compact or "closed" conformer shared with the epimer. The four low-field instruments successfully resolved the open conformer from the closed conformer at baseline or near-baseline resolution at typical operating parameters. High-field asymmetric ion mobility was unable to resolve a unique peak but detected two peaks for the epimer, in contrast to the low-field methods that detected one conformer. This study seeks to expand the instrument space by highlighting the potential of each platform for the separation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D epimers.

An analytical modeling approach to the electrical behavior of the bottom-contact organic thin-film transistors in presence of the trap states

In this paper, a complete analytical model of the conduction behavior of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) within the framework of trap states has been presented. The aim of the work is to develop modeling equations which can be evolved into compact models generic to OTFTs rather than relying on the MOSFET-based models for the modeling and simulation of organic-based devices. The exponential density of trap states and the trap decay rate has been included in the modeling equations of the bottom-contact OTFTs with pentacene as the active layer. In this work, we propose for the first time a modeling approach to mobility. The mobility model takes into account the low-field mobility enhancement as well as high-field mobility degradation because of the presence of defect states. The current–voltage equations in the linear and saturation regimes have been modified to include the effect of trap states. The influence of trap states on the device capacitance has been modeled, and it has been found that the high density of trap states leads to deviation in the capacitance characteristics of OTFTs. Results obtained from the modeling equations of surface potential, total charge density, mobility and current–voltage relations show performance degradation with the increase in the density of trap states. The results predicted from the analytical modeling equations are in excellent agreement with the reported electrical behavior of the OTFTs, thus proving the feasibility of the proposed model. The proposed analytical model is valid for OTFTs in the linear and saturation regimes even for short-channel length transistors.

Elemental Dependence of Structurally Specific Isotopic Shifts in High-Field Ion Mobility Spectra.

Nearly all molecules incorporate at least one element with stable isotopes, yielding ubiquitous isotopologic envelopes in mass spectra. Those envelopes split in differential or field asymmetric waveform ion mobility (FAIMS) spectra depending on the ion geometry, enabling a new general approach to isomer delineation as we demonstrated for chloroanilines. Here, we report that analogous bromoanilines exhibit qualitatively distinct isotopic shifts under identical conditions, some changing signs depending on the gas. This dramatic elemental specificity conveys the breadth and diversity of structural isotopic effect in FAIMS, suggesting unique information-rich patterns for compounds involving various elements and feasibility of enhancing the structural elucidation by atom substitution. We also introduce the capability to make or ensure structural assignments employing major isomer-specific peak broadening due to unresolved isotopomer mixtures.

Characterization and Optimization of Multiplexed Quantitative Analyses Using High-Field Asymmetric-Waveform Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry.

Multiplexed, isobaric tagging methods are powerful techniques to increase throughput, precision, and accuracy in quantitative proteomics. The dynamic range and accuracy of quantitation, however, can be limited by coisolation of tag-containing peptides that release reporter ions and conflate quantitative measurements across precursors. Methods to alleviate these effects often lead to the loss of protein and peptide identifications through online or offline filtering of interference containing spectra. To alleviate this effect, high-Field Asymmetric-waveform Ion Mobility Spectroscopy (FAIMS) has been proposed as a method to reduce precursor coisolation and improve the accuracy and dynamic range of multiplex quantitation. Here we tested the use of FAIMS to improve quantitative accuracy using previously established TMT-based interference standards (triple-knockout [TKO] and Human-Yeast Proteomics Resource [HYPER]). We observed that FAIMS robustly improved the quantitative accuracy of both high-resolution MS2 (HRMS2) and synchronous precursor selection MS3 (SPS-MS3)-based methods without sacrificing protein identifications. We further optimized and characterized the main factors that enable robust use of FAIMS for multiplexed quantitation. We highlight these factors and provide method recommendations to take advantage of FAIMS technology to improve isobaric-tag-quantification moving forward.

