Insulator Substrates Research Articles

Erbium doping of lithium niobate on insulator using low-temperature ion exchange

We propose an optimized low-temperature ion exchange method for fabricating an erbium-doped lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) substrate. This method ensures the production of high-quality, crack-free substrates. The erbium-doped substrates are characterized spectroscopically in the near-infrared wavelength range. Additionally, we demonstrate deterministic local doping by using a SiO2 mask. This relatively simple, locally selective doping technology can facilitate the implementation of new and practical active building blocks in the LNOI platform, which could be attractive for several applications, like the realization of integrated lasers and amplifiers.

4H-Silicon Carbide as an Acoustic Material for MEMS.

This paper discusses the potential of 4H-SiC as a superior acoustic material for MEMS, particularly for high-performance resonator and extreme environments applications. Through a comparison of the crystalline structure along with the mechanical, acoustic, electrical, and thermal properties of 4H with respect to other SiC polytypes and silicon, it is shown that 4H-SiC possesses salient properties for MEMS applications, including its transverse isotropy and small phonon scattering dissipation. The utility and implementation of bonded SiC on insulator (4H-SiCOI) substrates as an emerging MEMS technology platform are presented. Additionally, this paper reports on the temperature-dependent mechanical properties of 4H-SiC, including the temperature coefficient of frequency and quality factor for Lame mode resonators. Finally, the 4H-SiC MEMS fabrication including its deep reactive ion etching is discussed. This paper provides valuable insights into the potential of 4H-SiC as a mechano-acoustic material and provides a foundation for future research in the field.

Preparation of nano‐silver electromagnetic interference shielding functional coating on PC+ABS plastic via Ar/H2 mixed atmospheric pressure plasma jet

AbstractMetal coatings with micron thickness, high conductivity, and a unique structure that can provide exceptional electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance to insulation substrates are highly desirable, especially if the production method is inexpensive, pollution‐free, and efficient. In this study, the Ar/H2 mixed atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) was utilized to reduce AgNO3 to produce PC + ABS substrates coated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). It was found that the low roughness AgNPs coating has a multilayer network structure, which could exhibit high conductivity and excellent EMI shielding effectiveness (SE). In conclusion, this method is an excellent choice for producing metal EMI shielding coating.

Biodegradable resistive switching devices made from carrageenan insulator and carrageenan substrate

Biodegradable resistive switching devices made from carrageenan insulator and carrageenan substrate

Ultrathin four-quadrant silicon photodiodes for beam position and monitor applications: Characterization and radiation effects

Ultrathin semiconductor photodiodes are of interest for beam position and monitoring in X-ray synchrotron beamlines and particle therapy medical applications. In this work, single and four-quadrant diodes have been fabricated on ultrathin Si films with thicknesses of 10 μm, 5 μm and 3 μm from silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates. Physical and electrical characterization of the devices has been carried out. Good functional electrical characteristics have been obtained for the devices fabricated on the different silicon thicknesses. The impact of electron, neutron and proton irradiations on the electrical characteristics has been studied for the 10 μm-thick devices. In spite of the observed diode leakage current increase and positive charge trapping in interquadrant isolation oxide, functional operation as radiation detector is verified upon illumination with a pulsed laser beam transient current technique.

A laterally excited bulk acoustic resonator with scattering vias in electrodes

Laterally excited bulk acoustic resonators (XBARs) using interdigital electrodes are currently limited in potential 5G applications due to the accompanied spurious modes and small capacitance. This Letter presents an XBAR with scattering vias in electrodes, named SV-BAR. The non-parallel boundaries thoroughly disrupt the coherent formation of standing waves in the lateral direction, thereby suppressing the higher-order spurious modes. The duty factor of SV-BAR is optimized as 0.5 using COMSOL Multiphysics finite element analysis for the 50 Ω impedance matching. The SV-BAR is fabricated using a 390 nm Z-cut LiNbO3 on an insulator substrate and exhibits an impressive ratio of Zp/Zs near 64.5 dB, a Kt2 of 21.80% at 4.762 GHz, as well as a large value f · Bode_Qmax · Kt2 (3.43 × 1011). The measured temperature coefficient of frequency is −69.8 ppm/°C, which can be compensated using SiO2 thin films. The SV-BAR provides an effective solution for high-performance radio frequency filters for 5G communication.

