Papers by Author: Y. Liu

Abstract: In this work, we present results on the study of bonding and concentration of carbon in 4H-SiC MOS structure by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS spectra were fitted by several Gaussian lineshape functions. It is found that the so-called carbon clusters (C-C bonds) appear at the interface of SiO2/SiC, but are not seen in the oxide bulk. However, there are still some SiOxCy and Si-C bonds inside the oxide and the integrated area ratio of SiOxCy/Si-C bonds increases when further away from the SiO2/SiC interface. These observations can be interpreted in terms of the dynamic oxidation process that transforms Si-C bonds into SiOxCy bonds, which are then further oxidized to form SiO2 bonds.

Abstract: A quantitative approach to determination of depth profiles of optical properties of Si-implanted SiO2 films based on spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) is presented. From the SE measurements, the depth profiles of the complex refractive index of SiO2 films containing Si nanocrystals (Si-nc) are obtained with an effective medium approximation (EMA) in the wavelength range of 400-1200nm. The optical profiles obtained imply the existence of a wave-guide in the Si-doped SiO2 films.

Abstract: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to characterize the Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) incorporated in SiO2 by ion implantation and subsequent thermal annealing. XPS results suggest that the as-implanted films contain a composition of a few suboxide SiOx (x<2). The dependence of XPS spectra on annealing temperature show that these suboxides decompose into SiO2 and Si nanocrystals. Due to the implanted Si+ depth profile, thermal annealing will lead to the formation of nc-Si with different sizes corresponding to the depth. Si0 peak shifts arising from the size effect of nc-Si can be clearly observed. Photo-induced charge effect from the nc-Si has been studied in this work. The potential wells induced by nc-Si in the SiO2 band gap substantially enhance the charging effect, which causes a significant shift in Si0 and C1s core levels.