Search

Abstract: The thermodynamic stability of device-relevant epitaxial SiGe strained layers under proton irradiation is investigated using X-ray diffraction techniques, and compared with its stability constrain under high-temperature annealing. Irradiation with 63MeV protons is found to introduce no significant microdefects into the SiGe thin films, regardless of starting stability condition of the SiGe film, and thus does not appear to be an issue for the use of SiGe HBT technology in emerging space systems. The strain relaxation of SiGe thin film under thermal annealing, however, is sensitive to the composition and thickness of the as-grown samples, as expected, with the subsequent lattice relaxation of the unstable samples occurring at a much higher rate than that of metastable samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The radiation response of SiO2 gate oxides grown on 4H-SiC to NO passivation is presented for the first time. The effects of gamma radiation on Qeff are similar for n-4H-SiC MOS capacitors both with and without NO passivation, but are different in sign (negative) compared to SiO2 on Si. The variation in Dit with total dose, however, is different for the passivated versus the unpassivated samples. Comparisons between Si SOI and 4H-SiC suggest that properly passivated SiC MOSFETs should have good radiation tolerance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]