This thesis describes work on the theoretical modelling and experimental measurement of the complex permittivity of dielectrics. The main focus of research has been into the characterisation of permittivity of planar and layered samples within the millimetre wave band. The measurement method is based on the free-space measurement of the transmission and reflection coefficients of samples. A novel analytical method of determining the transmission and reflection coefficients as functions of frequency arising from a generalised structure of planar dielectric layers is also described and validated. The analytical method is based on signal flow techniques. The measurement and analytical techniques have been applied in two main areas: firstly, the acquisition of new data on human skin in the band 57 to 100GHz and secondly, the detection and location of defects in composite materials for which a band of 90 to 100GHz was used. Measurements have been made on the complex permittivity of a single sample of excised human skin fixed in formaldehyde. The experimental results have been corrected to account for the fixing process in formaldehyde and are projected to body temperature. This data is, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first of its kind to be published. Predicted skin permittivity based on various relaxation models varies widely and only partially fits the measured data. The experimental results have been used to determine the parameters of a Cole-Cole function which gives the best fit to the measured data. The measured skin data has also been used to calculate power deposition in skin exposed to millimetre wave radiation. This work concludes that a skin surface temperature rise of only 0.20C results from a thirty second exposure to signals of 100W/m2. Experimental work with fibreglass composite samples has shown that defects such as delaminations, voids, matrix cracks and improper cure result in resolvable differences in the dielectric properties of the samples at 90 – 100GHz. The measurement technique is particularly sensitive to the detection of cracks and its spatial resolution is 20mm or better. Whilst confirming the general conclusions of previously published work, the specific findings of this study are novel.

Recently, high-κ materials have become the focus of research and been extensively utilized as the gate dielectric layer in aggressive scaled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Hafnium dioxide (HfO2) is the most promising high-κ material because of its excellent chemical, thermal, mechanical and dielectric properties and also possesses good thermodynamic stability and better band offsets with silicon. Hence, HfO2 has already been used as gate dielectric in modern CMOS devices. For future technologies, it is very difficult to scale the silicon transistor gate length, so it is a necessary requirement of replacing the channel material from silicon to some high mobility material. Two-dimensional layered materials such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) are potential candidates to replace silicon. Due to its planar structure and atomically thin nature, they suit well with the conventional MOSFET technology and are very stable mechanically as well as chemically. HfO2 plays a vital role as a gate dielectric, not only in silicon CMOS technology but also in future nano-electronic devices such as graphene/MoS2 based devices, since high-κ media is expected to screen the charged impurities located in the vicinity of channel material, which results in enhancement of carrier mobility. So, for sustenance and enhancement of new technology, extensive study of the functional materials and its processing is required. In the present work, optimization of HfO2 thin films for gate dielectric applications in Nano-electronic devices using electron beam evaporation is discussed. HfO2 thin films have been optimized in two different thickness regimes, (i) about 35 nm physical thicknesses for back gate oxide graphene/MoS2 transistors and (ii) about 5 nm physical thickness to get Equivalent Oxide Thickness (EOT) less than 1 nm for top gate applications. Optical, chemical, compositional, structural and electrical characterizations of these films have been done using Ellipsometry, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Capacitance-Voltage and Current-Voltage characterization techniques. The amount of O2 flow rate, during evaporation is optimized for 35 nm thick HfO2 films, to achieve the best optical, chemical and electrical properties. It has been observed that with increasing oxygen flow rate, thickness of the films increased and refractive index decreased due to increase in porosity resulting from the scattering of the evaporant. The films deposited at low O2 flow rates (1 and 3 SCCM) show better optical and compositional properties. The effects of post deposition annealing (PDA) and post metallization annealing (PMA) in forming gas ambient (FGA) on the optical and electrical properties of the films have been analyzed. The film deposited at 3 SCCM O2 flow rate shows the best properties as measured on MOS capacitors. A high density film (ρ=8.2 gram/cm3, 85% of bulk density) with high dielectric constant of κ=19 and leakage current density of J=2.0×10-6 A/cm2 at -1 MV/cm has been achieved at optimized deposition conditions. Bilayer graphene on HfO2/Si substrate has been successfully identified and also transistor has been fabricated with HfO2 (35 nm) as a back gate. High transconductance compared to other back gated devices such as SiO2/Si and Al2O3/Si and high mobility have been achieved. The performance of back gated bilayer graphene transistors on HfO2 films deposited at two O2 flow rates of 3 SCCM and 20 SCCM has been evaluated. It is found that the device on the film deposited at 3 SCCM O2 flow rate shows better properties. This suggests that an optimum oxygen pressure is necessary to get good quality films for high performance devices. MoS2 layers on the optimized HfO2/Si substrate have been successfully identified and transistor has been fabricated with HfO2 (32 nm) as a back gate. The device is switching at lower voltages compared to SiO2 back gated devices with high ION/IOFF ratio (>106). The effect of film thickness on optical, structural, compositional and electrical properties for top gate applications has been studied. Also the effect of gate electrode material and its processing on electrical properties of MOS capacitors have been studied. EOT of 1.2 nm with leakage current density of 1×10-4 A/cm2 at -1V has been achieved.

