Accelerating interest in silicon nitride thin film material system continues in both academic and industrial communities due to its highly desirable physical, chemical, and electrical properties and the potential to enable new device technologies. As considered here, the silicon nitride material system encompasses both non-hydrogenated (SiNx) and hydrogenated (SiNx:H) silicon nitride, as well as silicon nitride-rich films, defined as SiNx with C inclusion, in both non-hydrogenated (SiNx(C)) and hydrogenated (SiNx:H(C)) forms. Due to the extremely high level of interest in these materials, this article is intended as a follow-up to the authors' earlier publication [A. E. Kaloyeros, F. A. Jové, J. Goff, B. Arkles, Silicon nitride and silicon nitride-rich thin film technologies: trends in deposition techniques and related applications, ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol., 6, 691 (2017)] that summarized silicon nitride research and development (R&D) trends through the end of 2016. In this survey, emphasis is placed on cutting-edge achievements and innovations from 2017 through 2019 in Si and N source chemistries, vapor phase growth processes, film properties, and emerging applications, particularly in heterodevice areas including sensors, biointerfaces and photonics.
The Electrochemical Society (ECS) was founded in 1902 to advance the theory and practice at the forefront of electrochemical and solid state science and technology, and allied subjects.
ISSN: 2162-8777
JSS is a peer-reviewed journal covering fundamental and applied areas of solid-state science and technology, including experimental and theoretical aspects of the chemistry, and physics of materials and devices.
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Alain E. Kaloyeros et al 2020 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 9 063006
Roy Knechtel et al 2021 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 10 074008
Wafer bonding is an important process step in microsystem technologies for processing engineered substrates and for capping. Usually, the work and literature are focused on the bonding of the main wafer area. However, in recent years MEMS technologies have become more complex, with more process steps after wafer bonding. Accordingly, the wafer edge is becoming more and more important, and must be engineered. Methods for realizing this are discussed in this paper.
Sandeep Arya et al 2021 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 10 023002
ZnO has several potential applications into its credit. This review article focuses on the influence of processing parameters involved during the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles by sol-gel method. During the sol-gel synthesis technique, the processing parameters/experimental conditions can affect the properties of the synthesized material. Processing parameters are the operating conditions that are to be kept under consideration during the synthesis process of nanoparticles so that various properties exhibited by the resulting nanoparticles can be tailored according to the desired applications. Effect of parameters like pH of the sol, additives used (like capping agent, surfactant), the effect of annealing temperature and calcination on the morphology and the optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles prepared via sol-gel technique is analyzed in this study. In this study, we tried to brief the experimental investigations done by various researchers to analyze the influence of processing parameters on ZnO nanoparticles. This study will provide a platform to understand and establish a correlation between the experimental conditions and properties of ZnO nanoparticles prepared through sol-gel route which will be helpful in meeting the desired needs in various application areas.
Chunlin Zhou et al 2021 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 10 027005
In recent years, betavoltaic batteries have become an ideal power source for micro electromechanical systems. Betavoltaic battery is a device that converts the decay energy of beta emitting radioisotope sources into electrical energy using transducers. They have the advantages of high energy density, long service life, strong anti-interference ability, small size, light weight, easy miniaturization and integration, thus it has become a research hotspot in the field of micro energy. However, to date, the low energy conversion efficiencies as well as technological limitations of betavoltaic batteries impede their further application. In this review, the theory of betavoltaic energy conversion and recent understanding of the ideal material and structure design of the betavoltaic batteries for efficient exciton production, dissociation and charge transport is described, as well as recent attempts to realize optimum results. This review article concludes by identifying the remaining challenges for the improvement of battery performance and by providing perspectives toward real application of betavoltaic batteries.
Woon Jin Chung and Yoon Hee Nam 2020 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 9 016010
Phosphor-in-glass (PiG) is a mixture of a transparent glass and ceramic phosphors and has been recently commercialized for its various advantages as an inorganic color converter for white light emitting diodes (wLEDs). Since the successful demonstration of the wLED and its improved stability over the conventional phosphors in silicon or organic resins, extensive studies have been reported to improve its color conversion and resultant LED properties, such as luminescence efficacy, chromaticity, correlated color temperature and color gamut, as well as its long term stability. Various attempts have also been made to fabricate a PiG structure and to extend its applications. This study reviews the recent progress of PiG and discusses various approaches that have been proposed to overcome the technical issues related to PiG.
Alain E. Kaloyeros and Barry Arkles 2023 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 12 103001
In Part I of a two-part report, we provide a detailed and systematic review of the latest progress in cutting-edge innovations for the silicon carbide (SiC) material system, focusing on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) thin film technologies. To this end, up-to-date results from both incremental developments in traditional SiC applications as well major advances in novel SiC usages are summarized. Emphasis is placed on new chemical sources for Si and C, particularly in the form of single source SiC precursors as well as emerging molecular and atomic scale deposition techniques, with special attention to their effects on resulting film properties and performance. The review also covers relevant research and development efforts as well as their potential impact on and role in the introduction of new technological applications. Part II will focus on findings for physical vapor deposition (PVD) as well as other deposition techniques.