Electrochemistry-Induced Direct Deposition of Nanoscale Thin Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Films on Insulator Substrates

Electrochemistry-Induced Direct Deposition of Nanoscale Thin Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Films on Insulator Substrates

The anomalous Hall effect controlled by residual epitaxial strain in antiferromagnetic Weyl semimetal Mn3Sn thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The large anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in antiferromagnetic(AFM) Weyl semimetal Mn3Sn attracts intensive attentions in spintronics. Here, we report the structural property of high quality Mn3Sn thin film on insulator substrate MgO(110) by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and AHE in control of residual mismatch strain between Mn3Sn film and substrate. We are able to grow strain-free Mn3Sn(10 1¯ 0) films or alternatively strained Mn3Sn(11 2¯ 0) films via a three-step process. The strain-free Mn3Sn film has large anomalous Hall conductivity up to 30 Ω-1cm−1 at room temperature, which is comparable to bulk Mn3Sn. In contrast, AHE is switched off in strained Mn3Sn film due to piezomagnetic effect under a uniaxial compress strain of ∼2.0%. These findings provide a deeper understanding on AFM spintronic applications.

Improvement of electrical insulating properties for defective metal/epoxy resin interface in power modules by micro-plasma jet

High-voltage power modules inevitably face the critical problem of electric field distortion at triple-junction point (Cu/insulation substrate/potting material) and accidental introduction of unexpected micro-metal defects on insulation substrate, which damages electrical insulating properties and induces breakdown. In this study, a novel precise surface treatment method based on atmospheric pressure micro-plasma jet (μ-APPJ) is proposed for rejuvenating and improving electrical insulating properties of defective Cu/epoxy resin (EP) substrate in power modules. Results show that a typical μ-APPJ with a diameter of about 200 μm is developed to precisely treat the micro-level metal defect in Cu/EP interface, and a spherical-clustered Si-containing functional film (∼Si-O4) can be fabricated on EP substrate by optimized Ar/Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO)/μ-APPJ, which significantly enhances the hydrophobicity of EP surface. Moreover, the plasma-assisted film deposition around μm-defect improves interface electrical properties of defective Cu/EP samples, evidenced by higher flashover voltages and suppressed partial discharge. Further analysis based on simulations reveals that the deposited typical film not only promotes charge mobility and creepage distance on EP, but also introduces additional trap levels that capture electrons and inhibit electric field around metal defects, thereby suppressing partial discharge failure and improving electrical insulating properties.

Ultrahigh-Q guided mode resonances in an All-dielectric metasurface

High quality(Q) factor optical resonators are indispensable for many photonic devices. While very large Q-factors can be obtained theoretically in guided-mode settings, free-space implementations suffer from various limitations on the narrowest linewidth in real experiments. Here, we propose a simple strategy to enable ultrahigh-Q guided-mode resonances by introducing a patterned perturbation layer on top of a multilayer-waveguide system. We demonstrate that the associated Q-factors are inversely proportional to the perturbation squared while the resonant wavelength can be tuned through material or structural parameters. We experimentally demonstrate such high-Q resonances at telecom wavelengths by patterning a low-index layer on top of a 220 nm silicon on insulator substrate. The measurements show Q-factors up to 2.39 × 105, comparable to the largest Q-factor obtained by topological engineering, while the resonant wavelength is tuned by varying the lattice constant of the top perturbation layer. Our results hold great promise for exciting applications like sensors and filters.

A plant growth chamber system equipped with aerosol generators for studying aerosol-vegetation interactions

Understanding aerosol-vegetation interactions is vital in ecosystems. However, the interactions remain elusive partly due to the lack of suitable plant growth chamber systems. Particularly, deposition of submicron particles on leaf surfaces is challenging due to its low deposition velocities compared to larger particles. In this work, we present a plant-growth chamber that was used to study the effect of submicron black carbon (BC) particles on the growth and photosynthesis of plants. The chamber system simultaneously enables the growth of multiple plants in pots and the deposition of submicron particles onto them. Two spraying methods assisted by ultrasonic and electrostatic forces were employed as aerosol generators to realize the particle deposition. The flow regime inside the chamber was numerically calculated to predict the transportation of aerosol particles, suggesting the optimal operating conditions of the chamber. The gas-phase particle size distribution measurements showed that generated BC particles were suspended in submicron diameter ranges. The aerosol generators were examined in the chamber using three conductor and insulator substrates as a model of plant leaves. Microscope observations and spectroscopic analysis ascertained that submicron BC particles generated from our generators were deposited on all substrate surfaces. Using the developed chamber system, systematic studies can be performed to advance the fundamental understanding of aerosol-vegetation interactions.

