HfO2/SiO2 chirped mirrors manufactured by electron beam evaporation

A HfO2/SiO2 chirped mirror was manufactured by electron beam evaporation to increase the laser resistance. The hybrid monitoring strategy utilizing both monochromatic monitoring and quartz crystal monitoring was applied to the deposition compared to the single optical monitoring method. The coatings were characterized by transmission spectrophotometer and white light interferometry, and the experimental results showed that the chirped mirror monitored with the hybrid strategy possessed high reflectivity (>99.7%) and tolerable group delay dispersion oscillation (-50±20?fs2) in the spectra range of 740-860?nm.     

Optical properties of the Al2O3/SiO2 and Al2O3/HfO2/SiO2 antireflective coatings

Investigations of bilayer and trilayer Al₂O₃/SiO₂ and Al₂O₃/HfO₂/SiO₂ antireflective coatings are presented in this paper. The oxide films were deposited on a heated quartz glass by e-gun evaporation in a vacuum of 5 × 10^?3 [Pa] in the presence of oxygen. Depositions were performed at three different temperatures of the substrates: 100 °C, 200 °C and 300 °C. The coatings were deposited onto optical quartz glass (Corning HPFS). The thickness and deposition rate were controlled with Inficon XTC/2 thickness measuring system. Deposition rate was equal to 0.6 nm/s for Al₂O₃, 0.6 nm ? 0.8 nm/s for HfO₂ and 0.6 nm/s for SiO₂. Simulations leading to optimization of the thin film thickness and the experimental results of optical measurements, which were carried out during and after the deposition process, have been presented. The optical thickness values, obtained from the measurements performed during the deposition process were as follows: 78 nm/78 nm for Al₂O₃/SiO₂ and 78 nm/156 nm/78 nm for Al₂O₃/HfO₂/SiO₂. The results were then checked by ellipsometric technique. Reflectance of the films depended on the substrate temperature during the deposition process. Starting from 240 nm to the beginning of visible region, the average reflectance of the trilayer system was below 1 % and for the bilayer, minima of the reflectance were equal to 1.6 %, 1.15 % and 0.8 % for deposition temperatures of 100 °C, 200 °C and 300 °C, respectively.     

Laser damage study of nodules in electron-beam-evaporated HfO2/SiO2 high reflectors

A reactive electron beam evaporation process was used to fabricate 1.064?μm HfO2/SiO2 high reflectors. The deposition process was optimized to reduce the nodular density. Cross-sectioning of nodular defects by a focused ion-beam milling instrument showed that the nodule seeds were the residual particles on the substrate and the particulates from the silica source "splitting." After optimizing the substrate preparation procedure and the evaporation process, a low nodular density of 2.7/mm2 was achieved. The laser damage test revealed that the ejection fluences and damage growth behaviors of nodules created from deep or shallow seeds were totally different. A mechanism based on directional plasma scald was proposed to interpret observed damage growth phenomenon.     

Amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors with SiO2/HfO2 double-layer gate dielectric fabricated at low temperature

Amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) with double-layer gate dielectric were fabricated at low temperature and characterized. A stacked 150 nm-thick SiO₂/50 nm-thick HfO₂ dielectric layer was employed to improve the capacitance and leakage characteristics of the gate oxide. The SiO₂/HfO₂ showed a higher capacitance of 35 nF/cm² and a lower leakage current density of 4.6 nA/cm² than 200 nm-thick SiO₂. The obtained saturation mobility (μ_sat), threshold voltage (V_th), and subthreshold swing (S) of the fabricated TFTs were 18.8 cm² V^?1 s^?1, 0.88 V, and 0.48 V/decade, respectively. Furthermore, it was found that oxygen pressure during the IGZO channel layer deposition had a great influence on the performance of the TFTs.     