J. Müller et al 2015 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 4 N30
Bound to complex perovskite systems, ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) suffers from limited CMOS-compatibility and faces severe scaling issues in today's and future technology nodes. Nevertheless, compared to its current-driven non-volatile memory contenders, the field-driven FRAM excels in terms of low voltage operation and power consumption and therewith has managed to claim embedded as well as stand-alone niche markets. However, in order to overcome this restricted field of application, a material innovation is needed. With the ability to engineer ferroelectricity in HfO2, a high-k dielectric well established in memory and logic devices, a new material choice for improved manufacturability and scalability of future 1T and 1T-1C ferroelectric memories has emerged. This paper reviews the recent progress in this emerging field and critically assesses its current and future potential. Suitable memory concepts as well as new applications will be proposed accordingly. Moreover, an empirical description of the ferroelectric stabilization in HfO2 will be given, from which additional dopants as well as alternative stabilization mechanism for this phenomenon can be derived.
Yu-Cheng Syu et al 2018 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 7 Q3196
Biosensor research has been addressed as an interested field recently. Within different kinds of developed biosensing technologies, field-effect transistor (FET) based biosensors stand out due to their attractive features, such as ultra-sensitivity detection, mass-production capability, and low-cost manufacturing. To promote understandings of the FET based biosensing technology, in this review, its sensing mechanism is introduced, as well as major FET-based biosensing devices: ion sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET), silicon nanowire, organic FET, graphene FET, and compound-semiconductor FET. In addition to FET-based biosensing devices, clinical applications, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, diabetes, HIV, and DNA sequence, are also reviewed. In the end, several critical challenges of FET-based biosensing technology are discussed to envision next steps in healthcare technologies.
F. Nagano et al 2023 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 12 033002
To obtain reliable 3D stacking, a void-free bonding interface should be obtained during wafer-to-wafer direct bonding. Historically, SiO2 is the most studied dielectric layer for direct bonding applications, and it is reported to form voids at the interface. Recently, SiCN has raised as a new candidate for bonding layer. Further understanding of the mechanism behind void formation at the interface would allow to avoid bonding voids on different dielectrics. In this study, the void formation at the bonding interface was studied for a wafer pair of SiO2 and SiCN deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The presence of voids for SiO2 was confirmed after the post-bond anneal (PBA) at 350 °C by Scanning Acoustic Microscopy. Alternatively, SiCN deposited by PECVD has demonstrated a void-free interface after post bond annealing. To better understand the mechanism of void formation at the SiO2 bonding interface, we used Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy (PAS) to inspect the atomic-level open spaces and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) to evaluate the dangling bond formation by N2 plasma activation. By correlating these results with previous results, a model for void formation mechanism at the SiO2 and the absence of for SiCN bonding interface is proposed.
Kartika A. Madurani et al 2020 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 9 093013
Graphene is a thin layer carbon material that has become a hot topic of research during this decade due to its excellent thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, current density, electron mobility and surface area. These extraordinary properties make graphene to be developed and applied in various fields. On this basis, researchers are interested to find out the methods to produce high quality graphene for industrial use. Various methods have been developed and reported to produce graphene. This paper was designed to summarize the development of graphene synthesis methods and the properties of graphene products that were obtained. The application of graphene in the various fields of environment, energy, biomedical, sensors, bio-sensors, and heat-sink was also summarized in this paper. In addition, the history, challenges, and prospects of graphene production for research and industrial purposes were also discussed.
Latest articles
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Gulnaz R. Nasretdinova et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 041006
The result of cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) (CBPQT4+) –mediated reduction of gold ions generated by anodic oxidation of metallic gold in MeCN (50% vol.)—H2O/0.05 M Bu4NCl medium in the absence and presence of such stabilizers as cetyltrimethylammonium chloride and polyvinylpyrrolidone is polydisperse aggregated composite nanoparticles with sizes ranging from several nm to 100 nm or more. The resulting AuNP@(CBPQT4+)n nanocomposite is a gold nanoparticle encapsulated in a shell of macrocycle molecules. CBPQT4+ is bound to the surface of the gold nanoparticle by donor-acceptor interactions between the electron-withdrawing viologen units and the electron-donating metal particle. Theoretical calculations suggest that the cavity of the bound macrocycle is not empty, but filled with 10–12 gold atoms. CBPQT4+ presumably forms a monomolecular layer on the metal surface, and its excess amount is involved in the aggregation and sedimentation of the nanocomposites. The encapsulation of AuNPs in the macrocyclic shell is the main reason for the suppression of the metal catalytic activity in the test reaction of p-nitrophenol reduction with sodium borohydride.
Highlights
Cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) (CBPQT4+) is an effective mediator of Au(I) reduction.
The product of the mediated electrosynthesis is the nanocomposite AuNP@(CBPQT4+)n.
CBPQT4+ is bound to the AuNP (ø ∼42 nm) surface by donor-acceptor interaction.
The cavity of the bound CBPQT4+ is not empty, 10–12 gold atoms can fit into it.
Encapsulation of AuNP leads to suppression of the catalytic activity of the metal.