Development of in situ characterization of two-dimensional materials grown on insulator substrates with spectroscopic photoemission and low energy electron microscopy

Ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) materials offer great potential for next-generation integrated circuit and optoelectronic devices. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown 2D materials provide a way to mass production in industry. However, how to in situ characterize their intrinsic electric/photoelectric properties and carrier dynamics with electron/photoelectron probes is still a problem due to the interference from the conducting substrate. Here, we present a grounding Au grids method to realize in situ characterization of the CVD-grown MoS2 on the insulating thick SiO2 layer covered Si substrate with spectroscopic photoemission and low energy electron microscopy (SPELEEM). Through depositing Au grids afterwards, we have achieved good grounding of MoS2 flakes in the photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), mirror electron microscopy (MEM), and micro-area low energy electron diffraction (µ-LEED) measurements. We have clarified the false signal caused by stray photoelectrons originated from the Au stripes, and as well as the space charge effects induced by intense photoemission. We have also confirmed that time-resolved PEEM results are not affected by the stray signal, and by adopting a small light spot, both static and time-resolved micro-area photoelectron spectroscopy (µ-PES) can be unaffected by space charge effects. Our results provide a reliable way to in situ investigate 2D materials grown on insulating substrates by probing photoelectrons or backscattered electrons.

Inversion-Type Ferroelectric Capacitive Memory and Its 1-Kbit Crossbar Array

By modulating the capacitance to store data, ferroelectric capacitive memories (FCMs) show distinct advantages compared with the conventional resistive memories, including the near-zero static power, negligible read disturbance, and immunity to IR drop problem. However, the promise of FCMs requires the improvement of their electrical characteristics, including retention, capacitance ratio, and operation speed. In this work, by introducing a heavily doped region in the metal–ferroelectric–semiconductor (MFS) structure, we propose and experimentally demonstrate an inversion-type FCM device, which simultaneously achieves: 1) high ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times 125$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${C}_{\text {HCS}}/{C}_{\text {LCS}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ratio; 2) ten-year retention under 85 °C; 3) multistate operation; and 4) improved write speed in nanosecond range. Integrating the devices on Silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates, we also realize the 1-kbit inversion-type FCM crossbar array. By setting up a test platform with a specially designed drive circuit, the read/write operation of the capacitive array is successfully demonstrated, evidencing the stable operation of the capacitive memory device in the array level.

Thermal and dielectric properties of PVDF/PEO/SiO2 nanodielectrics for flexible radioelectronic device technologies

Hybrid polymer nanocomposites (HPNCs) are innovative multifunctional materials, which are developed and intensively studied for their uses in the rapid evolution of flexible and lightweight device technologies. Accordingly, to contribute in this area, thermal properties of the crystal phases and the broadband radio frequencies dielectric dispersion and relaxation behaviour of the HPNC films based on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/silica (SiO2) are formulated and studied by employing differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and impedance/material analyzer (IMA). DSC thermograms of these semicrystalline HPNCs explained the wide range alteration in the crystals melting temperature of PVDF (153–167 ​°C) and PEO (59–72 ​°C) and the total degree of crystallinity (4–87%) with varying compositional ratio over the entire range of the PVDF/PEO blend host matrix and the dispersed amount of amorphous SiO2 nanomaterial up to 15 ​wt%. The dielectric dispersion behaviour of these HPNCs, at 20 ​°C, confirmed a non-linear decrease in permittivity with the increase of applied radio wave electric field frequency from 1 ​MHz to 1 ​GHz, which lies in the range of 6 to 2. At a fixed frequency, dielectric permittivity values exhibited an uneven variation with the increase of SiO2 amount and also the modification in the composition of polymer blend matrix in these composites. The analysis of dielectric loss spectra and relaxation processes revealed that these are low loss dielectrics and the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles in the polymer blend matrix impedes the chain segmental dynamics and the dipole reorientation. The electrical conductivity of these HPNCs enhanced in the range of 10−8 to 10−4 ​S/cm with the increase in frequency but it changed anomalously when the constituent amounts of the formulated composites are varied. The polymer crystals thermal properties and the dielectric and electrical conductivity dispersion behaviour of these materials are demonstrated with the consideration of polymer-polymer and polymer-nanoparticle hybrid interfaces and interactions. The experimental results evidenced the behaviour of PVDF/PEO/SiO2 films as tunable nanodielectrics with their compositions and could be used as insulator and dielectric substrate materials in the advances of flexible radioelectronics and energy storage devices.

High harmonic generation enhanced by magnetic dipole resonance in an amorphous silicon metasurface.

We report on the enhancement of high harmonic generation (HHG) yield in a metasurface consisting of amorphous silicon disks in a periodic array on an insulator substrate. The structure was designed and optimized using the finite-difference time-domain method for the maximum enhancement, which reaches the factor of 20-times compared to the unstructred surface. The local field is enhanced by a broadband magnetic resonance mode allowing to use ultrashort laser pulses with Fourier transform limit down to 40 fs. Due to the anisotropic structure of the metasurface, both the local-field enhancement and the HHG yield show strong polarization anisotropy.

