Silicon Interface Research Articles

Solid wetting layer, interphase formation, and thin-film nanomaterials. Brief review

A review of the results on the formation of the interface between 3d metals and silicon silicides under identical conditions for various parameters of the deposited vapor, crystallographic orientation and substrate temperature is presented. A generalization of the results has been carried out, which consists of the fact that during the process of deposition of hot vapor on a colder substrate, the transition from the surface phase to the bulk phase occurs through a solid wetting layer (SWL). A classification of substrate-stabilized phases, including SWL, is proposed. It has been shown that SWL has an electronic density different from bulk phases, a smooth or nanostructured morphology, optical, electrical, and magnetic properties, and plays an important role in the formation of interfaces between bulk phases, their epitaxial films and multilayer nanostructures. These studies suggest the promise of SWL as a new nanotechnology object for the creation of thin-film nanomaterials. The studied problem is the formation of interfaces in thin-film nanomaterials. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the discovery of nonequilibrium solid wetting layers, their uniqueness and their role in the formation of the above-mentioned interfaces. This is important research for nanomaterial technologies. A review and generalization of the results of the study of the metal–silicon interface obtained under identical conditions was carried out. The review shows the detection a new type of transition state of the film under nonequilibrium conditions, a solid wetting layer, and the generalization justifies its role in the formation of the interface. Solid wetting layers are important as a new concept for the development of the theory of thin film growth, as well as a new object of nanotechnology for the production of thin-film nanomaterials

High-throughput identification of spin-photon interfaces in silicon.

Color centers in host semiconductors are prime candidates as spin-photon interfaces for quantum applications. Finding an optimal spin-photon interface in silicon would move quantum information technologies toward a mature semiconducting host. However, the space of possible charged defects is vast, making the identification of candidates from experiments alone extremely challenging. Here, we use high-throughput first-principles computational screening to identify spin-photon interfaces among more than 1000 charged defects in silicon. The use of a single-shot hybrid functional approach is critical in enabling the screening of many quantum defects with a reasonable accuracy. We identify three promising spin-photon interfaces as potential bright emitters in the telecom band: [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]. These candidates are excited through defect-bound excitons, stressing the importance of such defects in silicon for telecom band operations. Our work paves the way to further large-scale computational screening for quantum defects in semiconductors.

Soft Surface Activated Bonding of Hydrophobic Silicon Substrates

Surface Activated Bonding (SAB) is interesting for strong silicon to silicon bonding at room temperature without any annealing needed, afterwards. This technique has been recognized by the scientific community for more than two decades now and was used for numerous reviewed applications. Although it is a well-known technique, the activation step, in particular, is scarcely documented. This paper offers insights about the impact of soft activation parameters on the amorphous region at the bonding interface. In addition, the adherence energy of hydrophobic silicon after SAB bonding is quantified, to better understand bonding mechanisms. Soft activation parameters on hydrophobic silicon substrates yield exceptionally thin bonding interfaces with acceptable bonding energy at room temperature. According to cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy imaging, a 0.53 nm thick amorphous silicon interface was achieved with an adherence energy of 1337 ± 137 J/m² measured by the Double Cantilever Beam method.

Dramatic Reduction of Silicon Surface Recombination by ALD TiOx Capping Layer from TiCl4 and H2O: The Role of Chlorine.

Amorphous thin-film TiOx prepared via atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been identified as one of the most promising materials for use in transparent passivating contacts in high-efficiency and low-cost crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. As highlighted in this work, the passivation performance of ALD TiOx layers strongly depends on the metal precursor used, with films prepared using TiCl4 recently showing the best results. However, a full understanding of how such films achieve their high level of surface passivation has not yet been demonstrated. This study provides a clear demonstration that a key part of this passivation mechanism is due to chlorine (Cl) accumulation at the Si surface. This mechanism is demonstrated to be quite general in nature by showing how 2 nm of ALD TiOx (TiCl4 + H2O) can be applied as a capping layer for either ZnO or Al2O3 interlayers to dramatically reduce silicon surface recombination. Cl depth profiles obtained using secondary ion mass spectrometry confirm the presence of Cl extending through the depth of the interlayers with a peak at the silicon interface. Remarkably, this diffusion of Cl is observed following low-temperature (75 °C) deposition of the TiOx capping layer, without any subsequent thermal treatment. Contrary to earlier studies that treated residual Cl in ALD films as a general contamination issue, these findings reveal unequivocally that chlorine plays a crucial role in Si surface passivation and can be classed as an effective passivation element, similar to hydrogen in its ability to passivate Si dangling bonds. The outcomes of this research emphasize the importance of residual chlorine in enhancing the passivation of buried interfaces and provide additional motivation for employing metal chloride precursors for silicon surface passivation applications.

