Graduation date: 1999

LD2668 .T4 1966 B67 / Master of Science

The electron, gamma and neutron radiation degradation of III-V semiconductors and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is investigated in this thesis. Particular attention is paid to InP and InGaAs materials and InP/InGaAs abrupt single HBTs (SHBTs). Complete process sequences for fabrication of InP/InGaAs HBTs are developed and subsequently employed to produce the devices, which are then electrically characterized and irradiated with the different types of radiation. A comprehensive analytical HBT model is developed and radiation damage calculations are performed to model the observed radiation-induced degradation of SHBTs. The most pronounced radiation effects found in SHBTs include reduction of the common-emitter DC current gain, shift of the collector-emitter (CE) offset voltage and increase of the emitter, base and collector parasitic resistances. Quantitative analysis performed using the developed model demonstrates that increase of the neutral bulk and base-emitter (BE) space charge region (SCR) components of the base current are responsible for the observed current gain degradation. The rise of the neutral bulk recombination is attributed to decrease in a Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) carrier lifetime, while the SCR current increase is caused by rising SCR SRH recombination and activation of a tunneling-recombination mechanism. On the material level these effects are explained by displacement defects produced in a semiconductor by the incident radiation. The second primary change of the SHBT characteristics, CE offset voltage shift, is induced by degradation of the base-collector (BC) junction. The observed rise of the BC current is brought on by diffusion and recombination currents which increase as more defects are introduced in a semiconductor. Finally, the resistance degradation is attributed to deterioration of low-doped layers of a transistor, and to degradation of the device metal contacts. / Graduation date: 2001

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No description available.

The radiation effects in III-V heterojunction devices are investigated in this thesis. Two types of heterojunction devices studied are InGaP/GaAs single heterojunction bipolar transistors (SHBTs) and GaN-based heterojunction light emitting diodes (LEDs). InGaP/GaAS HBTs are investigated for high energy (67 and 105 MeV) proton irradiation effects while GaN heterojunction LEDs are studied for neutron irradiation effects. A compact model and the parameter extraction procedures for HBTs are developed, and hence the I[subscript C]--V[subscript CE] characteristics of pre- and post-irradiation HBTs can be simulated by employing the developed model. HBTs are electrically characterized before and after proton irradiation. Overall, the studied HBT devices are quite robust against high energy proton irradiation. The most pronounced radiation effect shown in SHBTs is gain degradation. Displacement damage in the bulk of base-emitter space-charge region, leading to excess base current, is the responsible mechanism for the proton-induced gain degradation. The performance degradation depends on the operating current and is generally less at higher currents. Compared to the MBE grown devices, the MOVPE grown HBTs show superior characteristics both in initial performance and in proton irradiation hardness. The 67 MeV protons cause more damage than 105 MeV protons due to their higher value of NIEL (non-ionizing energy loss). The HBT I-V characteristics of pre- and post-irradiated samples can be simulated successfully by employing the developed model. GaN heterojunction LEDs are electrically and optically characterized before and after neutron irradiation. Neutron irradiation causes changes in both the I-V characteristic and the light output. Atomic displacement is responsible for both electrical and optical degradation. Both electrical and optical properties degrade steadily with neutron fluence producing severe degradation after the highest fluence neutron irradiation. The light output degrades by more than 99% after 1.6x10����� n/cm�� neutron irradiation, and the radiation damage depends on the operating current and is generally less at higher currents. / Graduation date: 2003

The neutron and electron radiation effects in Ill-V compound semiconductor heterostructure devices are studied in this thesis. Three types of devices investigated are AlGaAs/GaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructure insulated gate field effect transistors (HIGFETs), and InP/InCaAs/InGaAs single heterojunction bipolar transistors (SHBTs). HEMTs and HIGFETs are primarily investigated for neutron irradiation effects. Detailed optimized processing of HEMT devices is introduced. Numerical as well as analytical models that incorporate radiation induced degradation effects in HEMTs and HIGFETs are developed. The most prominent radiation effects appearing on both HEMT and HIGFET devices are increase of threshold voltage (V[subscript T]) and decrease of transconductance (g[subscript m]) as radiation dose increases. These effects are responsible for drain current degradation under given bias conditions after irradiation. From our experimental neutron irradiation study and our theoretical models, we concluded that threshold voltage increase is due to the radiation-induced acceptor-like (negatively charged) traps in the GaAs channel region removing carriers. The mobility degradation in the channel is responsible for g[subscript m] decrease. Series resistance increase is also related to carrier removal and mobility degradation. Traps introduced in the GaAs region affect the device performance more than the traps in the AlGaAs doped region. V[subscript T] and g[subscript m] of HIGFET devices are less affected by neutron radiation than they are in HEMTs. This difference is attributed to different shapes of the quantum well in the two devices. The main effects of electron and neutron irradiation of SHBTs are decrease of collector current (I[subscript c]), decrease of common-emitter DC gain, increase of the collector output conductance (��I[subscript c]/��V[subscript CE]), and increase of collector-collector offset voltage. The decrease of breakdown voltage of reverse biased base-emitter junction diode is responsible for increasing the output conductance after irradiation. Base-collector junction degradation also induces collector-emitter offset voltage increase. / Graduation date: 2003

Analog and digital structures can be written into thin surface layers of semiconductors by using focused ion beams of submicron dimensions. By inducing the phase transition from the crystalline (c) to the amorphous state (a) optical contrast is generated between areas of different exposure. The aim of this study was to investigate the properties of diamond as a high-density optical recording medium and to determine the corresponding irradiation parameters. To this end, single crystals of diamond were irradiated with self-ions of 75 key energy with fluences between F=0.3-l0xlO15 C/cm2 at about 100 K. The radiation damage, persisting after annealing treatments between 300-1700 K, was studied by Raman measurements, monitoring changes in the atomic bonding arrangements. Since the scattering cross-section of C sp2 bonds is 50x that of C sp3 bonds, this is an extremely sensitive technique in detecting changes in the initially purely sp3 state. The position and linewidth of the characteristic first-order phonon of crystalline diamond at 1332 cm-l reflect crystallinity and stress level, while bands between 1350-1700 cm-l indicate disorder. In utilizing the microscopic resolution of a Raman facility additional information was obtained on the spatial variation of the damage level. The optimum annealing temperature was found to be 1500 K. For F > 3xlO15C/cm2, the damage was irreversible, for F = 3xlO15C/cm2 the damage was only partly repaired after annealing at 1500 K and, for F < 3xlO15C/ cm2, the crystalline/amorphous contrast was reversible. For F < lxl015C/ cm2 Raman spectroscopy was not sensitive enough to detect the incurred damage. Infrared spectroscopy was used to classify the diamond samples according to type. / Dissertation (MSc (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Chemistry / unrestricted