Exploring a route to a selective and sensitive portable system for explosive detection– swab spray ionisation coupled to of high-field assisted waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS)

Paper spray mass spectrometry is a rapid and sensitive tool for explosives detection but has so far only been demonstrated using high resolution mass spectrometry, which bears too high a cost for many practical applications. Here we explore the potential for paper spray to be implemented in field applications with portable mass spectrometry. This involved (a) replacing the paper substrate with a swabbing material (which we call “swab spray”) for compatibility with standard collection materials; (b) collection of explosives from surfaces; (c) an exploration of interferences within a ± 0.5 m/z window; and (d) demonstration of the use of high-field assisted waveform ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) for enhanced selectivity. We show that paper and Nomex® are viable collection materials, with Nomex providing cleaner spectra and therefore greater potential for integration with portable mass spectrometers. We show that sensitive detection using swab spray will require a mass spectrometer with a mass resolving power of 4000 or more. We show that by coupling the swab spray ionisation source with FAIMS, it is possible to reduce background interferences, thereby facilitating the use of a low resolving power (e.g. quadrupole) mass spectrometer.

Identification of Isomers by Multidimensional Isotopic Shifts in High-Field Ion Mobility Spectra.

Nearly all molecules incorporate elements with stable isotopes. The resulting isotopologue envelopes in mass spectra tell the exact stoichiometry but nothing about the geometry. Chromatography and electrophoresis at high resolution also can distinguish isotopologues, again without revealing structural information. In high-definition differential ion mobility (FAIMS) spectra, these envelopes universally split in a structure-specific manner, providing a new general approach to isomer delineation. Here, we show that the peak shifts from instances of the same isotope are equal and can be averaged into characteristic elemental shifts, namely 13C and 37Cl for dichloroanilines (DCA). Matrices of these shifts, including the gas composition dimension, are unique to the structure. Hence, all six DCA isomers (with four making two unresolved pairs) are readily delineated in the 13C/37Cl maps with He/CO2 buffer gases. Mixtures of coeluting isomers are also distinguished from pure components.

Integration of paper spray ionization high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry for forensic applications.

Paper spray ionization (PSI) is an attractive ambient ionization source for mass spectrometry (MS) since it allows the combination of surface sampling and ionization. The minimal sample preparation inherent in this approach greatly reduces the time needed for analysis. However, the ions generated from interfering compounds in the sample and the paper substrate may interfere with the analyte ions. Therefore, the integration of PSI with high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) is of significant interest since it should reduce the background ions entering the mass analyzer without complicating the analysis or increasing analysis time. Here we demonstrate the integration of PSI with FAIMS/MS and its potential for analysis of samples of forensic interest. In this work, the parameters that can influence the integration, including sampling and ionization by paper spray, the FAIMS separation of analytes from each other and background interferences, and the length of time that a usable signal can be observed for explosives on paper, were evaluated with the integrated system. In the negative ion analysis of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX), and 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), amounts as low as 1ng on paper were readily observed. The successful positive ion separation of a set of illicit drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine was also achieved. In addition, the positive ion analysis of the chemical warfare agent simulants dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) and diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) was evaluated. The integration of PSI-FAIMS/MS was demonstrated for the analyses of explosives in negative ion mode and for illicit drugs and CW simulants in positive mode. Paper background ions that could interfere with these analyses were separated by FAIMS. The compensation voltage of an ion obtained by FAIMS provided an additional identification parameter to be combined with the mass spectrum for each analyte.

Back-Gate Modulation in UTB GeOI pMOSFETs With Advanced Substrate Fabrication Technique

In this paper, the back-gate modulation in ultrathin body germanium-on-insulator (UTB GeOI) p-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (pMOSFETs) has been investigated. Based on the direct wafer boding and polishing technique, high-performance 20-nm-thick GeOI pMOSFETs have been fabricated. Peak hole mobility of 158 $\text {cm}^{\text {2}}/\text {V}\cdot \text {s}$ and high-field mobility ( ${N}_{s}= \text {1} \times \text {10}^{\text {13}}$ cm−2) of 121 $\text {cm} ^{\text {2}}/\text {V}\cdot \text {s}$ are obtained, respectively. The back-gate modulation in UTB GeOI pMOSFETs has been systematically investigated by experiments and simulations. For the case that the back channel does not form, the carrier distributions in the front channel become wider with larger negative back-gate voltage ${V}_{\text {bg}}$ applied. As a result, the mobility increases because of the reduced scattering in the whole ${N}_{s}$ range. When ${V}_{\text {bg}}$ is negative enough, the back channel forms. In this case, the modulation effect would be strongly affected by the carrier transport properties at the back channel.

