Title :
AlN thin-film deposition for suppressing surface current losses in RF circuits on high-resistivity silicon
Author :
Evseev, S.B. ; Nanver, Lis K. ; Milosavljevic, S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. Microelectron., Delft Univ. of Technol., Delft, Netherlands
fDate :
Sept. 30 2013-Oct. 3 2013
Abstract :
Thin aluminum nitride (AlN) films, deposited by means of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) to a thickness up to 200 nm, are studied as RF passivation layers for transmission lines High Resistivity Silicon (HRS) substrates. Excellent passivation properties are demonstrated by measuring RF losses on coplanar waveguides (CPWs) as well as the space-charge-layer sheet resistance (SCL-RSH) on specially designed MISFET structures. Compared to oxide interfaces the losses go from a strongly bias-dependent ~ 10 dB/cm to a bias-independent 1.7 dB/cm for the AlN:Si interfacial layer, corresponding to an increase of SCL-RSH from ~ 104 Ω/□ to 107 Ω/□. The results suggest that a high resistive AlN:Si layer is formed by interdiffusion of the AlN and underlying Si which then conducts the parasitic interface currents.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; MISFET; aluminium compounds; coplanar waveguides; passivation; radiofrequency integrated circuits; space charge; vapour deposited coatings; wide band gap semiconductors; AlN-Si; MISFET structure; RF circuits; RF loss; RF passivation layer; coplanar waveguides; high resistivity silicon substrate; parasitic interface current; physical vapor deposition; size 200 nm; space charge layer sheet resistance; surface current loss suppression; thin film deposition; transmission lines; III-V semiconductor materials; Loss measurement; Radio frequency; Silicon; Silicon carbide; Substrates; Transmission line measurements; RF losses; aluminum nitride; argon implantation; high-resistivity silicon; surface passivation;
Conference_Titel :
Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM), 2013 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Bordeaux
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-0126-5
DOI :
10.1109/BCTM.2013.6798148