TY - JOUR
T1 - Electrical conduction in silicon nitrides deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition
AU - Tao, Meng
AU - Park, Daegypu
AU - Mohammad, S. Noor
AU - Li, Ding
AU - Botchkerav, Andrei E.
AU - Morkoç, Hadis
PY - 1996/4
Y1 - 1996/4
N2 - Current conduction in Si-rich and stoichiometric silicon nitride as well as in oxynitride is studied in detail. Representative samples from each of the three categories exhibit Ohmic, Poole-Frenkel and Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling currents to differing extents. All the samples show an Ohmic region at low electric fields. The oxynitride sample has the largest Ohmic region, and the Si-rich sample the smallest. Under intermediate and high fields, the oxynitride sample shows only Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling, but the Si-rich sample is dominated by Poole-Frenkel emission. The stoichiometric sample shows a Poole-Frenkel region at intermediate fields and a Fowler-Nordheim region at high fields. These results indicate that the oxynitride sample has the lowest density of traps, and the Si-rich sample has the highest. Our observations are explained in terms of the flexibility of bonding configurations of N and O atoms, and the formation of Si‒Si bonds in Si-rich silicon nitride.
AB - Current conduction in Si-rich and stoichiometric silicon nitride as well as in oxynitride is studied in detail. Representative samples from each of the three categories exhibit Ohmic, Poole-Frenkel and Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling currents to differing extents. All the samples show an Ohmic region at low electric fields. The oxynitride sample has the largest Ohmic region, and the Si-rich sample the smallest. Under intermediate and high fields, the oxynitride sample shows only Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling, but the Si-rich sample is dominated by Poole-Frenkel emission. The stoichiometric sample shows a Poole-Frenkel region at intermediate fields and a Fowler-Nordheim region at high fields. These results indicate that the oxynitride sample has the lowest density of traps, and the Si-rich sample has the highest. Our observations are explained in terms of the flexibility of bonding configurations of N and O atoms, and the formation of Si‒Si bonds in Si-rich silicon nitride.
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U2 - 10.1080/13642819608239148
DO - 10.1080/13642819608239148
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:7244262119
VL - 73
SP - 723
EP - 736
JO - Philosophical Magazine B: Physics of Condensed Matter; Statistical Mechanics, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Properties
JF - Philosophical Magazine B: Physics of Condensed Matter; Statistical Mechanics, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Properties
SN - 1364-2812
IS - 4
ER -