Part I: On the Unification of Physics of Quasi-Saturation in LDMOS Devices

There have been a lot of ambiguities related to physics of quasi-saturation (QS) in laterally diffused MOS (LDMOS) devices in the published literature. For example, models that explain QS in input characteristics do not explain the same in output characteristics and vice versa. In addition to this, none of the earlier models explain early onset of QS at higher temperatures nor the models were validated using counter arguments. Attributed to this, a need for unified theory explaining physics of QS is justified in this paper. Furthermore, this paper for the first time, while addressing missing links between the observations reported in the past, develops a unified theory to explain physics of QS behavior. The theory presented here is independent of device architecture and covers all voltage-current–temperature trends. While considering velocity saturation and space charge modulation, we have discovered key role of high field mobility degradation of majority carriers and electric field screening, which is found to be the root cause of QS in LDMOS devices. The theory presented is further validated with numerous counter arguments. Finally, based on the new physical insight developed, we have proposed different approaches to mitigate QS effect. A detailed device design guideline to mitigate QS and its correlation with analog/RF performance, electo static discharge, hot-carrier reliability, self-heating, and safe operating area concern is presented in Part II of this paper.

Ultrafast terahertz detectors

Terahertz (THz) technologies have broad application prospects in ultrafast space communication, heterodyne detection, biological detection, non-destructive testing and national security. Ultrafast THz detectors, which can respond to the THz light with modulation rate larger than 1 GHz, are the key component of fast imaging, space communication, ultrafast spectroscopy and THz heterodyne applications. Theoretically, the traditional THz detectors based on heat effects are difficult to meet the requirements for fast detections, while the semiconductor based THz detectors can work under the condition of ultrafast detection. Photoconductive antennas with ultrafast response time are suitable for room-temperature broad-spectrum THz detections. Schottky barrier diodes, superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers and hot electron bolometers are promising candidates for high-speed THz spatial heterodyne and direct detections attributable to their high conversion efficiency and low noise. High-mobility field effect transistors based on two-dimensional graphene material have the advantages of high sensitivity and low impedance, which make this kind of device have great potential applications in room-temperature high-speed detections. THz quantum well detectors (THz QWPs) based on inter-subband transitions are very suitable for the applications in high-frequency and high-speed detections because of the advantages of high responsivity, small value and integrated packaging. Recently, we have demonstrated 6.2 GHz bandwidth modulation by using THz QWPs, the fast THz receiving device. On the other hand, low working temperature and low coupling efficiency are the main factors that restrict the applications of THz QWPs. From the Brewster angle, 45 polished facet coupling structure, to one-or two-dimensional metal grating and surface Plasmon polariton coupling configuration, researchers often explore the appropriate coupling mechanism which can not only couple the normal incidence THz light, but also improve the coupling efficiency substantially. The sub-wavelength double-metal micro-cavity array coupling structure has two advantages which make THz QWPs a key candidate for fast imaging and detection in THz band:firstly, the patch antennas on the device surface can effectively increase the light absorption region, and the periodic structure can make the normal incidence THz light fulfill the rule of intersubband transition. Secondly, the sub-wavelength size double metal structure can restrict the light within a very small volume, and the electric current will be enhanced by the resonance effect when the cavity mode is equal to the peak response frequency, which can suppress the dark current and improve the optical coupling efficiency of the device. In this paper, several ultrafast THz detectors are reviewed and the advantages and disadvantages of various detectors are also analyzed.