No description available.

Hafnium based high-κ dielectrics are considered potential candidates to replace SiO2 or SiON as the gate dielectric in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. Hydrogen is one of the most significant elements in semiconductor technology because of its pervasiveness in various deposition and optimization processes of electronic structures. Therefore, it is important to understand the properties and behavior of hydrogen in semiconductors with the final aim of controlling and using hydrogen to improve electronic performance of electronic structures. Trap transformations under annealing treatments in hydrogen ambient normally involve passivation of traps at thermal SiO2/Si interfaces by hydrogen. High-κ dielectric films are believed to exhibit significantly higher charge trapping affinity than SiO2. In this thesis, study of hydrogen trapping in alternate gate dielectric candidates such as HfO2 during annealing in hydrogen ambient is presented. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) were used to characterize these thin dielectric materials. It was demonstrated that hydrogen trapping in bulk HfO2 is significantly reduced for pre-oxidized HfO2 prior to forming gas anneals. This strong dependence on oxygen pre-processing is believed to be due to oxygen vacancies/deficiencies and hydrogen-carbon impurity complexes that originate from organic precursors used in chemical vapor depositions (CVD) of these dielectrics.

Nanoporous low-k dielectrics are used for integrated circuit interconnects to reduce the propagation delays, and cross talk noise between metal wires as an alternative material for SiO2. These materials, typically organosilicate glass (OSG) films, are exposed to oxygen plasmas during photoresist stripping and related processes which substantially damage the film by abstracting carbon, incorporating O and OH, eventually leading to significantly increased k values. Systematic studies have been performed to understand the oxygen plasma-induced damage mechanisms on different low-k OSG films of various porosity and pore interconnectedness. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy are used to understand the damage kinetics of O radicals, ultraviolet photons and charged species, and possible ways to control the carbon loss from the film. FTIR results demonstrate that O radical present in the plasma is primarily responsible for carbon abstraction and this is governed by diffusion mechanism involving interconnected film nanopores. The loss of carbon from the film can be controlled by closing the pore interconnections, He plasma pretreatment is an effective way to control the damage at longer exposure by closing the connections between the pores.

abstract: Losses in commercial microwave dielectrics arise from spin excitations in paramagnetic transition metal dopants, at least at reduced temperatures. The magnitude of the loss tangent can be altered by orders of magnitude through the application of an external magnetic field. The goal of this thesis is to produce “smart” dielectrics that can be switched “on” or “off” at small magnetic fields while investigating the influence of transition metal dopants on the dielectric, magnetic, and structural properties. A proof of principle demonstration of a resonator that can switch from a high-Q “on state” to a low-Q “off state” at reduced temperatures is demonstrated in (Al1-xFex)2O3 and La(Al1-xFex)O3. The Fe3+ ions are in a high spin state (S=5/2) and undergo electron paramagnetic resonance absorption transitions that increase the microwave loss of the system. Transitions occur between mJ states with a corresponding change in the angular momentum, J, by ±ħ (i.e., ΔmJ=±1) at small magnetic fields. The paramagnetic ions also have an influence on the dielectric and magnetic properties, which I explore in these systems along with another low loss complex perovskite material, Ca[(Al1-xFex)1/2Nb1/2]O3. I describe what constitutes an optimal microwave loss switchable material induced from EPR transitions and the mechanisms associated with the key properties. As a first step to modeling the properties of high-performance microwave host lattices and ultimately their performance at microwave frequencies, a first-principles approach is used to determine the structural phase stability of various complex perovskites with a range of tolerance factors at 0 K and finite temperatures. By understanding the correct structural phases of these complex perovskites, the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency can be better predicted. A strong understanding of these parameters is expected to open the possibility to produce new types of high-performance switchable filters, time domain MIMO’s, multiplexers, and demultiplexers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Materials Science and Engineering 2020

