Ultrathin aluminum oxide tunnel barriers

Quasiepitaxial Aluminum Film Nanostructure Optimization for Superconducting Quantum Electronic Devices

In this paper, we develop fabrication technology and study aluminum films intended for superconducting quantum nanoelectronics using AFM, SEM, XRD, HRXRR. Two-temperature-step quasiepitaxial growth of Al on (111) Si substrate provides a preferentially (111)-oriented Al polycrystalline film and reduces outgrowth bumps, peak-to-peak roughness from 70 to 10 nm, and texture coefficient from 3.5 to 1.7, while increasing hardness from 5.4 to 16 GPa. Future progress in superconducting current density, stray capacitance, relaxation time, and noise requires a reduction in structural defect density and surface imperfections, which can be achieved by improving film quality using such quasiepitaxial growth techniques.

Tunneling Atomic Layer-Deposited Aluminum Oxide: a Correlated Structural/Electrical Performance Study for the Surface Passivation of Silicon Junctions

Passivation is a key process for the optimization of silicon p-n junctions. Among the different technologies used to passivate the surface and contact interfaces, alumina is widely used. One key parameter is the thickness of the passivation layer that is commonly deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. This paper aims at presenting correlated structural/electrical studies for the passivation effect of alumina on Si junctions to obtain optimal thickness of alumina passivation layer. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) observations coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) measurements are used to determine the thickness of alumina at atomic scale. The correlated electrical parameters are measured with both solar simulator and Sinton's Suns-Voc measurements. Finally, an optimum alumina thickness of 1.2 nm is thus evidenced.

Correlating the nanostructure of Al-oxide with deposition conditions and dielectric contributions of two-level systems in perspective of superconducting quantum circuits

This work is concerned with Al/Al-oxide(AlO_x)/Al-layer systems which are important for Josephson-junction-based superconducting devices such as quantum bits. The device performance is limited by noise, which has been to a large degree assigned to the presence and properties of two-level tunneling systems in the amorphous AlO_x tunnel barrier. The study is focused on the correlation of the fabrication conditions, nanostructural and nanochemical properties and the occurrence of two-level tunneling systems with particular emphasis on the AlO_x-layer. Electron-beam evaporation with two different processes and sputter deposition were used for structure fabrication, and the effect of illumination by ultraviolet light during Al-oxide formation is elucidated. Characterization was performed by analytical transmission electron microscopy and low-temperature dielectric measurements. We show that the fabrication conditions have a strong impact on the nanostructural and nanochemical properties of the layer systems and the properties of two-level tunneling systems. Based on the understanding of the observed structural characteristics, routes are suggested towards the fabrication of Al/AlO_x/Al-layers systems with improved properties.

Revealing the interfaces of the hybrid system MgO/Co/GaAs(0 0 1): a structural and chemical investigation with XPS and XPD

Bcc metals and MgO are used in technological research for building magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), because they yield a high tunnel magnetoresistance. Thin insulating barriers are of great importance in realizing MTJs. Combined with electrons spin-injected into GaAs, tunneled electrons can be detected and manipulated. We report on a synchrotron radiation based x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron diffraction study on the system MgO/Co(bcc)/GaAs(0 0 1) for ultra-low Co and MgO coverages ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). As a result, we obtain a Co₃Ga alloy at the Co/GaAs interface in the rare D0₃ structure. This structure is only 6.07 Å thick, and serves as a template for the metastable Co(bcc) structure. Co(bcc) itself grows heavily distorted in the (0 0 1) direction for the first two unit cells, due to the D0₃ template. The MgO/Co interface reveals a weak bonding between MgO and Co(bcc) without Co oxidation, since no compound formation was observed. Additionally, MgO grows in an amorphous phase for a thickness of [Formula: see text]. At [Formula: see text], it crystallizes in a compressed unit cell where every second layer is shifted toward the (0 0 1) direction compared to the bulk halite structure.

Effect of an Interfacial Layer on Electron Tunneling through Atomically Thin Al2O3 Tunnel Barriers

Electron tunneling through high-quality, atomically thin dielectric films can provide a critical enabling technology for future microelectronics, bringing enhanced quantum coherent transport, fast speed, small size, and high energy efficiency. A fundamental challenge is in controlling the interface between the dielectric and device electrodes. An interfacial layer (IL) will contain defects and introduce defects in the dielectric film grown atop, preventing electron tunneling through the formation of shorts. In this work, we present the first systematic investigation of the IL in Al₂O₃ dielectric films of 1-6 Å's in thickness on an Al electrode. We integrated several advanced approaches: molecular dynamics to simulate IL formation, in situ high vacuum sputtering atomic layer deposition (ALD) to synthesize Al₂O₃ on Al films, and in situ ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling spectroscopy to probe the electron tunneling through the Al₂O₃. The IL had a profound effect on electron tunneling. We observed a reduced tunnel barrier height and soft-type dielectric breakdown which indicate that defects are present in both the IL and in the Al₂O₃. The IL forms primarily due to exposure of the Al to trace O₂ and/or H₂O during the pre-ALD heating step of fabrication. As the IL was systematically reduced, by controlling the pre-ALD sample heating, we observed an increase of the ALD Al₂O₃ barrier height from 0.9 to 1.5 eV along with a transition from soft to hard dielectric breakdown. This work represents a key step toward the realization of high-quality, atomically thin dielectrics with electron tunneling for the next generation of microelectronics.