Umar Faryad et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 041005
The synthesis of novel and high capacitance electrode materials has attracted much attention over the last few decades to meet the needs of electrode materials in supercapacitors. Cobalt oxide, one of several vanadium oxides, has recently gained popularity due to its unique layered structure, phase transition, and applications in supercapacitors. Here, we present structural, morphological, and electrochemical analysis of Cr-doped Co3O4 nanostructures and their carbon nanotubes/reduced graphene oxide (CNT/rGO) based composites. Hydrothermal and solvothermal routes are followed to prepare the samples. The active material is developed via a polymer-based binder and is used as the electrode in a three-electrode electrochemical system. X-ray diffraction confirms the spinel-type cubic crystal structure, while the stoichiometric elemental contents are verified via an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Well-shaped layered growth of the nanocomposites is revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical analysis is performed using a 2 M KOH electrolyte solution and a three-electrode electrochemical setup. The pure and Cr-doped nanocomposite samples reveal a pseudo capacitive behavior in all samples. The systematic capacitive and resistive response of the samples has also been presented in this report. The aforementioned attributes make the synthesized specimen a potential candidate for an electrode material.
Husam Nahedh et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 043009
The hydrothermal method successfully prepares a lead-free sodium bismuth titanate (NBT) perovskite film. The prepared films were studied structurally, and morphologically using X-ray diffraction, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. Varying the concentration of NaOH showed a noticeable effect on the properties studied. Good crystallization of NBT perovskite films without impurities was obtained at 18 and 20 M concentrations, where the crystalline size was 14 nm according to the Scherer equation. Also, when varying the concentration of NaOH, a similar film thickness was obtained through a cross-section of the FESEM images. It was observed that there was a difference in the intensity of the peaks of the photoluminescence spectra of the prepared films with a change in the concentration of NaOH, which confirms a change in the concentration of oxygen vacancies. The activation energy of the prepared films was deduced from the Arrhenius plot, as it showed small values in the films prepared with a low concentration of NaOH. The results showed that the maximum value of mobility of NBT films was at 20 M of NaOH concentration through the Hall Effect.
Bakr Ahmed Taha et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 047004
Early diagnosis through noninvasive tools is a cornerstone in the realm of personalized and medical healthcare, averting direct/indirect infection transmission and directly influencing treatment outcomes and patient survival rates. In this context, optical biochip breathomic sensors integrated with nanomaterials, microfluidics, and artificial intelligence exhibit the potential to design next-generation intelligent diagnostics. This cutting-edge tool offers a variety of advantages, including being economical, compact, smart, point of care, highly sensitive, and noninvasive. This makes it an ideal avenue for screening, diagnosing, and prognosing various high-risk diseases/disorders by detecting the associated breath biomarkers. The underlying detection mechanism relies on the interaction of breath biomarkers with sensors, which causes modulations in fundamental optical attributes, such as surface plasmon resonance, fluorescence, reflectance, absorption, emission, phosphorescence, and refractive index. Despite these remarkable attributes, the commercial development of optical biochip breathomic sensors faces challenges, such as insufficient support from clinical trials, concerns about cross-sensitivity, challenges related to production scalability, validation issues, regulatory compliance, and contrasts with conventional diagnostics. This perspective article sheds light on the cutting-edge state of optical breathomic biochip sensors for disease diagnosis, addresses associated challenges, proposes alternative solutions, and explores future avenues to revolutionize personalized and medical healthcare diagnostics.
Ruihua Zheng et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 043008
In this experiment, a new lead-free piezoelectric ceramics (1−x)K0.45Na0.55Nb0.965Sb0.035O3−x(0.9Bi0.5Li0.5ZrO3−0.1SrSnO3) were prepared by the conventional solid-phase method, and the effects of the doping amount of 0.9Bi0.5Li0.5ZrO3−0.1SrSnO3 on the K0.45Na0.55Nb0.965Sb0.035O3 ceramics on the crystal structure, microstructure, microscopic structure and electrical properties. All the doping ions entered the KNN lattice and formed a dense solid solution with a single-phase structure, and the phase structure of the ceramics coexisted from orthorhombic (O) to orthorhombic-tetragonal (O-T) phases in the range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03, and transitioned to rhombohedral-tetragonal (R-T) phase coexistence when 0.035 ≤ x ≤ 0.05. The electrical properties of the ceramics were analyzed and the polymorphic phase boundary (PPB) region was obtained at x = 0.035 and had the best overall properties: d33 = 324pC/N, kp = 49%, εr = 1479, tanδ = 3.21%, Pr = 31.98 μC/cm2, Ec = 16.83 kV cm−1 and TC = 293°C. By The microstructural analysis of the ceramics showed that the appropriate amount of compound doping of the second element enhances the denseness of the ceramics as well as makes the grains uniformly distributed. These results indicate that the ceramics of this system have great prospects for future applications in the field of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics.
Review articles
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Bakr Ahmed Taha et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 047004
Early diagnosis through noninvasive tools is a cornerstone in the realm of personalized and medical healthcare, averting direct/indirect infection transmission and directly influencing treatment outcomes and patient survival rates. In this context, optical biochip breathomic sensors integrated with nanomaterials, microfluidics, and artificial intelligence exhibit the potential to design next-generation intelligent diagnostics. This cutting-edge tool offers a variety of advantages, including being economical, compact, smart, point of care, highly sensitive, and noninvasive. This makes it an ideal avenue for screening, diagnosing, and prognosing various high-risk diseases/disorders by detecting the associated breath biomarkers. The underlying detection mechanism relies on the interaction of breath biomarkers with sensors, which causes modulations in fundamental optical attributes, such as surface plasmon resonance, fluorescence, reflectance, absorption, emission, phosphorescence, and refractive index. Despite these remarkable attributes, the commercial development of optical biochip breathomic sensors faces challenges, such as insufficient support from clinical trials, concerns about cross-sensitivity, challenges related to production scalability, validation issues, regulatory compliance, and contrasts with conventional diagnostics. This perspective article sheds light on the cutting-edge state of optical breathomic biochip sensors for disease diagnosis, addresses associated challenges, proposes alternative solutions, and explores future avenues to revolutionize personalized and medical healthcare diagnostics.
