Au cours de ces dernières années, les nanostructures à base de silicium et de germanium, enfouies dans une matrice diélectrique, ont été largement étudiées en raison de leurs applications potentielles dans la nanoélectronique et l’optoélectronique. Afin de fabriquer des dispositifs de haute performance avec des nanocristaux Si1-xGex, il est nécessaire de connaître et de contrôler leurs propriétés structurelles et électriques, ce qui est le but de ce travail. Pour cela, nous avons utilisé la co-implantation ionique de Si et de Ge avec différentes doses dans des matrices de SiO2 pour synthétiser les NCx de Si1-xGex. Concernant l’influence de la matrice sur les propriétés des NCx, nous avons également utilisé l’implantation ionique de Ge dans des films minces de SiOxNy riches en Si élaborés par PECVD. Enfin, l’effet de la présence des dopants sur les propriétés structurales et électriques des NCx de Si1-xGex a été étudié par la co-implantation des dopants avec le Si et le Ge dans le SiO2. Suite à l'implantation des éléments désirés (Si, Ge et éventuellement le dopant), la formation des NCx est induite par un recuit thermique à 1000 ou 1100°C. / Semiconductor nanostructures based on silicon and germanium have attracted enormous interest in the last years because of their potential applications in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics. In order to fabricate high performance devices with Si1-xGex nanocrystals, it is required to know and control their structural and electrical properties which is the aim of our study. For that, we used the ionic co-implantation of Si and Ge of different fluences in SiO2 matrices to synthesize the Si1-xGex NCx. Matrix effect on the properties of Si1-xGex NCx, have been also studied by the implantation of Ge in Si-rich SiOxNy thin films prepared by PECVD. Finally, the effect of the presence of dopants on the structural and electrical properties of Si1-xGex NCx has been studied by the co-implantation of dopants with Si and Ge in SiO2. The formation of NCx is induced by thermal annealing at 1000 or 1100 °C after the implantation of the desired elements (Si, Ge and possibly the dopant).

Les hétérostructures à base d'alliage Silicium Germanium (SiGe) sont utilisées dans certains transistors depuis la fin des années '90. De nouveaux composants très prometteurs pour la nanoélectronique pourraient être fabriqués en utilisant les propriétés quantiques d'objets de basse dimensionalité à base de SiGe. Pour cela, la taille et l'organisation de ces objets doivent être parfaitement contrôlées à l'échelle nanométrique. Le but est d'atteindre des tailles d'îlots de ~20 nm et une densité ~1011/cm2. Une voie simple et peu coûteuse pour la réalisation de telles nanostructures est l'auto-organisation naturelle d'îlots quantiques de Ge par la croissance par épitaxie par jets moléculaires (EJM). Les trois problèmes qui persistent à l'heure actuelle pour réaliser ce type de structures sont : 1) l'interdiffusion entre le Ge et le substrat ; 2) la taille moyenne des îlots qui est très inhomogène et toujours supérieure à 70 nm; 3) l'organisation des îlots de taille nanométrique, impossible à réaliser à grande échelle par des techniques locales. Dans ce travail nous avons étudié l'auto-organisation d'îlots de Ge sur des substrats vicinaux de Si nanostructurés, en utilisant un processus à deux étapes qui consiste en : i) l'auto-structuration naturelle du substrat et ii) la nucléation préférentielle des îlots de Ge sur les motifs créés. Dans les trois premiers chapitres des rappels bibliographiques sur les mécanismes de croissance et d'auto-organisation, sur les instabilités de croissance et sur les simulations Monte Carlo sont présentés. Les résultats, à la fois théoriques et expérimentaux de ce travail, ont permis de mettre en évidence une pseudo-barrière Ehrlich-Schwoebel inverse implicite à l'origine de l'instabilité cinétique qui se développe durant l'homoépitaxie Si/Si(001). Les exposants critiques de l'évolution de cette instabilité ont été extraits expérimentalement et sont en bon accord avec la théorie. Les instabilités qui apparaissent durant la croissance SiGe/Si ont des origines complexes liées à un couplage de la contrainte et de la cinétique. Par ailleurs, nous avons mis en évidence une réduction importante de l'énergie élastique d'un système comprenant un îlot de Ge, une couche de mouillage de Ge et un substrat à motifs de Si (où chaque motif est représenté par des marches) lorsque le motif présente au moins trois marches.

