Search for: All records

It has been challenging to synthesize p-type SnO_x(1≤x<2) and engineer the electrical properties such as carrier density and mobility due to the narrow processing window and the localized oxygen 2p orbitals near the valence band. We recently reported on the processing of p-type SnOx and an oxide-based p-n heterostructures, demonstrating high on/off rectification ratio (>10³), small turn-on voltage (<0.5 V), and low saturation current (~1×10^-10A)¹. In order to further understand the p-type oxide and engineer the properties for various electronic device applications, it is important to identify (or establish) the dominating doping and transport mechanisms. The low dopability in p-type SnOx, of which the causation is also closely related to the narrow processing window, needs to be mitigated so that the electrical properties of the material are to be adequately engineered^{2, 3}. Herein, we report on the multifunctional encapsulation of p-SnO_xto limit the surface adsorption of oxygen and selectively permeate hydrogen into the p-SnO_xchannel for thin film transistor (TFT) applications. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements identified that ultra-thin SiO₂as a multifunctional encapsulation layer effectively suppressed the oxygen adsorption on the back channel surface of p-SnO_xand augmented hydrogen density across the entire thickness of the channel. Encapsulated p-SnO_x-based TFTs demonstrated much-enhanced channel conductance modulation in response to the gate bias applied, featuring higher on-state current and lower off-state current. The relevance between the TFT performance and the effects of oxygen suppression and hydrogen permeation is discussed in regard to the intrinsic and extrinsic doping mechanisms. These results are supported by density-functional-theory calculations. Acknowledgement This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Award No. ECCS-1931088. S.L. and H.W.S. acknowledge the support from the Improvement of Measurement Standards and Technology for Mechanical Metrology (Grant No. 20011028) by KRISS. K.N. was supported by Basic Science Research Program (NRF-2021R11A1A01051246) through the NRF Korea funded by the Ministry of Education. ReferencesLee, D. H.; Park, H.; Clevenger, M.; Kim, H.; Kim, C. S.; Liu, M.; Kim, G.; Song, H. W.; No, K.; Kim, S. Y.; Ko, D.-K.; Lucietto, A.; Park, H.; Lee, S., High-Performance Oxide-Based p–n Heterojunctions Integrating p-SnOx and n-InGaZnO.ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces2021,13(46), 55676-55686.Hautier, G.; Miglio, A.; Ceder, G.; Rignanese, G.-M.; Gonze, X., Identification and design principles of low hole effective mass p-type transparent conducting oxides.Nat Commun2013,4.Yim, K.; Youn, Y.; Lee, M.; Yoo, D.; Lee, J.; Cho, S. H.; Han, S., Computational discovery of p-type transparent oxide semiconductors using hydrogen descriptor.npj Computational Materials2018,4(1), 17. Figure 1 

The bonding of ceramic to metal has been challenging due to the dissimilar nature of the materials, particularly different surface properties and the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). To address the issues, gas phase-processed thin metal films were inserted at the metal/ceramic interface to modify the ceramic surface and, therefore, promote heterogeneous bonding. In addition, an alloy bonder that is mechanically and chemically activated at as low as 220 °C with reactive metal elements was utilized to bond the metal and ceramic. Stainless steel (SS)/Zerodur is selected as the metal/ceramic bonding system where Zerodur is chosen due to the known low CTE. The low-temperature process and the low CTE of Zerodur are critical to minimizing the undesirable stress evolution at the bonded interface. Sputtered Ti, Sn, and Cu (300 nm) were deposited on the Zerodur surface, and then dually activated molten alloy bonders were spread on both surfaces of the coated Zerodur and SS at 220 °C in air. The shear stress of the bonding was tested with a custom-designed fixture in a universal testing machine and was recorded through a strain indicator. The mechanical strength and the bonded surface property were compared as a function of interfacial metal thin film and analyzed through thermodynamic interfacial stability/instability calculations. A maximum shear strength of bonding of 4.36 MPa was obtained with Cu interfacial layers, while that of Sn was 3.53 MPa and that of Ti was 3.42 MPa. These bonding strengths are significantly higher than those (∼0.04 MPa) of contacts without interfacial reactive thin metals.