Nonvolatile floating gate memory containing AgInSbTe-SiO2 nanocomposite layer and capping the HfO2/SiO2 composite blocking oxide layer

An extremely large memory window shift of about 30.7 V and high charge storage density =2.3 × 10(13) cm(-2) at ± 23 V gate voltage sweep were achieved in the nonvolatile floating gate memory (NFGM) device containing the AgInSbTe (AIST)-SiO(2) nanocomposite as the charge trap layer and HfO(2)/SiO(2) as the blocking oxide layer. Due to the deep trap sites formed by high-density AIST nanocrystals (NCs) in the nanocomposite matrix and the high-barrier-height feature of the composite blocking oxide layer, a good retention property of the device with a charge loss of about 16.1% at ± 15 V gate voltage stress for 10(4) s at the test temperature of 85?°C was observed. In addition to inhibiting the Hf diffusion into the programming layer, incorporation of the SiO(2) layer prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition in the sample provided a good Coulomb blockade effect and allowed significant charge storage in AIST NCs. Analytical results demonstrated the feasibility of an AIST-SiO(2) nanocomposite layer in memory device fabrication with a simplified processing method and post-annealing at a comparatively low temperature of 400?°C in comparison with previous NC-based NFGM studies.     

Molybdenum/beryllium multilayer mirrors for normal incidence in the extreme ultraviolet

We report on a series of normal-incidence reflectance measurements at wavelengths just longer than the beryllium K-edge (11.1 nm) from molybdenum/beryllium multilayer mirrors. The highest peak reflectance was 68.7 ± 0.2% at λ = 11.3 nm obtained from a mirror with 70 bilayers ending in beryllium. To our knowledge, this is the highest normal-incidence reflectance that has been demonstrated in the 1-80-nm spectral range.     

Line-focusing holographic mirrors for solar ultraviolet energy concentration

We report on the design and the construction of a 1.3-m(2) UV selective solar concentrator intended for photocatalytic water detoxification processes. This concentrator was made by assembling 30 cm x 30 cm line-focusing holographic mirrors. Holograms with an 80% diffraction efficiency concentrate ~40% of the incident solar energy, which is effective for exciting an aqueous suspension of the TiO(2) photocatalyst, and transmit unnecessary longwave radiation. Major problems, such as the low sensitivity of the dichromated gelatin used for recording the holograms and wavelength dispersion, are discussed.     

Tunneling currents through ultra thin HfO2/Al2O3/HfO2 triple layer gate dielectrics for advanced MIS devices

The dramatic scaling down of silicon integrated circuits has led to an intensive study of high dielectric constant materials as an alternative to the conventional insulators currently employed in microelectronics, i.e., silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or oxynitride, which seem to have reached their physical limit in terms of reduction of thickness due to large leakage gate current. Introducing a physically thicker high-K material can reduce the leakage current to the acceptable limit. There are many potential candidates for high-K gate dielectrics with the K-valves ranging from 9 to 80. These are Al₂O₃, Y₂O₃, La₂O₃, Ta₂O₅, TiO₂, ZrO₂ and HfO₂. It is important to study the various leakage mechanisms in these films with the aim of improving their leakage current characteristics for use in advanced microelectronics devices. A procedure for calculating the tunneling current for stacked dielectrics is developed and subsequently applied to ultra thin films with equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 3.0 nm. Tunneling currents have been calculated as a function of gate voltage for different structures. Direct and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling currents through triple layer dielectrics are investigated for substrate injection. Using exact tunneling transmission calculations, current density–gate voltage (J _g?V _g) characteristics for ultra thin single layer gate dielectrics with different thicknesses have been shown to agree well with recently reported experiments. Extensions of this approach demonstrate that tunneling currents in HfO₂/Al₂O₃/HfO₂ structure with equivalent oxide thickness of 3.0 nm can be significantly lower than that through single layer oxides of the same thickness.     