Investigation of breakdown performance in $$L_{g}$$ L g = 20 nm novel asymmetric InP HEMTs for future high-speed high-power applications

In this paper, we investigated the breakdown performance of novel nanoscale asymmetric InP high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). The novel asymmetric InP HEMT features $$\Gamma $$ -gate, heavily doped multilayer cap, $$n^{+}$$ -type In $$_{0.52}$$ Ga $$_{0.48}$$ As source/drain (S/D) regions, InAs-rich composite channel, SiN passivation and double $$\delta $$ -doping planes. The impact of asymmetric gate recess width on DC, RF and breakdown performance of novel asymmetric InP HEMT has been investigated using hydrodynamic carrier transport model along with other physical models such as Shockley–Read–Hall model, recombination models, high-field mobility model and density gradient model. Sentaurus TCAD simulations were carried out at room temperature for gate lengths of 50 and 20 nm in order to analyse the scalability of the new device architecture. In order to consider the quantum effects at nanoscale regime, density gradient model of eQuantum potential was used for TCAD simulations. $$L_{g}$$ = 20 nm proposed HEMT achieved a peak $$g_{m}$$ and $$I_\mathrm{DS}$$ of 3470 mS/mm and 1300 mA/mm, respectively. The proposed HEMT has a $$f_{T}$$ and $$f_\mathrm{max}$$ of 749 and 1460 GHz, respectively. The $$L_{g}$$ = 20 nm proposed HEMT also showed an ON-state and OFF-state breakdown voltages of 2.2 and 4.5 V, respectively, at a gate recess width of 150 nm. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the record combination of DC, RF and breakdown performance reported for InP HEMTs which makes them the most suitable transistors for future high-speed high-power applications.

(Invited) Material Considerations for the Development of III-Nitride Power Devices

AlGaN is of high interest for high-power electronics based on vertical structures due to its high breakdown field and electron mobility. Recent studies in GaN based p-n junctions indicate a dielectric strength in the range of 3.3–3.75 MVcm-1, resulting in a Baliga’s figure of merit several times larger than that of SiC. However, high breakdown voltages (>4kV) are currently confined to GaN p-n junctions indicating GaN and AlGaN surface instabilities. Consequently, defect-free metal-nitride interface and passivation of Al/GaN are necessary for breakthroughs in high power vertical Al/GaN Schottky diodes. Accordingly, we report defect-free behavior in Ni/GaN Schottky diodes with unity ideality factor and fabricated by photolithography. They also exhibit high temperature stability (>600 oC) and low leakage with forward and reverse I-V-T characteristics successfully modeled by a single homogeneous barrier (0.7 eV) by ATLAS simulations. It is significant that the forward and reverse characteristics could be modeled by a common set of parameters without a defect based second diode to model the reverse leakage. XPS chemical and electronic analysis was employed to determine the surface treatment necessary to obtain such a Schottky interface. Consequently, we demonstrate the suitability of GaN surface and interface with metals for high power electronics. Although a near-ideal diode may be obtained on GaN, the relatively low barrier height limits the GaN Schottky diode to operating voltages <1000V. Increasing the barrier by controlling the Fermi level pinning and producing a camel junction by surface Mg doping is possible. Passivation is the next challenge to implementing Al/GaN based high power electronics. Silicon nitride has emerged as the standard passivation material for GaN and low Al composition AlxGa1-xN (x<0.3). However, the bandgap of silicon nitride is lower than AlGaN for x>0.75 and the feasibility of silicon nitride functioning as an insulating dielectric (by providing appropriate electron/hole barriers) in Al rich AlGaN and AlN is uncertain. Similarly, reduction of surface states by silicon nitride passivation has not been reported for Al rich AlGaN (x>0.3). In this work, we have employed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the band offsets and interface Fermi level at the hetero-junction formed by stoichiometric silicon nitride deposited on metal polar AlxGa1-xN (of varying Al composition ‘x’) via high temperature low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Silicon nitride is found to form a type II staggered band alignment with AlGaN for all Al compositions (0<x<1) and presents an electron barrier into AlGaN even at higher Al compositions where Eg(AlGaN)>Eg(Si3N4). No band bending is observed in AlGaN for x<0.6 and indicating excellent passivation beyond x=0.3. Further a reduced band bending (by 1 eV relative to free surface) is observed for x>0.6. The Fermi level in silicon nitride is found to be at 3 eV with respect to its valence band and is likely due to silicon (≡Si0/-1) dangling bonds. The presence of band bending for x>0.6 is seen as a likely consequence of Fermi level alignment at Si3N4/AlGaN hetero-structure and not due to interface states indicating likely passivation on AlGaN beyond x=0.6. Photoelectron spectroscopy is corroborated by capacitance-voltage measurements. A shift in the interface Fermi level from the conduction band in Si3N4/n-GaN to the valence band in Si3N4/p-GaN is observed which strongly indicates no or greatly reduced mid-gap interface states. Further, required compensation of spontaneous polarization charge is typically performed by oppositely charged surface states/defects on free surface is hypothesized to be replaced by oppositely charged silicon dangling bonds (≡Si0/-1) after passivation. This hypothesis is supported by characterization of silicon nitride on N-polar GaN. In conclusion, HT LPCVD silicon nitride is found to be a suitable passivation for Al rich AlGaN.