Accelerated damp-heat testing at the cell-level of bifacial silicon HJT, PERC and TOPCon solar cells using sodium chloride

Bifacial passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC) currently have the highest share in the photovoltaic market. However, heterojunction (HJT) and tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells are expected to gain significant market share shortly. Despite technological advancements, concerns about the reliability of HJT and TOPCon technologies when deployed in the field still need to be addressed. This work investigates the impact of sodium chloride (NaCl) on damp-heat-induced degradation in bifacial HJT, PERC, and TOPCon solar cells by exposing the solar cells to NaCl before damp heat (DH) testing. It is found that among all investigated cell technologies, TOPCon solar cells degrade the most with maximum power (Pmax) loss of up to ∼75%rel, followed by HJT (Pmax drops ∼50%rel), and PERC cells (Pmax drops only ∼10%rel) after 20 h of DH testing, mainly attributed to an increase in Rs on the front side of TOPCon cells, both sides of HJT cells and the rear side of PERC cells. The front of the PERC and the rear of the TOPCon solar cell are found to be stable. The rise in Rs is attributed to the corrosion of the metal contact, which is caused by a high amount of Na+ and Cl− ions penetrating the metal contact. This corrosion leads to increased porosity, detachment of the contact from the silicon interface, and increased recombination loss in some cases. These results are crucial for all cell technologies as they highlight the potential failures that could occur in the field. Na+ and/or Cl− ions are common contaminants present in solar glass, human fingerprints, soldering flux, rainwater, soil/dust, and seawater. During field operation, these ions have the potential to penetrate and directly interact with solar cells. In our view, the preferred solution is for the solar cells to be corrosion-resistant, which can be rapidly assessed using the method presented in this work.

Effect of cooling rate on microstructure and properties of SiCP/A359 composites

The microstructure and properties of stirred cast SiCP/A359 composites under different cooling rates were studied. The strengthening mechanism of the composite material under three cooling rates was analyzed, and the failure mechanism of the composite material was elucidated by means of in-situ tension and EBSD testing. The results showed that increasing the cooling rate simultaneously refined the grains, secondary dendrites, and eutectic silicon, resulting in improved distribution uniformity of SiC and the stacking fault density of eutectic silicon. Additionally, the relationship between the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) and cooling rate (v) of the SiCP/A359 composite was described using the equation SDAS = 56.02v^(-0.3). There was a positive correlation between cooling rate and yield strength, with particle strengthening being the main contributor to the strength of composites with high cooling rates, resulting in significantly higher strength than samples with low cooling rates. The geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) density at the eutectic Si-Al boundary was found to be higher than other positions after the material was loaded, and the main crack propagated mainly along the eutectic region. Secondary cracks, including SiC cracking, eutectic silicon cracking, interface separation, and shrinkage cracking, may become part of the main crack by bridging.

Second harmonic generation in centrosymmetric multilayered structures: Theoretical approach for nonlinear boundary conditions

Second harmonic generation (SHG) is used to characterize the interfaces of centrosymmetric materials typically used in microelectronic/optoelectronic devices. For such applications, the materials are actually multi-layer stacks, and in this case, the SHG can be difficult to interpret and model. This paper presents the theory of the second harmonic light generated from multilayer structures. The focus is on describing the nonlinear boundary conditions at the interfaces between two different materials, taking into account the distinct contributions of bulk and interface regions. Using these conditions, it is possible to calculate the second harmonic signal from any stack of materials. In this paper, we address stacks containing silicon (100) because it is a material with numerous applications. The nonlinear polarization expressions of the surface and bulk of Si(100), according to Sipe et al. [Phys. Rev. B 35, 1129 (1987)], were integrated into nonlinear boundary conditions in order to determine transmitted and reflected second harmonic waves. An analytical validation was performed on the simple case of an air–silicon interface. For multilayered stacks, the model was compared with experimental results obtained on samples corresponding to pragmatic substrates widely used in microelectronic and optoelectronic applications.

Overcoming the Fermi-Level Pinning Effect in the Nanoscale Metal and Silicon Interface.