Madhu Bala and Sushil Bansal 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 047003
Plant leaf disease identification is a crucial aspect of modern agriculture to enable early disease detection and prevention. Deep learning approaches have demonstrated amazing results in automating this procedure. This paper presents a comparative analysis of various deep learning methods for plant leaf disease identification, with a focus on convolutional neural networks. The performance of these techniques in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, using diverse datasets containing images of diseased leaves from various plant species was examined. This study highlights the strengths and weaknesses of different deep learning approaches, shedding light on their suitability for different plant disease identification scenarios. Additionally, the impact of transfer learning, data augmentation, and sensor data integration in enhancing disease detection accuracy is discussed. The objective of this analysis is to provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to harness the potential of deep learning in the agricultural sector, ultimately contributing to more effective and sustainable crop management practices.
Avinash Sharma et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 047002
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a significant global challenge requiring strategic solutions to address bacterial infections. Recent advancements in nanotechnology, particularly in the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using natural agents as stabilizers and reducing agents, have shown promising results in combating MDR. These nanoparticles possess strong antimicrobial properties against different strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative, making them suitable for various industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, coatings, and medical devices. ZnO-NPs work by generating reactive oxygen species, releasing zinc ions (Zn2+), disrupting the bacterial cell membrane, interfering with metabolic processes and genetic material, and inducing oxidative stress and apoptosis. However, more research is needed to refine synthesis techniques, control size and morphology, and increase antibacterial efficacy. To fully understand their potential, interactions with proteins, DNA, and bacterial cell walls must also be examined. Investigating the synergistic potential of biogenic ZnO NPs with conventional antibacterial treatments could enhance therapeutic effectiveness while minimizing the risk of resistance emergence. Here we provide insight into the advancements in biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles using bio extracts and their applications in antimicrobial resistance as well as various factors affecting the synthesis process and characterization techniques for ZnO NPs. Recent studies on the antimicrobial activity of biogenic ZnO NPs against different pathogens and their mechanisms of action are discussed. Furthermore, potential applications of biogenic ZnO NPs as antimicrobial agents are highlighted.
Alain E. Kaloyeros and Barry Arkles 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 043001
Silicon carbide (SiCx) thin films deposition processes fall primarily into three main categories: (1) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and its variants, including plasma enhanced CVD (PE-CVD); (2) physical vapor deposition (PVD), including various forms of sputtering; (3) alternative (non-CVD and non-PVD) methodologies. Part I of this two-part report ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol., 12, 103001 (2023) examined recent peer-reviewed publications available in the public domain pertaining to the various CVD processes for SiCx thin films and nanostructures, as well as CVD modeling and mechanistic studies. In Part II, we continue our detailed, systematic review of the latest progress in cutting-edge SiCx thin film innovations, focusing on PVD and other non-PVD and non-CVD SiCx coating technologies. Particular attention is given to pertinent experimental details from PVD and alternative (non-CVD and non-PVD) processing methodologies as well as their influence on resulting film properties and performance.
Paritosh Chamola et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 035001
This review is focused on the current development in domain of organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). Solar cells play a vital role for electricity production by converting sunlight to electric current. This paper presents an exhaustive literature review on advancements in field of OPVs. The solar cells, as a substitute for fossil fuels are, at the forefront in a wide range of research applications. The organic solar cells efficiency and operational lifespan made outstanding advancement by refining materials of the photoactive layer and presenting new inter-layers. The functioning of organic solar cells is centered on photoinduced electron transfer. Organic solar cell technology has immense potential owing to lower production cost and flexible characteristics. The latest advancement in the material engineering and sophisticated device structure have significantly improved the solar cells commercial feasibility. Further, we highlight the research and advancements of organic bioelectronics in powering numerous bio-medical electronic devices. The important challenges, engineering result, and forthcoming prospects driving the progress of OSCs are explored.
Editor's Choice
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Bakr Ahmed Taha et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 047004
Early diagnosis through noninvasive tools is a cornerstone in the realm of personalized and medical healthcare, averting direct/indirect infection transmission and directly influencing treatment outcomes and patient survival rates. In this context, optical biochip breathomic sensors integrated with nanomaterials, microfluidics, and artificial intelligence exhibit the potential to design next-generation intelligent diagnostics. This cutting-edge tool offers a variety of advantages, including being economical, compact, smart, point of care, highly sensitive, and noninvasive. This makes it an ideal avenue for screening, diagnosing, and prognosing various high-risk diseases/disorders by detecting the associated breath biomarkers. The underlying detection mechanism relies on the interaction of breath biomarkers with sensors, which causes modulations in fundamental optical attributes, such as surface plasmon resonance, fluorescence, reflectance, absorption, emission, phosphorescence, and refractive index. Despite these remarkable attributes, the commercial development of optical biochip breathomic sensors faces challenges, such as insufficient support from clinical trials, concerns about cross-sensitivity, challenges related to production scalability, validation issues, regulatory compliance, and contrasts with conventional diagnostics. This perspective article sheds light on the cutting-edge state of optical breathomic biochip sensors for disease diagnosis, addresses associated challenges, proposes alternative solutions, and explores future avenues to revolutionize personalized and medical healthcare diagnostics.