Effect of Boro-Silicate Glass (BSG) Gate Dielectric with Antimony Surface Doping on Channel Transport of 4H-SiC Mosfets

In this work, we investigate the effect of Boro-silicate glass (BSG) gate dielectric in conjunction with Antimony (Sb) surface doped channels of lateral 4H-SiC MOSFETs. It has been reported that BSG gated 4H-SiC MOSFETs have a high channel mobility of ~100 cm2/V∙s for a wide range of surface transverse electric fields along with a large threshold voltage VT of ~5V in lightly doped p-epitaxial layers [1,2]. For vertical power MOSFETs with heavily doped p-wells, it is expected that BSG would cause an even further increase of VT (~10 V) which would be undesirable. Therefore in this work, our goal for combining the Sb surface doping process (demonstrated in our earlier works [3,4] and presented at ECSCRM 2014 [4]), with BSG gate dielectric was two-fold: (i) Tune VT to adequate value with high sub-threshold slope. (ii) Achieve high low-field channel mobility by Sb counter-doping while retaining the high-field mobility characteristics of BSG. The results from our experiments indicate that these goals were achieved. The 'Sb+BSG' process results in significant improvement of both low-field channel mobility to ~180cm2/V∙s (due to addition of Sb surface doping) and high-field channel mobility to ~90 cm2/V∙s (due to the BSG gate dielectric) along with a tuned threshold voltage of ~2V and a steeper sub-threshold slope. Lateral MOSFETs were fabricated on the Si-face of p-type 4H-SiC epitaxial layers doped at ~1x1016cm-3. Sb was implanted in the channel region with 80 keV at room temperature with dose of 2.5x1013cm-2, which results in a Gaussian profile with a depth of around 30nm below the surface of SiC. This was followed by post-implantation activation annealing at 1650°C using a graphitic carbon cap layer. Next, dry oxidation at 1150°C for 10 hours was performed followed by post-oxidation annealing using a planar diffusion source (Techneglas, GS-139) composed of boric oxide (B2O3) in a gas mixture of Ar (50sccm) and O2 (5sccm) at 950°C for 30 mins. Samples that received only boron annealing are referred to as 'BSG only' and samples underwent both Sb counter-doping and boron annealing are referred to as 'Sb+BSG'. Results for these samples are compared with standard NO-annealed devices in Table Ⅰ. The SIMS result in Fig. 1 shows B distributes throughout the oxide with a concentration of ~1x1022cm-3 and decreases as it reaches SiC. Threshold voltage and sub-threshold slope were characterized by Id-Vg measurement at room temperature and field-effect mobility was extracted from the transconductance of Id-Vg curve. Linear and log scale of Id-Vg curves in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 demonstrate that 'Sb+BSG' tunes the threshold voltage to a more desirable value of ~2V along with a better sub-threshold slope than standard NO annealing. Fig. 4 shows a significant mobility improvement for 'Sb+BSG' at both high field due to the BSG passivation effect and low field due to the Sb counter-doping effect with a peak value of ~180cm2/V∙s compared to 'BSG only' with a peak mobility of ~140cm2/V∙s. In order to investigate the boron passivation effect on interface traps, C-V and constant capacitance deep level transient spectroscopy (CCDLTS) measurements were performed on the companion BSG capacitors. The interface trap density of 'NO' was determined to be ~2.5 times higher than that of 'BSG' for very shallow energy traps (<0.2 eV) from C-V measurements and ~1.5 times higher for the energy trap distributions centered at 0.15 eV and 0.39 eV by CCDLTS, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The mechanism of boron passivation has been suggested to be oxide stress relaxation by the reduction of required oxygen bonds due to the occupation of Si site by B [5]. In this presentation, further details of the nature of transport and mobility behavior in BSG gated channels will be presented as a function of temperature.