Silicon-based photodetectors are attractive as low-cost and environmentally friendly optical sensors. Also, their compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology is advantageous for the development of silicon photonics systems. However, extending optical responsivity of silicon-based photodetectors to the mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelength range remains challenging. In developing mid-IR infrared Schottky detectors, nanoscale metals are critical. Nonetheless, one key factor is the Fermi-level pinning effect at the metal/silicon interface and the presence of metal-induced gap states (MIGS). Here, we demonstrate the utilization of the passivated surface layer on semiconductor materials as an insulating material in metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) contacts to mitigate the Fermi-level pinning effect. The removal of Fermi-level pinning effectively reduces the Schottky barrier height by 12.5% to 16%. The demonstrated devices exhibit a high responsivity of up to 234 μA/W at a wavelength of 2 μm, 48.2 μA/W at 3 μm, and 1.75 μA/W at 6 μm. The corresponding detectivities at 2 and 3 μm are 1.17 × 108 cm Hz1/2 W-1 and 2.41 × 107 cm Hz1/2 W-1, respectively. The expanded sensing wavelength range contributes to the application development of future silicon photonics integration platforms.

Laser Activation for Highly Boron-Doped Passivated Contacts

Passivated, selective contacts in silicon solar cells consist of a double layer of highly doped polycrystalline silicon (poly Si) and thin interfacial silicon dioxide (SiO2). This design concept allows for the highest efficiencies. Here, we report on a selective laser activation process, resulting in highly doped p++-type poly Si on top of the SiO2. In this double-layer structure, the p++-poly Si layer serves as a layer for transporting the generated holes from the bulk to a metal contact and, therefore, needs to be highly conductive for holes. High boron-doping of the poly Si layers is one approach to establish the desired high conductivity. In a laser activation step, a laser pulse melts the poly Si layer, and subsequent rapid cooling of the Si melt enables electrically active boron concentrations exceeding the solid solubility limit. In addition to the high conductivity, the high active boron concentration in the poly Si layer allows maskless patterning of p++-poly Si/SiO2 layers by providing an etch stop layer in the Si etchant solution, which results in a locally structured p++-poly Si/SiO2 after the etching process. The challenge in the laser activation technique is not to destroy the thin SiO2, which necessitates fine tuning of the laser process. In order to find the optimal processing window, we test laser pulse energy densities (Hp) in a broad range of 0.7 J/cm2 ≤ Hp ≤ 5 J/cm2 on poly Si layers with two different thicknesses dpoly Si,1 = 155 nm and dpoly Si,2 = 264 nm. Finally, the processing window 2.8 J/cm2≤ Hp ≤ 4 J/cm2 leads to the highest sheet conductance (Gsh) without destroying the SiO2 for both poly Si layer thicknesses. For both tested poly Si layers, the majority of the symmetric lifetime samples processed using these Hp achieve a good passivation quality with a high implied open circuit voltage (iVOC) and a low saturation current density (J0). The best sample achieves iVOC = 722 mV and J0 = 6.7 fA/cm2 per side. This low surface recombination current density, together with the accompanying measurements of the doping profiles, suggests that the SiO2 is not damaged during the laser process. We also observe that the passivation quality is independent of the tested poly Si layer thicknesses. The findings of this study show that laser-activated p++-poly Si/SiO2 are not only suitable for integration into advanced passivated contact solar cells, but also offer the possibility of maskless patterning of these stacks, substantially simplifying such solar cell production.

How to avoid FIB-milling artefacts in micro fracture? A new geometry for interface fracture

Focused ion beam (FIB) based small-scale fracture studies have been well established in recent years despite the ongoing discussion of possible artefacts caused by FIB milling. Stable crack growth geometries—where the FIB-prepared notch stably propagates through the sample—have the potential to ameliorate some of the FIB-based challenges. In this work, we propose a new sample geometry for testing interface toughness at the micron scale which results in intrinsically stable crack growth. This geometry is straightforward to fabricate using established FIB-based methods and testing setups. We prove the stability of crack growth by finite element modelling and by experimentally applying the approach on a hard coating–silicon interface. We observe that even with small imperfections, the FIB-milled notch propagates towards the interface and the natural crack stably grows along the interface.

Design and performance assessment of a vertical feedback FET

This paper proposes the structure of a vertical PNPN single gated feedback field-effect transistor (vertical FBFET) and investigates its performance using a TCAD simulator. The performance of the device is investigated against variations in a few geometrical and process parameters. The device exhibits an ultra-steep switching characteristic with a minimum subthreshold swing of 0.03 mV/dec and a high ON/OFF current ratio of ∼1011. Subsequently, the hysteresis characteristic of the vertical FBFET is analyzed against variation in interface trap charges at Si and Al2O3 interfaces. Due to the presence of negative/positive interface trap charges at silicon and Al2O3 interface, the memory window is enlarged/reduced from 1.1 V to 1.21 V/0.96 V respectively. The vertical FBFET also shows a wide variation in the memory window for channel length and temperature variations.

