The task of the thesis was studding of tantalum capacitors with solid electrolytes properties. Ta – Ta2O5 – MnO2 capacitor by its construction represents MIS structure, where tantalum anode has metal conductivity and MnO2 cathode is semiconductor. Isolation layer consists of tantalum pentoxide Ta2O5 with relative permitivity r = 27. Dielectric thickness is typically in range from 30 to 150nm. The capacitor charge is not only stored and accumulated on electrodes but also in localised states (oxide vacancies) in isolation layer. The capacitor connected in normal mode represents MIS structure polarized in reveres direction when the applied voltage higher potential barrier between semiconductor - MnO2 cathode and isolation of Ta2O5. The transport of charge carriers via isolation layer is determined by Poole-Frenkel mechanisms and tunnelling. Poole-Frenkel mechanism of charge transport is dominant in low intensity of electric field. Tunnelling determines current at higher electric field intensity. During low intensity of electric field ohmic component is also presented which is determined by volume of resistance of impurities in isolation layer due to donor states of oxygen vacancies. Based on the modelling of measured VA characteristics is possible to estimate determine dielectric thickness of Ta2O5 and determine share of Poole-Frenkelov and tunnel current and charge transportation. The thesis is described charge transport and charge concentration on tantalum capacitor in low frequency area and analysis of capacitor behaviour at frequency band. The first impulse for the thesis was an effort to create equivalent circuit diagram of tantalum capacitor in respect of its physical and electrical behaviour. There is an opportunity to study and determine electric charge transport and its accumulation based on the equivalent circuit diagram structure. There is also a chance to define and trace potential barriers and charge distribution in the capacitor structure based on an measurement and carried out experiments. This methodology and analysis consists of electrical characteristic determination to create physical model of the capacitor describing it function, properties and behaviour.

Un modèle de commutation de mémoires résistives (ReRAM) est présenté. Celui-ci est basé sur deux hypothèses : (1) la commutation résistive est causée par des changements qui se produisent dans la zone étroite (région active) du filament conducteur sous l'influence du champ électrique et (2) la commutation résistive est un processus stochastique, donc régi par une probabilité. La région active est représentée par un réseau de connexions verticales, chacune composée de trois éléments électriques : deux d'entre eux sont de faible résistance tandis que le troisième agit comme un disjoncteur et peut être soit de résistance faible (LR) ou élevée (HR). Dans ce modèle, le changement d'état du disjoncteur est régi par une probabilité de commutation (P$_{s}$) qui est comparée à un nombre aléatoire « p ». P$_{s}$ dépend de la chute de tension le long du disjoncteur et de la tension de seuil, V$_{set}$ ou V$_{reset}$, pour définir les processus de « set » (HR à LR) et « reset » (LR à HR). Deux mécanismes de conduction ont été envisagés : ohmique pour un état LR et pour un état de résistance élevée l'effet tunnel facilité par un piège (TAT). Le modèle a été implémenté avec le langage de programmation Python et fonctionne avec une bibliothèque C externe qui optimise les calculs et le temps de traitement. Les résultats de la simulation ont été validés avec succès en les comparant avec des courbes courant-tension (IV) mesurées sur dispositifs ReRAM réels dont l'oxyde était fait de HfO$_{2}$ et pour neuf aires différentes. La flexibilité et la facilité de mise en œuvre de ce modèle de commutation résistive en font un outil puissant pour l'étude des ReRAM / A model for the switching of resistive random-access memories (ReRAM) is presented. This model is based on two hypotheses: (1) the resistive switching is caused by changes that occur in the narrow zone (active region) of the conductive filament under the influence of the electric field and (2) the resistive switching is a stochastic process governed by a switching probability. The active region is represented by a net of vertical connections, each one composed of three electrical elements: two of them are always low resistive (LR) while the third one acts as a breaker and can be low or high resistive (HR). In the model, the change of the breaker's state is governed by a switching probability (P$_{s}$) that is compared with a random number $p$. P$_{s}$ depend on the voltage drop along the breaker and the threshold voltage, V$_{set}$ or V$_{reset}$ for set (HR to LR) or reset (LR to HR) processes. Two conduction mechanism has been proposed: ohmic for the low resistive state and trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) for the high resistive state. The model has been implemented in Python and works with an external C-library that optimizes calculations and processing time. The simulation results have been successfully validated by comparing measured and modeled IV curves of HfO$_{2}$-based ReRAM devices of nine different areas. It is important to note that the flexibility and easy implementation of this resistive switching model allow it to be a powerful tool for the design and study of ReRAM memories