Chalcogenide glasses are a class of covalent amorphous semiconductors with interesting properties. The presence of short-range order and the pinned Fermi level are the two important properties that make them suitable for many applications. With flash memory technology reaching the scaling limit as per Moore’s law, alternate materials and techniques are being researched at for realizing next generation non-volatile memories. Two such possibilities that are being looked at are Phase Change Memory (PCM) and Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) both of which make use of chalcogenide materials. This thesis starts with a survey of the work done so far in realizing PCMs in reality. For chalcogenides to be used as a main memory or as a replacement to FLASH technology, the electrical switching parameters like switching voltage, programming current, ON state and OFF state resistances, switching time and optical parameters like band gap are to be considered. A survey on the work done in this regard has revealed that various parameters such as chemical composition of the PC material, nature of additives used to enhance the performance of PCM, topological thresholds (Rigidity Percolation Threshold and Chemical Threshold), device geometry, thickness of the active volume, etc., influence the electrical switching parameters. This has motivated to further investigate the material and experimental parameters that affect switching and also to explore the possibility of multi level switching. In this thesis work, the feasibility of using two chalcogenide systems namely Si15Te85-xGex and Ge15Te85-xAgx in the form of amorphous thin films for PCM application is explored. In the process, electrical switching experiments have been carried out on thin films belonging to these systems and the results obtained are found to exhibit some interesting anomalies. Further experiments and analysis have been carried out to understand these anomalies. Finally, the dynamics of electrical switching has been investigated and presented for amorphous Si15Te85-xGex thin films. From these studies, it is also seen that multi state switching/multiple resistance levels of the material can be achieved by current controlled switching, the mechanisms of which have been further probed using XRD analysis and AFM studies. In addition, investigations have been carried out on the electrical switching behavior of amorphous Ge15Te85-xAgx thin film devices and optical band gap studies on amorphous Ge15Te85-xAgx thin films. Chapter one of the thesis, gives a brief introduction to the limitations in existing memory technology and the alternative memory technologies that are being researched, based on which it can be inferred that PCM is a promising candidate for the next generation non volatile memory. This chapter also discusses the principle of using PCM to store data, realization of PCM using chalcogenides, the material properties to be considered in designing PCM, the trade offs in the process of design and the current trends in PCM technology. Chapter two provides a brief review of the electrical switching phenomenon observed in various bulk chalcogenide glasses, as electrical switching is the underlying principle behind the working of a PCM. In the process of designing a memory, many parameters like read/write operation speed, data retentivity and life, etc., have to be optimized for which a thorough understanding on the dependence of electrical switching mechanism on various material parameters is essential. In this chapter, the dependence of electrical switching on parameters like network topological thresholds and electrical and thermal properties of the material is discussed. Doping is an efficient way of controlling the electrical parameters of chalcogenides. The nature of dopant also influences switching parameters and this also is briefly discussed. Chapter three provides a brief introduction to the different experimental techniques used for the thesis work such as bulk chalcogenide glass preparation, preparation of thin amorphous films, measurement of film thickness, confirmation of amorphous nature of the films using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), electrical switching experiments using a custom made setup, crystallization study using XRD and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and optical band gap studies using UV-Vis spectrometer. Vt is an important parameter in the design of a PCM. Chapter four discusses the dependence of Switching voltage, Vt, on input energy. It is already established that the Vt is influenced by the composition of the base glass, nature of dopants, thickness of films and by the ambient temperature. Based on the results of electrical switching experiments in Si15Te74Ge11 amorphous thin films a comprehensive analysis has been done to understand the kinetics of electrical switching. Chapter five discusses a current controlled crystallization technique that can be used to realize multi-bit storage with a single layer of chalcogenide material. In case of PCM, data is stored as structural information; the memory cell in the amorphous state is read as data ‘0’ and the memory cell in crystalline state is read as data ‘1’. This is accomplished through the process of electrical switching. In order to increase the memory density or storage density, multi-bit storage is being probed at by having multiple layers of chalcogenide material. However, with this technique, the problems of inter-diffusion between different layers cannot be ruled out. In this thesis work, a current controlled crystallization technique has been used to achieve multiple stable resistance states in Si15Te75Ge10 thin films. Chapter six discusses the mechanism behind multi state switching exhibited by certain compositions of Si15Te85-xGex thin films. Crystallization studies on certain Si15Te85-xGex films have been carried out using XRD and AFM to understand the phenomenon of multiple states. The results of these experiments and analysis are presented in this chapter. Chapter seven discusses the results of electrical switching experiments and optical band gap studies on amorphous Ge15Te85-xAgx thin films. Chapter eight gives the conclusion and scope for future work.