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This study investigated the sterilization effects of a brush-shaped plasma created at one atmospheric pressure. A population of 1.0×104–1.0×105 Escherichia coli or Micrococcus luteus bacteria was seeded in filter paper media and then subjected to Ar and/or Ar+O2 plasmas. A complete kill of the Micrococcus luteus required about 3 min argon plasma exposures. With oxygen addition into the argon plasma gas streams, a complete kill of the bacteria needed only less than 1 min plasma exposure for Micrococcus luteus and about 2 min exposure for Escherichia coli. The plasma treatment effects on the different bacteria cell structures were examined using scanning electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transistor gate stack systems consisting of atomic layer deposited HfO2 with polycrystalline silicon or TiN gate electrodes have been characterized by analytical electron microscopy to elucidate underlying physical contributions to electrical performance differences. High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to determine film and interface thickness dimensions and chemical analysis depth profiling was obtained from electron energy loss spectra and energy dispersive x-ray spectra. The high-k gate dielectric film system is shown to be influenced by the choice of electrode material with the formation of an HfO2-poly-Si interface that increases the dielectric equivalent oxide thickness and may affect electron trapping characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ steam generated (ISSG) oxides have recently attracted interest for use as gate dielectrics because of their demonstrated reliability improvement over oxides formed by dry oxidation. [G. Minor, G. Xing, H. S. Joo, E. Sanchez, Y. Yokota, C. Chen, D. Lopes, and A. Balakrishna, Electrochem. Soc. Symp. Proc. 99-10, 3 (1999); T. Y. Luo, H. N. Al-Shareef, G. A. Brown, M. Laughery, V. Watt, A. Karamcheti, M. D. Jackson, and H. R. Huff, Proc. SPIE 4181, 220 (2000).] We show in this letter that nitridation of ISSG oxide using a remote plasma decreases the gate leakage current of ISSG oxide by an order of magnitude without significantly degrading transistor performance. In particular, it is shown that the peak normalized transconductance of n-channel devices with an ISSG oxide gate dielectric decreases by only 4% and the normalized drive current by only 3% after remote plasma nitridation (RPN). In addition, it is shown that the reliability of the ISSG oxide exhibits only a small degradation after RPN. These observations suggest that the ISSG/RPN process holds promise for gate dielectric applications. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]