The present thesis attempts at an overview of DC methods used for diagnosing electrical isolation systems. It investigates the problem of small currents and how to measure them. Part of the thesis deals with building a workstation designed for long-term monitoring of absorbing characteristics of dielectric materials and it also presents a layout of a workstation used for measuring recovery voltage. Both workplaces are computer-automated using the VEE Pro application provided by Hewlett-Packard. Tests were performed on both workstations and the obtained results were processed in a test report as specified under ČSN IEC 93. During the experiment, every effort was made to ensure and monitor the atmospheric conditions of the measuring process.

Work was carried out in collaboration with SYNPO, Inc. Pardubice, which provided samples resins with various additives for measurement. The work is divided into three theoretical and one practical chapters. The first chapter focuses on dielectrics in general. It deals with their properties and storyline running in them. The second chapter discusses epoxy resins, their formulation, production and application in manufacturing. The third chapter offers a view of the measurement methods used for diagnosing electrical dielectrics. The practical part describes the preparation of samples and their composition, and consequently their measurement with the evaluation of measurement data.

The full dielectric tensor of monoclinic Ga2O3 (β-phase) was determined by generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range from 1.0 eV up to 8.5 eV and temperatures in the range from 10K up to 300K. By using the oriented dipole approach, the energies and broadenings of the excitonic transitions are determined as a function of the temperature, and the exciton-phonon coupling properties are deduced.

Ce travail comporte deux volets généraux : une première partie sur la synthèse par voie radicalaire, et la caractérisation physico-chimique des polymères élaborés. La deuxième partie concerne l’étude du comportement diélectrique de ces matériaux et l’approfondissement des relations structure-propriétés électriques ou de surface. Le premier chapitre est tout d’abord consacré à la présentation de l’état de connaissance sur les polymères cyanés et fluorés en général. En préambule de ce chapitre, nous rappelons quelques généralités sur la synthèse, les propriétés et la structure des polymères ainsi que les phénomènes diélectriques dans ces matériaux. Le copolymère alterné poly(VCN-alt-FAVE8) fait l’objet du deuxième chapitre qui décrit la synthèse, la caractérisation et les propriétés de surface de films obtenus à partir de ce polymère. Le troisième chapitre concerne la synthèse par polymérisation par transfert d’iode des copolymères à blocs, a base de fluorure de vinylidène (VDF) et des comonomères cyanés tels que : le cyanure de vinylidène (VCN), l’acrylonitrile (AN) et le méthacrylonitrile (MAN). Ces matériaux élaborés sont caractérisés par chromatographie d’exclusion stérique, RMN, IR, DSC et ATG. La deuxième partie de ce chapitre est consacré à la discussion des résultats obtenus. Les études associées à la mobilité moléculaire induite par une polarisation électrique ou les propriétés diélectrique des matériaux cités, sont présentées dans le quatrième chapitre. En effet, sur une large gamme de températures et de fréquences, nous montrons les processus de relaxations présents dans ces polymères puis les relations « réponses diélectriques et architecture macromoléculaire ». / This work contains two general parts: a first one is on the synthesis by radical way, and the physicochemical characterization of the elaborated polymers. Second part is related to the study of the dielectric behavior of these materials and the deepening of relationship of structure-electrical or surface properties. The first chapter is first of all devoted to the presentation of the state of general knowledge on cyaned and fluorinated polymers. In preamble to this chapter, we recall some general information on the synthesis, the properties and the structure of polymers as well as the electric phenomena in these materials. In the second chapter we describe the synthesis, the characterization and the property of the surface of films obtained from the copolymer poly(VCN-alt-FAVE8). The third chapter relates to the synthesis with iodine transfer polymerization of block copolymers, containing vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and of the cyaned comonomeres such as: vinylidene cyanide (VCN), the acrylonitrile (YEAR) and the methacrylonitrile (MAN). These elaborated materials are characterized by steric exclusion chromatography, NMR, IR, DSC and TGA. The second part of this chapter is devoted to the discussion of the obtained results. The studies associated with the molecular mobility induced by an electric polarization or the properties dielectric of quoted materials, are presented in fourth chapter. Indeed, on a broad range of temperatures and frequencies, we show the relaxations processes present in these polymers then the relations "dielectric answers and macromolecular architecture ".