Sangeeta Palekar et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 027004
The pursuit of rapid diagnosis has resulted in considerable advances in blood parameter sensing technologies. As advances in technology, there may be challenges in equitable access for all individuals due to economic constraints, advanced expertise, limited accessibility in particular places, or insufficient infrastructure. Hence, simple, cost efficient, benchtop biochemical blood-sensing platform was developed for detecting crucial blood parameters for multiple disease diagnosis. Colorimetric and image processing techniques is used to evaluate color intensity. CMOS image sensor is utilized to capture images to calculate optical density for sensing. The platform is assessed with blood serum samples, including Albumin, Gamma Glutamyl Transferase, Alpha Amylase, Alkaline Phosphatase, Bilirubin, and Total Protein within clinically relevant limits. The platform had excellent Limits of Detection (LOD) for these parameters, which are critical for diagnosing liver and kidney-related diseases (0.27 g dl−1, 0.86 IU l−1, 1.24 IU l−1, 0.97 IU l−1, 0.24 mg dl−1, 0.35 g dl−1, respectively). Machine learning (ML) algorithms were used to estimate targeted blood parameter concentrations from optical density readings, with 98.48% accuracy and reduced incubation time by nearly 80%. The proposed platform is compared to commercial analyzers, which demonstrate excellent accuracy and reproducibility with remarkable precision (0.03 to 0.71%CV). The platform's robust stability of 99.84% was shown via stability analysis, indicating its practical applicability.
V. I. Nikolaev et al 2023 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 12 115001
The properties of orthorhombic κ-Ga2O3 films grown by Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth (ELOG) were studied by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM), X-ray diffraction, capacitance-voltage profiling, Microcathodoluminescence (MCL) spectroscopy and imaging. ELOG mask was formed by deposition of SiO2 stripes on TiO2 buffer prepared on basal plane sapphire, with the stripes going along the [110] direction of sapphire. κ-Ga2O3 ELOG growth was performed using Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE), with ELOG wing of the structure formed by lateral overgrowth over the 20 μm-wide SiO2 stripes, while growth in between the stripes proceeded initially by vertical growth in the 5-μm-wide windows. TEM analysis showed that the material in the windows comprised 120o rotational nanodomains typical of κ-Ga2O3, while, in the wing regions, the material was single-domain monocrystalline. The films were conducting, with the net donor density close to 1013 cm−3. The data suggested the material in the windows have much higher resistance than in the wings. MCL spectra and imaging revealed much higher density of nonradiative recombination centers in the windows than in the wings.
Younghyun You et al 2023 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 12 075009
WS2 is an emerging semiconductor with potential applications in next-generation device architecture owing to its excellent electrical and physical properties. However, the presence of inevitable surface contaminants and oxide layers limits the performance of WS2-based field-effect transistors (FETs); therefore, novel methods are required to restore the pristine WS2 surface. In this study, the thickness of a WS2 layer was adjusted and its surface was restored to a pristine state by fabricating a recessed-channel structure through a combination of self-limiting remote plasma oxidation and KOH solution etching processes. The reaction between the KOH solution and WOX enabled layer-by-layer thickness control as the topmost oxide layer was selectively removed during the wet-etching process. The thickness of the WS2 layer decreased linearly with the number of recess cycles, and the vertical etch rate was estimated to be approximately 0.65 nm cycle−1. Micro-Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that the layer-by-layer etching process had a nominal effect on the crystallinity of the underlying WS2 channel. Finally, the pristine state was recovered by removing ambient molecules and oxide layers from the surface of the WS2 channel, which resulted in a high-performance FET with a current on/off ratio greater than 106. This method, which provides a facile approach to restoring the pristine surfaces of transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors with precise thickness control, has potential applications in various fields such as TMDC-based (opto)electronic and sensor devices.
Vimal Kumar et al 2023 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 12 047001
For electrical sliding contact applications, there are important criteria such as superior tribological qualities in addition to strong electrical conductivity. This calls for the development of advanced metal matrix composites based on copper. Although adding graphite to a copper matrix results in a self-lubricating feature, the composite's strength declines. Harder ceramic particles like SiC, TiC, and Al2O3 may be used to reinforce the composite to increase its strength. This study looked at the construction of a hybrid composite made of a copper metal matrix reinforced with TiC and graphite particles. The impact of TiC (5, 10, and 15 vol.%) and graphite (5 and 10 vol.%) reinforcements on the structural, physical and mechanical characteristics of copper-TiC-graphite hybrid composites that were microwave-sintered are thoroughly explored. The consistent distribution of reinforcements in the copper matrix is seen in micrographs. In comparison to traditionally sintered composites, microwave-sintered ones showed greater relative density, sintered density, and hardness.
Accepted manuscripts
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RAMASAMY et al
COPD is a respiratory disease with a high mortality rate worldwide. The major cause of death in COPD patients is due to late diagnosis. Early detection of COPD is crucial for significantly reducing the risk of death but is challenging to attain. A distinguished way to early diagnosis is by using the nanosensor for sensing the COPD breath biomarkers. For the first time, we report an armchair silicene nanoribbon (ASiNR) as a promising sensing material for the diagnosis of hexanal a COPD breath biomarker. In this present study, the density functional theory (DFT) with Grimme D2 corrected approach was incorporated to observe the ground state electronic properties and adsorption mechanism of hexanal on the pristine, defect induced (D) and B-, C-, and N-doped ASiNR systems. N-ASiNR systems show the highest adsorption energy value among previously reported works due to the presence of strong covalent interaction, and it does not show recovery at room temperature. The B-ASiNR system with higher charge transfer exhibits large work function change with the fastest recovery at room temperature in 1.81 s. Our results confirms B-doped ASiNR system acts as an efficient reusable work function-based sensor for the early diagnosis of COPD at room temperature.