Total ionizing dose radiation hardening technology based on double-charge multiple-step ion implantation

This paper describes the total ionizing dose (TID) radiation hardening of buried oxide in separation by implantation of oxygen silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates. In this study, 0.5-μm partially depleted SOI complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) transistors and circuits were prepared using double-charge multiple-step ion implantation and annealing, and the changes in the drive current, leakage current, and threshold voltage of the CMOS transistor under different TID radiation conditions were compared. Under a TID of 500 k Rad(Si), radiation-hardened H-type N-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors had a threshold voltage drift of <100 mV in the worst case, and H-type P-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors had a threshold voltage drift of <150 mV. Under a TID of 1 Mrad(Si), CMOS transistors showed no significant increase in leakage current caused by TID radiation. Under a TID of 500 k Rad(Si), the standby current of the radiation-hardened 32-bit DSP was <1.5 mA. The high-density integrated circuits prepared using this technology performed well under harsh ionizing radiation environments. Finally, this technology was compared with similar foreign technologies and TID-unhardened wafers with hardened wafers. This technology reached the international advanced level among equivalent technologies regarding hole capture cross section and maximum threshold voltage drift in the model. PACS85.30.De 85.30.-e.

SOI-based 15-channel arrayed waveguide grating design for fiber Bragg grating interrogator

Arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) is the core component of the photonic integrated interrogation system. Its spectral characteristics will affect the wavelength interrogation performance of the photonic integrated fiber grating interrogation system. We designed, simulated and fabricated a 15-channel 400 GHz AWG based on silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. The test result shows that the AWG the insertion loss is about 2.5–5 dB, the crosstalk is about −20 dB and the 3 dB bandwidth is about 2 nm. A wavelength interrogation system based on this AWG is established. According to the test results, the system has a wavelength resolution of 4 pm and an interrogation accuracy of 31.4 pm in a dynamic range of 0.8 nm. Our test result confirms that the AWG can be used as a spectral device in the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation system.

Junctionless nanosheet gate‐all‐around transistors fabricated on void embedded silicon on insulator substrate

A novel junctionless gate-all-around (GAA) transistor with ultrathin nanosheet GAA channel and self-aligned raised source/drain (RSD) is successfully designed and fabricated on void embedded silicon on insulator (VESOI) substrate through a much simpler fabrication process. Devices with as thin as 13-nm nanosheet GAA channel thickness exhibit excellent electrical characteristics: on/off current ratio of 106 and on-state drive current of 58 µA/µm. Although the parasitic planar channel component still exists, the device performance is decisively dominated by the GAA channel, and further boosted by the junction-free bulk conduction mechanism and the self-aligned RSD structure.

Heterogeneous silicon-on-lithium niobate electro-optic modulator for 100-Gbaud modulation

Integrated lithium niobate (LN) electro-optic (EO) modulators are emerging for applications in next-generation optical fiber communication networks. To date, LN crystal waveguides have led the technology for high-speed modulators. On the other hand, on-chip LN modulators are expected to realize scalable signaling devices with mature complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology. In this study, a silicon-loaded LN modulator on the insulator substrate featuring a small footprint, a low driving voltage, and high-speed EO modulation is designed and fabricated. No etching or patterning of the LN is required. The measured halfwave-voltage length product is 1.9 V cm with a static modulation extinction ratio of 17.9 dB. The fabricated LN modulator has a modulation bandwidth of 60 GHz and supports high-speed signaling at a data rate up to 200 Gbit/s.

GeSn resonance cavity enhanced photodetector with gold bottom reflector for the L band optical communication.

In this work, GeSn resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) p-i-n photodetectors (PDs) with 3.7% Sn content in a GeSn layer were fabricated on a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. The gold (Au) layer and the deposited SiO2 layer constitute the bottom reflector and top reflector of the RCE detectors, respectively. The GeSn RCE PD has three resonant peaks and its responsivity is improved about 4.5 times at 1630 nm, compared with GeSn PDs without a gold bottom mirror. The cutoff wavelength of GeSn RCE PDs is up to 1820 nm, while it is only 1730 nm for GeSn PDs without a gold reflector. The responsivity of RCE PDs at 1630 nm reaches 0.126 A/W and 3-dB bandwidth at about 36 GHz is achieved. These results indicate that the RCE structure is an effective approach for enhancing the GeSn PD performance operated at the L band.