Reflectance spectra of extreme ultraviolet mirrors for synchrotron radiation

Reflectance spectra have been measured for many materials in the wavelength range from 90 Å to 400 Å. The angle of incidence ranged from 20° to 85°. The samples were chemical-vapor-deposited silicon carbide (CVD-SiC), a single crystal of silicon with (100) surface, fused quartz, zerodur, pyrex, gold, platinum, copper and two kinds of steel. To obtain reflectances for surfaces for practical use, measurements were made on surfaces sufficiently exposed to air. Reflectances for s-polarized light (R_s) were measured for all samples. On CVD-SiC, gold and platinum, reflectances for p-polarized light (R_P) were also observed. At short wavelengths and large angles of incidence, the difference between R_s and R_P is small, and R_P happened to exceed R_s in contrast to the result from the Fresnel equation. This may be due to the deviation of the present surfaces of mirrors from an ideal plane. Reflectance spectra of surfaces prepared by some feasible techniques are also presented.     

Synthesis of micron-sized porous CeO2SiO2 composite particles for ultraviolet absorption

Micron-sized porous composite particles composed of CeO₂ and SiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared for a UV absorption application by an aerosol spray-drying process from as-prepared CeO₂ nanoparticles, commercial SiO₂, and a polystyrene latex template. The morphology, structure crystallinity and pore size distribution of the as-prepared porous CeO₂SiO₂ composite particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method, respectively. The porous CeO₂SiO₂ composite particles, with diameters of approximately 10 μm, showed a spherical morphology. As the contents of CeO₂ in the precursor was increased from 0.25 wt% to 1.5 wt%, we observed a change in the morphology of the composite particles from compactly packed porous particles to loosely packed porous particles. The as-prepared CeO₂SiO₂ composite particles were composed of meso- and macropores in the range of 3–200 nm. The effect of the CeO₂ content on the porous composite particles in terms of the UV absorption properties was also investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy. When the content of CeO₂ exceeded 0.75 wt% in the precursor, the particles showed higher UV absorption values compared to those of commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles. The as-prepared porous CeO₂SiO₂ composite particles can therefore be promising materials given their high UV absorption value.     

SiO2f/SiO2-BN复合材料的制备及其性能

以石英纤维预制件和硅溶胶为原料,采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了SiO2f/SiO2复合材料,在此基础上用尿素法制备了SiO2f/SiO2-BN复合材料,并对其力学性能和介电性能进行了测试.结果表明,随着工艺循环次数的不断增加,复合材料的密度随之提高,但增长速度逐渐减慢.三次循环后,SiO2f/SiO2-BN复合材料密度达1.8...     

Low toxicity of HfO2, SiO2, Al2O3 and CeO2 nanoparticles to the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Increasing use of nanomaterials necessitates an improved understanding of their potential impact on environment health. This study evaluated the cytotoxicity of nanosized HfO₂, SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and CeO₂ towards the eukaryotic model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and characterized their state of dispersion in bioassay medium. Nanotoxicity was assessed by monitoring oxygen consumption in batch cultures and by analysis of cell membrane integrity.CeO₂, Al₂O₃, and HfO₂ nanoparticles were highly unstable in yeast medium and formed micron-sized, settleable agglomerates. A non-toxic polyacrylate dispersant (Dispex A40) was used to improve nanoparticle stability and determine the impact of enhanced dispersion on toxicity. None of the NPs tested without dispersant inhibited O₂ uptake by yeast at concentrations as high as 1000 mg/L. Dispersant supplementation only enhanced the toxicity of CeO₂ (47% at 1000 mg/L). Dispersed SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ (1000 mg/L) caused cell membrane damage, whereas dispersed HfO₂ and CeO₂ did not cause significant disruption of membrane integrity at the same concentration. These results suggest that the O₂ uptake inhibition observed with dispersed CeO₂ NPs was not due to reduced cell viability. This is the first study evaluating toxicity of nanoscale HfO₂, SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and CeO₂ to S. cerevisiae. Overall the results obtained demonstrate that these nanomaterials display low or no toxicity to yeast.     