Impurity-assisted tunneling magnetoresistance under a weak magnetic field

Injection of spins into semiconductors is essential for the integration of the spin functionality into conventional electronics. Insulating layers are often inserted between ferromagnetic metals and semiconductors for obtaining an efficient spin injection, and it is therefore crucial to distinguish between signatures of electrical spin injection and impurity-driven effects in the tunnel barrier. Here we demonstrate an impurity-assisted tunneling magnetoresistance effect in nonmagnetic-insulator-nonmagnetic and ferromagnetic-insulator-nonmagnetic tunnel barriers. In both cases, the effect reflects on-off switching of the tunneling current through impurity channels by the external magnetic field. The reported effect is universal for any impurity-assisted tunneling process and provides an alternative interpretation to a widely used technique that employs the same ferromagnetic electrode to inject and detect spin accumulation.

Magnetic-field-modulated resonant tunneling in ferromagnetic-insulator-nonmagnetic junctions

We present a theory for resonance-tunneling magnetoresistance (MR) in ferromagnetic-insulator-nonmagnetic junctions. The theory sheds light on many of the recent electrical spin injection experiments, suggesting that this MR effect rather than spin accumulation in the nonmagnetic channel corresponds to the electrically detected signal. We quantify the dependence of the tunnel current on the magnetic field by quantum rate equations derived from the Anderson impurity model, with the important addition of impurity spin interactions. Considering the on-site Coulomb correlation, the MR effect is caused by competition between the field, spin interactions, and coupling to the magnetic lead. By extending the theory, we present a basis for operation of novel nanometer-size memories.

Plasmonic amplification with ultra-high optical gain at room temperature

Nanoplasmonic devices are promising for next generation information and communication technologies because of their capability to confine light at subwavelength scale and transport signals with ultrahigh speeds. However, ohmic losses are inherent to all plasmonic devices so that further development of integrated plasmonics requires efficient in situ loss compensation of signals with a wavelength and polarization of choice. Here we show that CdSe nanobelt/Al₂O₃/Ag hybrid plasmonic waveguides allow for efficient broadband loss compensation of propagating hybrid plasmonic signals of different polarizations using an optical pump and probe technique. With an internal gain coefficient of 6755 cm⁻¹ at ambient condition, almost 100% of the propagation loss of TM-dominant plasmonic signals is compensated. From comparison with a similar photonic structure we attribute the fast-increasing gain at low pump intensity in hybrid plasmonic waveguides to the transfer across the metal-oxide-semiconductor interface of ‘hot' electrons photogenerated by the pump light.

High mobility flexible graphene field-effect transistors with self-healing gate dielectrics

A high-mobility low-voltage graphene field-effect transistor (FET) array was fabricated on a flexible plastic substrate using high-capacitance natural aluminum oxide as a gate dielectric in a self-aligned device configuration. The high capacitance of the native aluminum oxide and the self-alignment, which minimizes access resistance, yield a high current on/off ratio and an operation voltage below 3 V, along with high electron and hole mobility of 230 and 300 cm(2)/V·s, respectively. Moreover, the native aluminum oxide is resistant to mechanical bending and exhibits self-healing upon electrical breakdown. These results indicate that self-aligned graphene FETs can provide remarkably improved device performance and stability for a range of applications in flexible electronics.

Photodriven heterogeneous charge transfer with transition-metal compounds anchored to TiO2 semiconductor surfaces

A critical review of light-driven interfacial charge-transfer reactions of transition-metal compounds anchored to mesoporous, nanocrystalline TiO2 (anatase) thin films is described. The review highlights molecular insights into metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states, mechanisms of interfacial charge separation, inter- and intra-molecular electron transfer, and interfacial charge-recombination processes that have been garnered through various spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. The relevance of these processes to optimization of solar-energy-conversion efficiencies is discussed (483 references).

Semiconductor spintronics

Spintronics refers commonly to phenomena in which the spin of electrons in a solid state environment plays the determining role. In a more narrow sense spintronics is an emerging research field of electronics: spintronics devices are based on a spin control of electronics, or on an electrical and optical control of spin or magnetism. While metal spintronics has already found its niche in the computer industry—giant magnetoresistance systems are used as hard disk read heads—semiconductor spintronics is yet to demonstrate its full potential. This review presents selected themes of semiconductor spintronics, introducing important concepts in spin transport, spin injection, Silsbee-Johnson spin-charge coupling, and spin-dependent tunneling, as well as spin relaxation and spin dynamics. The most fundamental spin-dependent interaction in nonmagnetic semiconductors is spin-orbit coupling. Depending on the crystal symmetries of the material, as well as on the structural properties of semiconductor based heterostructures, the spin-orbit coupling takes on different functional forms, giving a nice playground of effective spin-orbit Hamiltonians. The effective Hamiltonians for the most relevant classes of materials and heterostructures are derived here from realistic electronic band structure descriptions. Most semiconductor device systems are still theoretical concepts, waiting for experimental demonstrations. A review of selected proposed, and a few demonstrated devices is presented, with detailed description of two important classes: magnetic resonant tunnel structures and bipolar magnetic diodes and transistors. In view of the importance of ferromagnetic semiconductor materials, a brief discussion of diluted magnetic semiconductors is included. In most cases the presentation is of tutorial style, introducing the essential theoretical formalism at an accessible level, with case-study-like illustrations of actual experimental results, as well as with brief reviews of relevant recent achievements in the field.

Kinetic electron excitation in atomic collision cascades

The kinetic excitation of electrons upon bombardment of a solid surface with energetic ions is investigated. Using a metal-insulator-metal junction, hot electrons produced by the projectile impact are detected with excitation energies well below the vacuum level. The results provide information that cannot be accessed by electron emission experiments. The observed tunneling current depends on the projectile energy and the bias voltage across the junction, opening the possibility of internal excitation spectroscopy.