Bi et al
High-performance and cost-effective microwave absorbing materials are of vital importance in not only military but also civil fields. Here, an in-situ generation-carbonization one-step method is proposed to synthesize excellent absorbents based on a common solid waste, willow catkins. The results demonstrate that the microwave absorption performance has been successfully improved owing to the magnetic particles, the core-shell nanoparticles, and the hierarchical porous structure, which results in strong conductivity loss, dielectric loss, magnetic loss, interface polarization, and multiple scattering. The maximum reflection loss (RLmax) reaches up to -50.66 dB and -49.09 dB, respectively, at 16.6 and 17.1 GHz with the thickness of 1.65 mm, resulting in double-peak absorption. What’s more, the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL<−10 dB) can get up to 5.7 GHz (from 12.4 to 18 GHz) with the thickness of 1.84 mm. Great absorption performance can be obtained simply through impregnation and carbonization, which constructs a fruitful and cost-effective paradigm for resource utilization of solid waste such as willow catkins.
Altuijri et al
This work study the effects of argon beam irradiation on surface properties of CA/PANI films using cold cathode source with varying ion fluences (4×1014, 8×1014, and 12×1014 ions/cm2). The EDX, SEM and FTIR methods verified successful fabrication of the composites. Surface free energy, contact angle, and work of adhesion were measured for both the pure and irradiated films. Raising the ion flux from 4x1014 ions.cm-2 to 12x1014 ions.cm-2 it decreases the contact angle of CA/PANI from 62.1o to 43.4o and increases the surface free energy from 46.7 to 63.9 mJ/m2. The results showed that the CA/PANI changed after exposed to radiation, proving that the irradiated surface properties were improved. In addition, their electrical conductivity was tested in the frequency range of 50 to106 Hz for CA/PANI films. When subjected to 12x1014 ions.cm-2, the conductivity rose from 1.1×10-8 S/cm for CA/PANI to 6.5×10-7 S/cm. The results showed that the irradiated CA/PANI had better electrical and surface properties, which is crucial for many devices including batteries and supercapacitors
Kumari et al
Detection of glucose is highly informative, creating a constant demand for fabricating high-precision glucose biosensors. Metal–organic frameworks, a family of porous materials renowned for their tunability, can be an excellent choice for developing such sensors. We have developed a highly-sensitive, non-enzymatic sensor for electrochemical detection of glucose fabricated using Copper Metal–Organic Framework (Cu MOF), synthesized by a simple, room-temperature stirring method using Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (BTC) as ligand and Copper nitrate trihydrate as precursor. The synthesized nanostructure was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray analytical techniques. Powder X-ray diffraction study and thermogravimetric analysis were also done. Further, Brunnauer-Emmett-Teller analysis revealed the porous nature of Cu MOF. The materials exhibited strong electro-catalytic activity for glucose oxidation as revealed from cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometric studies done under alkaline pH conditions. The Cu MOF deposited on a conducting graphite sheet electrode displayed a significantly low detection limit of 0.019 mM through a broad detection range (1–15 mM) and a strong sensitivity of 229.4 μAmM-1 cm2. Overall, the Cu MOF/GS exhibits exceptional stability, short response time (less than 1s), and good repeatability and reproducibility, making it a promising future material for non-enzymatic glucose detection.
Vadnala et al
This research explored the temperature dependence magnetization, magnetocaloric effect, and critical field analysis of Nd0.7-xLaxSr0.3MnO3 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) manganites samples synthesized through solid state reaction route. The substitution of La3+ at Nd3+ site enhances the A-site average ionic radius ( ) from 1.321 Å (for x = 0.0) to 1.348 Å (for x = 0.3). An increase in reduced the internal chemical pressure inside the lattice such that the Mn-O-Mn bond angle approached 180°. In addition, an increase in Mn-O-Mn bond angle supresses the spin-lattice interaction, which consequently reduces the change in maximum magnetic entropy at the magnetic transition temperature. This implies that variation of A-site average ionic radius influences the change in maximum magnetic entropy. The critical behavior of the manganite samples was addressed based on the data of magnetization measurements around the transition temperature TC. Various techniques such as modified Arrott plot, a Kouvel–Fisher method, and critical isotherm analysis were used to measure the values of the ferromagnetic transition temperature TC, as well as the critical exponents of β, γ, and δ. The magnetic order parameter is very well obeyed with scaling relation with change in magnetic entropy.