Refractive index of thin films of SiO2, ZrO2, and HfO2 as a function of the films' mass density

Series of amorphous SiO2, ZrO2 and HfO2 films were prepared by electron-beam evaporation at various oxygen pressures such that the packing density varied from 0.6 to 0.82. Transmittance spectra were evaluated with respect to thickness and refractive index by application of analytical formulas to the interference extrema and by dielectric modeling. The thickness of the films ranged from 150 to 1500 nm. The coefficients of Cauchy and Sellmeier dispersion curves were determined as a function of the packing density. The mass density of the compact amorphous grains was estimated by an effective-medium theory and a general refractivity formula. It is similar to those of the crystalline materials. We used the optical data to design multilayer coatings for laser applications in a broad spectral range, including the UV.     

TiNx/SiO2/Ag/SiO2低辐射膜耐H2S气体的腐蚀性能

为了提高玻璃片上SiO2/Ag/SiO2复合膜的耐腐蚀性能,用磁控溅射法在其上制备了TiNx薄膜.采用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描隧道显微镜(STM)研究了TiNx薄膜的结构及表面形貌;参照GB/T 5137.3-2002电子产品硫化氢腐蚀的检验方法研究了TiNx/SiO2/Ag/SiO2低辐射膜耐H2S气体的腐蚀性能....     

Numerical study on optical properties of Ag/SiO2SiO2/Ag sandwich nanocrescents substrate

A novel structure of a metal/dielectric/metal (Ag/SiO₂SiO₂/Ag) sandwich nanocrescent has been proposed and studied. We make a detailed numerical analysis on the extinction efficiency and LSPR property of the sandwich nanocrescent by using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. It clearly demonstrates that a comparable field enhancement can be achieved by varying the thickness of the SiO₂SiO₂ layer at different incident polarizations. Excited in the Y-polarization, the maximum electric field enhancement factor reaches 600 at the peak wavelength 1108.9?nm, which is six times higher than previous reported single layer nanocrescent. The refractive index sensitivity of this new sandwich nanocrescent is 375.5?nm/RIU (refractive index unit). The structure is shown to produce a high local field enhancement as well as wide plasmon resonance tunabilities. Besides, compared with adjusting the shape and size of the single layer nanocrescent structure, it is much more convenient and easier to change the thickness of the sandwich nanocrescent. Due to its excellent properties, this structure is very suitable for LSPR and SERS nanosensing substrate.     

Wavefront control of SiO2-based ultraviolet narrow-bandpass filters prepared by plasma ion-assisted deposition

Metal oxide layers produced by plasma ion-assisted deposition are extensively used for complex optical coatings due to the availability of materials, the high packing density of films, and the smooth surfaces. Stringent optical surface figure specifications necessary for both laser optics and precision optics require film stress to be well-controlled and surface deformation to be corrected or compensated. SiO(2)- based single-cavity UV narrow-bandpass filters were prepared by plasma ion-assisted deposition. The correlation between film stress, refractive index, deposition parameters, and postdeposition annealing was established. The film stress was calculated based on interferometric surface deformation. The refractive index and film thickness were determined by means of variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. The center wavelength of the filters was obtained through spectral transmission measurement. The results suggest that the wavefront distortion of the multilayer coatings is dominated by the compressive stress of the SiO(2) layers and can be controlled and corrected by the amount of plasma ion momentum transfer, substrate temperature, postdeposition annealing, and stress compensation via backside SiO(2) coating. Based on the understanding of the mechanical and optical properties, the wavefront correction technique enables us to satisfy stringent surface figure specifications.     

Nanostructuring of ultra-thin HfO2 layers for high-k/III-V device application

We report on the nanopatterning by electron beam lithography (EBL) and reactive ion etching (RIE) in a SF6/Ar+ plasma of ultra-thin HfO2 films deposited on GaAs (001) substrates for gate oxide application in next generation III-V metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Characterization of the HfO2/GaAs nanostructured samples by atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy microanalysis (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has shown the formation of well defined HfO2 patterns with nanometre-scale linewidth control and anisotropic profiles. In addition, atomically smooth, stoichiometric and residue-free bottom GaAs etched lines with a lateral dimension of approximately 50 nm have been demonstrated.