Ultra-thin Ag/Si heterojunction hot-carrier photovoltaic conversion Schottky devices for harvesting solar energy at wavelength above 1.1 µm

Traditional silicon solar cells can only absorb the solar spectrum at wavelengths below 1.1 μm. Here we proposed a breakthrough in harvesting solar energy below Si bandgap through conversion of hot carriers generated in the metal into a current using an energy barrier at the metal–semiconductor junction. Under appropriate conditions, the photo-excited hot carriers can quickly pass through the energy barrier and lead to photocurrent, maximizing the use of excitation energy and reducing waste heat consumption. Compared with conventional silicon solar cells, hot-carrier photovoltaic conversion Schottky device has better absorption and conversion efficiency for an infrared regime above 1.1 μm, expands the absorption wavelength range of silicon-based solar cells, makes more effective use of the entire solar spectrum, and further improves the photovoltaic performance of metal–silicon interface components by controlling the evaporation rate, deposition thickness, and annealing temperature of the metal layer. Finally, the conversion efficiency 3.316% is achieved under the infrared regime with a wavelength of more than 1100 nm and an irradiance of 13.85 mW/cm2.

Fundamental optical logic gate operations using optically controlled two surfaces plasmonic polariton mode coupler based on graphene clad waveguide

Here, an optical pulse controlled 2 × 2 surface–plasmon–polariton (SPP) mode interference coupler based on graphene clad is designed for the operation of optical fundamental gates. Exploiting the light–matter interactions on graphene–silicon interface and nonlinear optical property of graphene, coupling characteristics are obtained as a function of extra phase change between the excited SPP modes (fundamental and first order) modes with incidence of optical pulse. The device with a very small coupling length of ∼4.3 μm shows optical NOT, AND, and OR gate operation. Our compact design with high fabrication tolerance opens an avenue for the development of a complex optical processor.

Interfacial Connections between Organic Perovskite/n+ Silicon/Catalyst that Allow Integration of Solar Cell and Catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution from Water

AbstractThe rapidly increasing solar conversion efficiency (PCE) of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite (HOIP) thin‐film semiconductors has triggered interest in their use for direct solar‐driven water splitting to produce hydrogen. However, application of these low‐cost, electronic‐structure‐tunable HOIP tandem photoabsorbers has been hindered by the instability of the photovoltaic‐catalyst‐electrolyte (PV+E) interfaces. Here, photolytic water splitting is demonstrated using an integrated configuration consisting of an HOIP/n+silicon single junction photoabsorber and a platinum (Pt) thin film catalyst. An extended electrochemical (EC) lifetime in alkaline media is achieved using titanium nitride on both sides of the Si support to eliminate formation of insulating silicon oxide, and as an effective diffusion barrier to allow high‐temperature annealing of the catalyst/TiO2‐protected‐n+silicon interface necessary to retard electrolytic corrosion. Halide composition is examined in the (FA1‐xCsx)PbI3 system with a bandgap suitable for tandem operation. A fill factor of 72.5% is achieved using a Spiro‐OMeTAD‐hole‐transport‐layer (HTL)‐based HOIP/n+Si solar cell, and a high photocurrent density of −15.9 mA cm−2 (at 0 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode) is attained for the HOIP/n+Si/Pt photocathode in 1 m NaOH under simulated 1‐sun illumination. While this thin‐film design creates stable interfaces, the intrinsic photo‐ and electro‐degradation of the HOIP photoabsorber remains the main obstacle for future HOIP/Si tandem PEC devices.

The Physics behind the Modulation of Thermionic Current in Photodetectors Based on Graphene Embedded between Amorphous and Crystalline Silicon.

In this work, we investigate a vertically illuminated near-infrared photodetector based on a graphene layer physically embedded between a crystalline and a hydrogenated silicon layer. Under near-infrared illumination, our devices show an unforeseen increase in the thermionic current. This effect has been ascribed to the lowering of the graphene/crystalline silicon Schottky barrier as the result of an upward shift in the graphene Fermi level induced by the charge carriers released from traps localized at the graphene/amorphous silicon interface under illumination. A complex model reproducing the experimental observations has been presented and discussed. Responsivity of our devices exhibits a maximum value of 27 mA/W at 1543 nm under an optical power of 8.7 μW, which could be further improved at lower optical power. Our findings offer new insights, highlighting at the same time a new detection mechanism which could be exploited for developing near-infrared silicon photodetectors suitable for power monitoring applications.

Terahertz fiber link using dielectric silicon waveguide interface.