Nitride Dielectric Environments to Suppress Surface Optical Phonon Dominated Scattering in High‐Performance Multilayer MoS2 FETs

The ultrathin channel in 2D semiconductors, although playing host to several interesting properties, also renders strong interactions (scattering) of charge carriers with the surrounding medium. The over‐arching dominance of surface (interfacial) optical phonons in 2D charge transport and engineering ideal nitride‐based dielectric environments for large performance gains is reported. Charge transport in MoS2 field effect transistors (FETs) fabricated on three conventional substrates, SiO2, Al2O3, and HfO2, is contrasted with a newly introduced, CMOS‐compatible nitride‐based dielectric: aluminum nitride (AlN) by employing semi‐classical models which account for charged impurity, surface optical phonon, and intrinsic phonon scattering. Unlike previous reports focused on charge impurity scattering, this work presents a new paradigm of utilizing high optical phonon energies intrinsic to “stiff” nitride bonds. This results in substantially lower surface optical phonon scattering in 2D FETs which directly influences peak field effect (FE) mobility, high field mobility degradation, and temperature‐dependent mobility. Leveraging on these insights, high‐performance sulfur‐passivated MoS2 FETs with an optimum all‐nitride environment (hexagonal boron nitride/MoS2/AlN) are demonstrated with FE mobility up to 72.8 cm2 V−1 s−1. This work is envisioned to address important issues in design of dielectric environments for a host of applications based on 2D materials.

The effects of degeneracy of the carrier ensemble on the energy loss rate and the high field mobility characteristics under the conditions of low lattice temperatures

The rate of loss of energy of the non-equilibrium electrons to the acoustic mode lattice vibration in a degenerate semiconductor is obtained under the condition, when the lattice temperature is low enough, so that the traditional approximations like the elastic nature of the electron-phonon collisions and the truncation of the phonon distribution to the equipartition law are not valid any more. Using the results of the energy loss rate, the non-ohmic mobility is then calculated. Evaluating the loss rate and the non-ohmic mobility in degenerate samples of Si and Ge we find that significant changes in both the characteristics have been effected compared to that in the non-degenerate samples, in the regime of lower energy and for relatively lower fields. The effected changes are more significant the lower the lattice temperature is.

Edge rotation from momentum transport by neutrals

Due to their high cross field mobility, neutral atoms can have a strong effect on transport even at the low relative densities found inside the separatrix. We use a charge-exchange dominated model for the neutrals, coupled to neoclassical ions, to calculate momentum transport when it is dominated by the neutrals. We can then calculate self-consistently the radial electric field and predict the intrinsic rotation in an otherwise torque-free plasma. Using a numerical solver for the ion distribution to allow arbitrary collisionality, we investigate the effects of inverse aspect ratio and elongation on plasma rotation. We also calculate the rotation of a trace carbon impurity, to facilitate future comparison to experiments using charge exchange recombination spectroscopy diagnostics.