Ohmic contacts are crucial components in semiconductor devices such as transistors and diodes, and lowering their contact resistance is an important factor in device performance enhancement. This is especially important for low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) where device noise temperature decreases both directly and indirectly with decreasing contact resistance. This becomes relevant in quantum computers operated at cryogenic temperatures as LNAs constitutes the 4 K quantum bit (qubit) readout signal amplification chain. The goal of this project is to investigated the superconducting element niobium (Nb) as contact material for indium phosphide (InP) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs), being the active component in cryogenic high-frequency LNAs. For contact and barrier resistance determination, test structures were fabricated and utilized according to the transfer length method(TLM) and the recess TLM respectively. Measurements were performed in room temperature as well as in cryogenic temperatures below and above Nb’s bulk transition temperature of 9.25 K. The results show low-resistance Nb-based ohmic contacts for n-In0.65Ga0.35As, with the non-alloyed Nb(50 nm)/Au(100 nm) stack yielding a room temperature contact resistivity of (9.4 ± 0.5) × 10−8 Ωcm2. For all contacts the contact resistivity increased moving to cryogenic temperatures, as expected when electron occupation of high-energy states decreases. At cryogenic temperatures nosuperconducting transition was observed, attributed to the Nb layer thickness being roughly equal to its coherence length. Considering the effective barrier resistance, the Ni/Ge/Au/Nb/Au alloyed contact had the lowest room temperature resistance, reporting 143 Ω µm. In cryogenic temperatures the effective barrier resistance unexpectedly decreased in all contacts. The Nb/Au contact showed the best cryogenic performance, with a barrier resistance of 28 − 37 Ω µm. This indicates great potential for non-alloyed Nb/Au contacts in cryogenic InP HEMTs. / Alla halvledarkomponenter, som dioder och transistorer, har ohmska kontakter. Att sänka kontaktresistansen hos de ohmska kontakterna är ett sätt att höja prestandan hos en komponent. Särskilt gäller detta för lågbrusförstärkare, som har en brustemperatur som minskar både direkt och indirekt med avtagande kontaktresistans. För kvantdatorer som måste kylas till kryogena temperaturer för att fungera är detta relevant eftersom förstärkningen av utläsningssignalen från kvantbitar sker via lågbrusförstärkare vid 4 K. Målet för detta examensprojekt är att undersöka ohmska kontakter baserade på det supraledande materialet niobium (Nb) i indiumfosfidbaserade högelektronmobilitetstransistorer, som är den aktivakomponenten i kryogena högfrekvens-lågbrusförstärkare. För bestämning av kontaktoch barriärresistans producerades teststrukturer enligt Transfer Length-metoden (TLM) respektive etsad TLM. Mätningar genomfördes i rumstemperatur samt vid kryogena temperaturer både över och under niobiumets kritiska temperatur på 9.25 K. Resultatet visar låg kontaktresistans för Nb-baserade ohmska kontakter på n-In0.65Ga0.35As. Den icke-legerade Nb(50 nm)/Au(100 nm)-kontakten hade en kontaktresistivitet på (9.4 ± 0.5) × 10−8 Ωcm2 . Vid kryogena temperaturer ökade kontaktresistansen för samtliga Nb-baserade kontakter, vilket är förväntat då färre elektroner fyller högenergitillstånd. Inget supraledande tillstånd observerades vid kryogena temperaturer, vilket kan förklaras av att tjockleken på niobiumlagret var ungefär lika med dess koherenslängd. Lägst barriärresistans vid rumstemperatur hade den legerade Ni/Ge/Au/Nb/Au-kontakten, med ett värde på 143 Ω µm. Vid kryogena temperaturer skedde en oväntad minskning hos barriärsresistansen hos samtliga kontakter, där den lägst barriärsresistans uppmättes på den icke-legerade Nb/Au-kontakten, 28 − 37 Ω µm. Slutsatsen som dras är att det finns stor potential för användning av icke-legerade Nb/Au-kontakter för kryogena lågbrusförstärkare baserade på indiumfosfid.

Three mathematical models, two of primary alkaline battery cathode discharge, and one of primary alkaline battery discharge, are developed, presented, solved and investigated in this thesis. The primary aim of this work is to improve our understanding of the complex, interrelated and nonlinear processes that occur within primary alkaline batteries during discharge. We use perturbation techniques and Laplace transforms to analyse and simplify an existing model of primary alkaline battery cathode under galvanostatic discharge. The process highlights key phenomena, and removes those phenomena that have very little effect on discharge from the model. We find that electrolyte variation within Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD) particles is negligible, but proton diffusion within EMD crystals is important. The simplification process results in a significant reduction in the number of model equations, and greatly decreases the computational overhead of the numerical simulation software. In addition, the model results based on this simplified framework compare well with available experimental data. The second model of the primary alkaline battery cathode discharge simulates step potential electrochemical spectroscopy discharges, and is used to improve our understanding of the multi-reaction nature of the reduction of EMD. We find that a single-reaction framework is able to simulate multi-reaction behaviour through the use of a nonlinear ion-ion interaction term. The third model simulates the full primary alkaline battery system, and accounts for the precipitation of zinc oxide within the separator (and other regions), and subsequent internal short circuit through this phase. It was found that an internal short circuit is created at the beginning of discharge, and this self-discharge may be exacerbated by discharging the cell intermittently. We find that using a thicker separator paper is a very effective way of minimising self-discharge behaviour. The equations describing the three models are solved numerically in MATLABR, using three pieces of numerical simulation software. They provide a flexible and powerful set of primary alkaline battery discharge prediction tools, that leverage the simplified model framework, allowing them to be easily run on a desktop PC.