Papers by Author: Raffaella Lo Nigro

Abstract: This paper reports on the macro- and nanoscale electro-structural evolution, as a function of annealing temperature, of nickel-silicide Ohmic contacts to 3C-SiC, grown on 6H-SiC substrates by a Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) technique. The structural and electrical characterization of the contacts, carried out by combining different techniques, showed a correlation between the annealing temperature and the electrical characteristics in both the macro- and the nanoscale measurements. Increasing the annealing temperature between 600 and 950 °C caused a gradual increase of the uniformity of the nanoscale current-distribution, with an accompanying reduction of the specific contact resistance from 5 x 10-5 to 8.4 x 10-6 Ωcm2. After high temperature annealing (950 °C) the structural composition of the contacts stabilized, as only the Ni2Si phase was detected. A comparison with previous literature findings suggests a superior crystalline quality of the single domain VLS 3C-SiC layers.

Abstract: Scanning probe microscopy with conductive tips has been used to image the dielectric properties of ceramics with giant permittivity. In particular, measurements in impedance mode and of local resistivity allowed to image the permittivity map on polycrystalline materials. Such imaging allows to correlate the dielectric properties with the local sample structure and with defects inside the single grains of the polycrystalline ceramics. However, artifacts due to surface imperfections should be distinguished from bulk properties and eliminated.

Abstract: The nano-characterization of thermal oxides grown on 4H-SiC is for the first time presented and analysed to derive its reliability. The dielectric breakdown (BD) kinetics of silicon dioxide (SiO2) thin films thermally grown on 4H-SiC has been determined by comparison between I-V measurements on large-area (up to 1.96×10-5 cm2) metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures and conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) with a resolution of a few nanometers. C-AFM clearly images the weak breakdown single spots under constant voltage stresses. The stress time on the single C-AFM tip dot has been varied from 1×10-3 to 1×10-1 s. The density of BD spots, upon increasing the stress time, exhibits an exponential trend. The Weibull slope and the characteristic time of the dielectric BD events were so determined by direct measurements at nanometer scale demonstrating that the percolation model is valid for thin thermal oxide layers on 4H-SiC (5-7nm), but it fails for larger thicknesses (10 nm).

Abstract: Praseodymium based dielectric thin films have been deposited by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD). Special emphasis has been placed upon deposition parameters crucial to obtain Pr2O3 phase and upon interfacial characterization. In addition, dielectric properties have been correlated to structural and compositional characteristics of praseodymium containing films. The breakdown (BD) characteristics of Pr2O3 films have been investigated by an innovative and handling approach based on C-AFM. Moreover, the BD kinetics have been elucidated considering the role of defects in the conduction mechanisms.

Abstract: CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) thin films have been successfully deposited by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) technique. A novel approach based on a molten multicomponent precursor source has been applied. The molten mixture consists of the Ca(hfa)2•tetraglyme, Ti(tmhd)2(O-iPr)2, and Cu(tmhd)2 [Hhfa= 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4- pentanedione; tetraglyme= 2,5,8,11,14-pentaoxapentadecane; Htmhd= 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5- heptandione; O-iPr= iso-propoxide] precursors. Film complete structural and morphological characterizations have been carried out using several techniques [X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)].