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William Cheng-Yu Ma et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 045003
This work explores the characteristics of ferroelectric thin-film transistors (FeTFTs) utilizing an asymmetric dual-gate (DG) structure in both single-gate (SG) and DG operation modes. In the transfer characteristics, DG mode exhibits a memory window (MW) of 1.075 V, smaller than SG mode’s MW of 1.402 V, attributed to the back-gate bias effect causing a reduction in the device’s threshold voltage. However, DG mode demonstrates superior endurance characteristics with 106 cycles compared to SG mode’s 105 cycles. Additionally, the increase in erase pulse voltage (VERS) exacerbates the polycrystalline-silicon channel lattice damage of FeTFT, resulting in subthreshold swing (SS) degradation. Nevertheless, the extent of SS degradation from DG mode operation is significantly lower than that of SG mode, contributing to the superior endurance of DG mode. The elevation of program pulse voltage (VPRG) induces imprint and charge-trapping effects in the top-gate ferroelectric dielectric, leading to reduced endurance. Due to the use of SiO2 as the back-gate dielectric in FeTFT, DG mode exhibits lower impacts of charge-trapping effects from the top-gate ferroelectric dielectric layer, resulting in better endurance compared to SG mode. The asymmetric DG structure provides greater tolerance in the selection of VPRG and VERS.
Yuga Osada and Takashi Yanagishita 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 043007
Fe substrates with a depression pattern were anodized to obtain Fe oxide films with a nanohoneycomb structure and orderly arranged cylindrical pores of uniform size. Crystalline Fe oxide films could be obtained by the heat treatment of amorphous samples obtained by the anodization of Fe substrates, but the atmosphere during heat treatment had a significant effect on the surface structure and crystallinity of the resulting samples. The heat treatment of the anodized samples in air produced a crystalline Fe oxide film consisting of Fe2O3 and Fe3O4, but the nanohoneycomb structure could not be maintained above 400 °C because the Fe substrate was oxidized during the heat treatment, and its surface structure changed significantly. On the other hand, the heat treatment of the anodized samples in N2 atmosphere yielded Fe3O4 nanohoneycombs, which retained their regular honeycomb structure after heat treatment. The evaluation of the capacitor properties of the heat-treated samples showed that the properties differed markedly owing to the effects of the surface structure and crystallinity, with the sample heat-treated at 400 °C in N2 atmosphere with the largest specific capacitance. The Fe3O4 nanohoneycombs obtained in this study are expected to be useful as electrodes for high-capacity capacitors.
Yoshihiro Irokawa et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 045002
Changes in the hydrogen-induced Schottky barrier height (ΦB) of Pt/GaN rectifiers fabricated on free-standing GaN substrates were investigated using current–voltage, capacitance–voltage, impedance spectroscopy, and current–time measurements. Ambient hydrogen lowered the ΦB and reduced the resistance of the semiconductor space–charge region while only weakly affecting the ideality factor, carrier concentration, and capacitance of the semiconductor space–charge region. The changes in the ΦB were reversible; specifically, the decrease in ΦB upon hydrogen exposure occurred quickly, but the recovery was slow. The results also showed that exposure to dry air and/or the application of a reverse bias to the Schottky electrodes accelerated the reversion compared with the case without the applied bias. The former case resulted in fast reversion because of the catalytic effect of Pt. The latter case, by contrast, suggested that hydrogen was incorporated into the Pt/GaN interface oxides as positive mobile charges. Moreover, both exposure to dry air and the application of a reverse bias increased the ΦB of an as-loaded sample from 0.91 to 1.07 eV, revealing that the ΦB of Pt/GaN rectifiers was kept lower as a result of hydrogen incorporation that likely occurred during device processing and/or storage.
Alain E. Kaloyeros and Barry Arkles 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 043001
Silicon carbide (SiCx) thin films deposition processes fall primarily into three main categories: (1) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and its variants, including plasma enhanced CVD (PE-CVD); (2) physical vapor deposition (PVD), including various forms of sputtering; (3) alternative (non-CVD and non-PVD) methodologies. Part I of this two-part report ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol., 12, 103001 (2023) examined recent peer-reviewed publications available in the public domain pertaining to the various CVD processes for SiCx thin films and nanostructures, as well as CVD modeling and mechanistic studies. In Part II, we continue our detailed, systematic review of the latest progress in cutting-edge SiCx thin film innovations, focusing on PVD and other non-PVD and non-CVD SiCx coating technologies. Particular attention is given to pertinent experimental details from PVD and alternative (non-CVD and non-PVD) processing methodologies as well as their influence on resulting film properties and performance.
Yajie Zou et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 041001
Semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs), characterized by high carrier mobility and atomic thickness, are considered ideal channel materials for building high-performance and ultimate-scale field-effect transistors for future electronics. Here, we present a data-calibrated compact model of CNT field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) that incorporates temperature effects using the virtual source approach. The proposed model also includes the self-heating effect. Temperature effect was characterized by the influence of temperature on devices, achieved through establishing a temperature-dependent semi-empirical model of carrier mobility and carrier velocity. The proposed model can be easily implemented in a simulator. We designed a two-stage operational amplifier (OPAMP) using the proposed model at 32 nm technology. Compared with other studies, the designed CNTFET-based OPAMP demonstrates lower power consumption, which is beneficial for exploring the biological applications of low-power analog circuits in portable electronic devices. Furthermore, the impact of thermal variations on the design of OPAMP, as per the proposed model, was delineated. Investigations revealed that our circuit maintains a high common mode rejection ratio, which diminishes as the temperature increases and exhibits a moderate gain value that escalates with temperature.
