Nanocrystalline (nc) -Si was grown on SiO2 by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition. The tunneling oxide layer of a thickness of 4 nm was formed on p-type Si(100) by rapid thermal oxidation at 1050 °C for 30 s. Metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structures were fabricated and capacitance–voltage characterization was carried out to study the memory effects of the nc-Si embedded in the MOS structure. We found the memory effect to be dominantly related to hydrogen-related traps, in addition to being influenced by the three-dimensional quantum confinement and Coulomb charge effects. Deep level transient spectroscopy reveal that the activation energies of the hydrogen-related traps are Ev+0.29 eV (H1) and Ev+0.42 eV (H2), and the capture cross sections are 4.70×10−16 cm2 and 1.44×10−15 cm2, respectively. The presence of Si–H and Si–H2 bonds was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Metal-oxide-semiconductor structures containing Ge nanocrystals (NCs) of 3–4nm diameter and 2×1012cm−2 density are shown to exhibit capacitance-voltage hysteresis of 20.9V, one of the largest observed in Ge-NC based nonvolatile memories. The Ge NCs were fabricated in an oxide of 30nm thickness by ion implantation with 30keV Ge2− ions to an equivalent fluence of 1×1016Gecm−2 followed by annealing at 950 °C for 10min. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrate the existence of Ge NCs whose average distance from the SiO2∕Si interface is about 6.7nm. It is shown that the memory effect is a likely consequence of charge trapping at Ge NCs and that it is enhanced by accurately controlling the distribution of Ge NCs with respect to the Si∕SiO2 interface.

We have studied the electrical properties of a GaN nanorod p-n junction diode by deep level transient spectroscopy measurements. The p-n junction nanorods were patterned on a SiO2 substrate by using e-beam lithography. In order to confirm the formation of p-n junction, cathodoluminescence and current-voltage measurements, as a function of temperature, were made. The current-voltage curve exhibits strong temperature dependence, suggesting that thermionic emission over a barrier dominates. This barrier most likely corresponds to emission from a deep level in the band. The deep level appears to be an electron trap at Ec-0.40eV below the conduction band with a capture cross section of 2.22×10cm2 near the depletion region of the p-n junction.

The deep trap levels of AlxGa1−xN films with x in the range from 0 to 0.15 grown on c-plane sapphire substrates using rf-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy have been investigated by deep level transient spectroscopy measurements. Two distinct defect levels (denoted as Ei and Di) were observed. The origins of the Ei and the Di are associated with point defects such as the N vacancies and extended defects, such as the threading dislocations, respectively. According to Al content (x), the activation energy and capture cross section for the Di defect ranged from 0.19to0.41eV and 1.1–6.6×10−15cm2, respectively. The trap energy levels of Di defects in AlxGa1−xN were calculated and the values were nonlinear with Al content. The bowing parameter of AlxGa1−xN films was determined to be b=1.22.

GaN metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) capacitors were fabricated by using Ga oxide formed by photoelectrochemical oxidation of GaN. The electrical properties of the MOS structures as characterized by capacitance–voltage measurement were found to be dependent on the oxidation time and posttreatment. Positive flatband voltage was observed in devices with thin oxide layers indicating the existence of negative oxide charge. Very thin oxide exhibits high capacitance and reverse leakage, which can be reduced by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Passivation of the interface by RTA is partially responsible for the improvement. Thicker oxide layers exhibit improved electrical properties. Low density of interface states (∼1011 eV−1 cm−2) was obtained in the Ga-oxide/GaN structure grown under optimized conditions.