Decreasing the circuit dimensions is driving the need for low-k materials with a lower dielectric constant to reduce RC delay, crosstalk, and power consumption. In case of spin-on organosilicate low-k films, the incorporation of a porogen is regarded as the only foreseeable route to decrease dielectric constant of 2.2 or below by changing a packing density. In this study, MTMS-BTMSE copolymers that had superior mechanical properties than MSSQ were blended with decomposable polymers as pore generators. While adding up to 40 wt % porogen into MTMS:BTMSE=100:50 matrix, optical, electrical, and mechanical properties were measured and the pore structure was also characterized by PALS. The result confirmed that there existed a tradeoff in attaining the low dielectric constant and desirable mechanical strength, and no more pores than necessary to achieve the dielectric objective should be incorporated. When the dielectric constant was fixed to approximately 2.3 by controlling BTMSE and porogen contents simultaneously, the thermo-mechanical properties of the porous films were also investigated for the comparison purpose. Under the same dielectric constant, the increase in BTMSE and porogen contents led to improvement in modulus measured by the nanoindentation technique but deterioration of adhesion strength obtained by the modified edge lift-off test.

Phase formation and interfacial microstructure evolution of nickel germanides formed by rapid thermal annealing in a 15-nm Ni/Ge (100) system have been studied. Coexistence of a NiGe layer and Ni-rich germanide particles was detected at 250°C. Highly textured NiGe film with a smooth interface with Ge was observed. Annealing at higher temperatures resulted in grain growth and severe grooving of the NiGe film at the substrate side, followed by serious agglomeration above 500°C. Fairly low sheet resistance was achieved in 250-500°C where the NiGe film continuity was uninterrupted.

The evolution of an interfacial microstructure between Cu/Ni/Au bond-pad metallization and Pb-free or Pb-containing solder bumps during solid-state aging was investigated. A distinctive difference between the Pb-containing and Pb-free solder bumps was observed. A continuous (Au,Ni)Sn4 intermetallic compound layer was readily detected in the Pb-containing solder bump on the bond-pad. No such layer exists in the Pb-free case; instead a large number of (Au,Ni)Sn4 particles scatter in the bulk of the solder. The different morphologies of the (Au,Ni)Sn4 have been explained on the basis of the contact angle in Young's equation and of the growth of a flat layer by ripening. A simple kinetic analysis of ripening between a set of monosize spheres and a flat surface is given to describe the layered growth having a time dependence around 0.5.

Deep traps in a 300-m m-thick freestanding GaN sample were characterized by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), using Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) fabricated on the Ga polarity surface. Most of the SBDs show nearly ideal current-voltage characteristics, with both forward and reverse currents controlled by the thermionic emission mechanism. Five common traps, which include A1 (1.0 eV), A (0.66 eV), B (0.59 eV), C (0.35 eV), and D (0.25 eV), can be consistently observed in all SBDs. Two of them, A1 and C, are related to surface damage. Surprisingly, some new traps can be found in the DLTS spectra of some SBDs if higher reverse biases are used in the measurements. However, they cannot be fitted by DLTS simulations, and are likely associated with parasitic capacitance somewhere in the cryostat.

Thin layers of InGaN were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and characterized with atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. InGaN deposited on GaN exhibits a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode, including 2D wetting layer and 3D self-assembled quantum dots. Besides, we observed that the formed InGaN nano-scale dots have a trapezoidal shape with a {1-102} facet with respect to (0002) surface. Visible spectral range from UV to green was easily obtained by changing InGaN quantum well thickness up to 2.3 nm.

We investigated the doping characteristics of Mg doped, Mg-Si co-doped, and Mg-Zn co-doped GaN films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. We have grown p-GaN film with a resistivity of 1.26 Ωcm and a hole density of 4.3 × 1017 cm−3 by means of Mg-Si co-doping technique. The Mg-Si co-doping characteristic was also explained effectively by taking advantage of the concept of competitive adsorption between Mg and Si during the growth. For Mg-Zn co-doping, p-GaN showing a low electrical resistivity (0.7 Ωcm) and a high hole concentration (8.5 × 1017 cm−3) was successfully grown without the degradation of structural quality of the film. Besides, the measured specific contact resistance for Mg-Zn co-doped GaN film is 5.0 × 10−4 cm2, which is lower value by one order of magnitude than that for only Mg doped GaN film (1.9 × 10−3Ωcm2).

We investigated the doping characteristics of Mg doped, Mg-Si co-doped, and Mg-Zn codoped GaN films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. We have grown p-GaN film with a resistivity of 1.26 Ωm and a hole density of 4.3 × 1017 cm−3 by means of Mg-Si co-doping technique. The Mg-Si co-doping characteristic was also explained effectively by taking advantage of the concept of competitive adsorption between Mg and Si during the growth. For Mg-Zn co-doping, p-GaN showing a low electrical resistivity (0.7 Ωm) and a high hole concentration (8.5 × 1017 cm−3) was successfully grown without the degradation of structural quality of the film. Besides, the measured specific contact resistance for Mg-Zn co-doped GaN film is 5.0 × 10−4 cm2, which is lower value by one order of magnitude than that for only Mg doped GaN film (1.9 × 10−3 Ωm2).

Thin layers of InGaN were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and characterized with atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. InGaN deposited on GaN exhibits a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode, including 2D wetting layer and 3D self-assembled quantum dots. Besides, we observed that the formed InGaN nano-scale dots have a trapezoidal shape with a {1-102} facet with respect to (0002) surface. Visible spectral range from UV to green was easily obtained by changing InGaN quantum well thickness up to 2.3 nm.

A high-power Nd3+:glass laser system has been constructed and tested. This system consists of a master oscillator, a four-pass amplifier for preamplification, and five-stage amplifiers. The system has been demonstrated in excess of 80 J (2 TW) at 40-ps pulse duration. Final laser beam quality was quite good due to the compensation of the polarization distortion in the four-pass preamplifier, the minimization of the diffraction effect by the image relaying, and the elimination of high spatial frequency components by the spatial filtering. This enables us to obtain high laser output power without any severe spatial spiking effects. Gains and spatial profiles of output pulses were measured after each amplifier stage.

A submicron triple metal process for 0.5um logic CMOS is described, focusing on key process steps such as the dielectric planarization and metallization. The main emphasis has been placed on development of ar complicated planarization process utilizing SOG (Spin on Glass) etchback. In this paper, we report process data of triple metal technology which uses aluminum alloy for interconnects and P-TEOS (Plasma Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) with siloxane SOG and etchback process for planarization.

PbTiO3 thin films on Si (100) plane were prepared by the DC reactive multitarget cosputtering technique. The film composition and structure were examined as a function of deposition parameters. The crystal structure and microstructure of PbTiO3 thin film deposited on Si at low substrate temperature of 200°C were examined as a fuction of post-annealing temperature by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.The ferroelectric domain configurations were analyzed by plane-view TEM. The preferred orientation of PbTiO3 thin films deposited on MgO (100) and sapphire (1102) at high substrate temperature of 520°C were also examined.