Chia Feng Hsu et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 035004
In the study, the ITO/Cu-doped Fe2O3/ITO thin film RRAM is prepared using an RF sputtering system. The XRD pattern shows that the Cu:Fe2O3 thin film has a rhombohedral structure and does not display secondary or impurity phases for copper. Results revealed that the standard deviation and average voltage of Cu:Fe2O3 thin film are −1.98 and 0.92 V for Vset, respectively, while those for Vreset are 1.31 and 0.39 V, respectively. The resistive switching cycles and data retention test times of the Cu:Fe2O3 thin film device show that the on/off ratio is 39.4 and over 104 s. These results indicated that the Cu-doped Fe2O3 thin film can improve the performance of RRAM.
Jian-Sian Li et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 035003
Vertical heterojunction NiO/β n-Ga2O/n+ Ga2O3 rectifiers with 100 μm diameter fabricated on ∼17–18 μm thick drift layers with carrier concentration 8.8 × 1015 cm−3 and employing simple dual-layer PECVD SiNx/SiO2 edge termination demonstrate breakdown voltages (VB) up to 13.5 kV, on-voltage (VON) of ∼2.2 V and on-state resistance RON of 11.1–12 mΩ.cm2. Without edge termination, the maximum VB was 7.9 kV. The average critical breakdown field in heterojunctions was ∼7.4–9.4 MV. cm−1, within the reported theoretical value range from 8–15 MV.cm−1 for β-Ga2O3. For large area (1 mm diameter) heterojunction deives, the maximum VB was 7.2 kV with optimized edge termination and 3.9 kV without edge termination. The associated maximum power figure-of-merit, VB2/RON is 15.2 GW·cm−2 for small area devices and 0.65 GW.cm−2 for large area devices. By sharp contrast, small area Schottky rectifiers concurrently fabricated on the same drift layers had maximum VB of 3.6 kV with edge termination and 2.7 kV without edge termination, but lower VON of 0.71–0.75 V. The average critical breakdown field in these devices was in the range 1.9–2.7 MV. cm−1, showing the importance of both the heterojunction and edge termination. Transmission electron microscopy showed an absence of lattice damage between the PECVD and sputtered films within the device and the underlying epitaxial Ga2O3. The key advances are thicker, lower doped drift layers and optimization of edge termination design and deposition processes.
Koji Kobayashi et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 033004
Technology computer-aided design (TCAD) kinetic Monte Carlo simulations revealed the unique recrystallization processes of discrete amorphous regions connected to a buried amorphous layer in a C3H5-molecular-ion-implanted silicon (Si) substrate. The faithful simulation models show that the discrete amorphous regions are first recrystallized two-dimensionally in the lateral direction from both sides and separated from the buried amorphous layer. Then, the separated discrete amorphous regions are recrystallized three-dimensionally in the lateral and vertical directions from both sides and the bottom. We found that the first two-dimensional recrystallization of discrete amorphous regions is caused by the retardation of solid-phase epitaxial growth at the Si substrate surface and near the buried amorphous layer. We also found that the large (small) discrete amorphous regions require a long (short) two-dimensional recrystallization before separating from the buried amorphous layer. The transition point in the recrystallization dimension can be determined from the lateral recrystallization length and the equivalent radius of discrete amorphous regions.
Liqun Zhao et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 021004
Electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers and electromagnetic shielding materials have attracted much attention in recent years. In this paper, Ni/wood-based porous carbon (WPC) composite material was prepared via morphology genetic method by using nickel chloride and poplar as raw material, The experimental results show that the microwave absorbing properties of the materials are related to the pyrolysis temperature, when the pyrolysis temperature settle at 700 °C, the minimum reflection loss of WPC-Ni can reach-60.4 dB with the thickness of 2.93 mm. Moreover, the effective absorption bandwidth has been greatly broadened up to 7.3 GHz when the thickness is 2.63 mm. The reason for such excellent wave absorbing performance is that the introduction of magnetic particles Ni and WPC-Ni regular straight channels improve impedance matching, the heterogeneous interface of Ni/ wood increases the polarization loss of electromagnetic waves. It is believed that this work can provide a new idea for the preparation of low-cost and high-efficiency broadband microwave absorber.
Highlights
A simple and easy method to prepare Ni/ wood composite hierarchically porous structure materials.
The minimum reflection loss value reaches −60.4 dB with the thickness of 2.93 mm, and the effective absorption bandwidth is 7.3 GHz when the thickness is 2.63 mm.
A unique three-dimensional pore structure combined with the waveguide theory, the electromagnetic wave can reflect the loss many times in the channel, which improves the microwave absorbing performance of the material.
Md Hafijur Rahman et al 2024 ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 13 025003
Thermal annealing is commonly used in fabrication processing and/or performance enhancement of electronic and opto-electronic devices. In this study, we investigate an alternative approach, where high current density pulses are used instead of high temperature. The basic premise is that the electron wind force, resulting from the momentum loss of high-energy electrons at defect sites, is capable of mobilizing internal defects. The proposed technique is demonstrated on commercially available optoelectronic devices with two different initial conditions. The first study involved a thermally degraded edge-emitting laser diode. About 90% of the resulting increase in forward current was mitigated by the proposed annealing technique where very low duty cycle was used to suppress any temperature rise. The second study was more challenging, where a pristine vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) was subjected to similar processing to see if the technique can enhance performance. Encouragingly, this treatment yielded a notable improvement of over 20% in the forward current. These findings underscore the potential of electropulsing as an efficient in-operando technique for damage recovery and performance enhancement in optoelectronic devices.