Nascent data-intensive emerging technologies are mandating low-loss, short-range interconnects, whereas existing interconnects suffer from high losses and low aggregate data throughput owing to a lack of efficient interfaces. Here, we report an efficient 22-Gbit/s terahertz fiber link using a tapered silicon interface that serves as a coupler between the dielectric waveguide and hollow core fiber. We investigated the fundamental optical properties of hollow-core fibers by considering fibers with 0.7-mm and 1-mm core diameters. We achieved a coupling efficiency of ∼ 60% with a 3-dB bandwidth of 150 GHz in the 0.3-THz band over a 10 cm fiber.

Photovoltaics literature survey (No. 181)

Photovoltaics literature survey (No. 181)

Observing Nonpreferential Absorption of Linear and Cyclic Carbonate on the Silicon Electrode.

Silicon is reported to be a promising anode material due to its high storage capacity and excellent energy conversion rate. Molecular-level insight into the interaction between silicon electrodes and electrolyte solutions is essential for understanding the formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), but it is yet to be explored. In this study, we apply femtosecond sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy to investigate the initial adsorption of various pure and mixed electrolyte molecules on the silicon anode surface by monitoring the SFG signals from the carbonyl group of electrolyte molecules. When the silicon comes in contact with a pure carbonate solution, the linear carbonates of diethyl carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate adopt two conformations with opposite C═O orientations on the silicon interface while the cyclic carbonates of ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate almost adopt one conformation with C═O bonds pointing toward the silicon electrode. When the silicon comes in contact with the mixed linear and cyclic carbonate solutions, the total SFG intensity from the mixed solutions is approximately 2∼5 times weaker than those of pure cyclic carbonates. The C═O bonds of cyclic carbonates point toward the silicon electrode, while the C═O bonds of linear carbonates face toward the bulk solution at the silicon/mixed solution interface. No preferential absorption behaviors of the linear and cyclic carbonate electrolytes on the silicon electrode are observed. Such findings may help to understand the mechanism by which the SEI formed on the silicon anode is unstable.

Interface Engineering by Intermediate Hydrogen Plasma Treatment Using Dc-PECVD for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

The high open-circuit voltage (VOC) in silicon heterojunction solar cells is attributed to the superior amorphous–crystalline silicon interface passivation. In this work, we investigated a method called intermediate hydrogen plasma treatment (I-HPT) in which the intrinsic amorphous silicon is exposed to hydrogen plasma in between the deposition using direct current (d.c.) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. This method can not only enhance the surface passivation but also find industrial application due to its ease of integration in the production line. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveals that I-HPT makes the bulk of the amorphous matrix more disordered. We anticipate that the improvement in passivation comes from the diffusion of hydrogen from the bulk to the interface and shifting of the film closer to the “amorphous-to-microcrystalline” transition regime. Our optimized I-HPT method can obtain an implied VOC of 746 mV without annealing, which corresponds to a low surface recombination velocity of 3.2 cm/s. Therefore, we propose the I-HPT method as an alternative to high-temperature annealing which can reduce a fabrication step and processing time. The I-HPT films characterized by Raman spectroscopy do not show any hydrogen-induced crystallization. We have also demonstrated the proof of concept by applying I-HPT to a silicon heterojunction solar cell which shows ∼15 mV increase in VOC in the device and an absolute increase in efficiency by 0.3% as compared to a cell with no HPT.

Spatially‐Modulated Silicon Interface Energetics Via Hydrogen Plasma‐Assisted Atomic Layer Deposition of Ultrathin Alumina

AbstractAtomic layer deposition (ALD) is a key technique for the continued scaling of semiconductor devices, which increasingly relies on scalable processes for interface manipulation of structured surfaces on the atomic level. While ALD allows the synthesis of conformal films with utmost control over the thickness, atomically‐defined closed coatings and surface modifications are challenging to achieve because of 3D growth during nucleation. Here, a route is presented toward the sub‐nanometer thin and continuous aluminum oxide (AlOx) coatings on silicon substrates for the spatial control of the surface charge density and interface energetics. Trimethylaluminum in combination with remote hydrogen plasma is used instead of a gas‐phase oxidant for the transformation of silicon dioxide (SiO2) into alumina. Depending on the number of ALD cycles, the SiO2 can be partially or fully transformed, which is exploited to deposit ultrathin AlOx layers in selected regions defined by lithographic patterning. The resulting patterned surfaces are characterized by lateral AlOx/SiO2 interfaces possessing 0.3 nm step heights and surface potential steps exceeding 0.4 V. In addition, the introduction of fixed negative charges of 9 × 1012 cm−2 enables modulation of the surface band bending, which is relevant to the field‐effect passivation of silicon and low‐impedance charge transfer across contact interfaces.