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Electrical Properties of the Si–Al\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\) Interface

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New Perspectives on Surface Passivation: Understanding the Si-Al2O3 Interface

Part of the book series: Springer Theses ((Springer Theses))

Abstract

The effectiveness of silicon surface passivation by \(\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}\) is fundamentally determined by the properties of the various electronic states present at the Si–Al\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\) interface.

Unity of plan everywhere lies hidden under the mask: of diversity of structure—the complex is everywhere evolved out of the simple.

—Thomas Henry Huxley

A Lobster; or, the Study of Zoology

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This remains so despite the likely presence of a thin SiO\(_{\mathrm{x}}\) interlayer at the Si–Al\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\) interface (see Sects. 1.2 and 9.1.3), as demonstrated in Chap. 8.

  2. 2.

    Note that Tanaka and Iwauchi [36] used the tunnelling model of [37] to account for frequency dispersion, rather than the surface potential fluctuation model of [25] used here and in most recent works, resulting in a systematically larger value for \(\sigma _{n}\). The value of \(\sigma _{n}\) corresponding to the measurements of [36] is reassessed in Fig. 4.7.

  3. 3.

    Each of the preceding authors used different values of \(v_{\textit{th}}\) in extracting \(\sigma _{\!p}\) and \(\sigma _{n}\), either \(2 \times 10^{7}\,\mathrm{cm}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\) [36], \(5 \times 10^{7}\,\mathrm{cm}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\) [38], or \(1 \times 10^{7}\,\mathrm{cm}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\) [32]. The values mentioned in the text have been normalised to \(v_{\textit{th}} = 2 \times 10^{7}\,\mathrm{cm}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Lachlan E. Black

  2. Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Lachlan E. Black

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Black, L.E. (2016). Electrical Properties of the Si–Al\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\) Interface. In: New Perspectives on Surface Passivation: Understanding the Si-Al2O3 Interface. Springer Theses. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32521-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32521-7_4

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