Nitrogen-Infused Oxide Semiconductor for Low Defect Density
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing oxide semiconductors face challenges in simultaneously reducing oxygen vacancies and hydrogen concentrations, which are essential for achieving favorable electrical characteristics and reliability in semiconductor devices, as dehydrogenation treatments often introduce oxygen vacancies, making it difficult to adjust both simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor material incorporating nitrogen into the oxide semiconductor, where nitrogen is taken into oxygen vacancies or bonded to metal elements like indium, gallium, or zinc, to reduce carrier concentration and stabilize the structure, thereby maintaining low oxygen vacancy and hydrogen levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If dehydrogenation treatment is performed to reduce hydrogen in the oxide semiconductor, then hydrogen concentration is reduced, but oxygen vacancies are formed
Solution Approach 1:
Nitrogen serves as an intermediary substance that fills oxygen vacancies created during dehydrogenation treatment. The nitrogen atoms occupy the vacant oxygen sites in the oxide semiconductor lattice, preventing the formation of harmful oxygen vacancies while allowing hydrogen to be removed through dehydrogenation treatment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts harmful elements (hydrogen and oxygen vacancies) from the oxide semiconductor through dehydrogenation treatment, and then compensates for the extracted oxygen by introducing nitrogen to fill the created vacancies, achieving simultaneous reduction of both hydrogen concentration and oxygen vacancy formation.
2Quantity of substance
If dehydrogenation and dehydration treatments are performed, then hydrogen and water are reduced, but electrical characteristics deteriorate due to oxygen vacancy formation
Solution Approach 1:
Nitrogen is introduced into the oxide semiconductor before or during the dehydrogenation and dehydration treatments. This preliminary action ensures that when oxygen vacancies are formed during subsequent heating treatments, nitrogen atoms are already in position to fill these vacancies, preventing deterioration of electrical characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of dehydrogenation treatment (oxygen vacancy formation) into a beneficial process by using the same treatment conditions to activate nitrogen incorporation. The oxygen vacancies created during dehydrogenation are immediately filled by nitrogen, transforming a harmful side effect into a mechanism for improving material quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach results in a semiconductor device with favorable electrical characteristics and high reliability by reducing carrier concentration and inhibiting oxygen vacancy diffusion, ensuring stable performance even under thermal stress.
Implementation Method 1
Nitrogen is taken into an oxygen vacancy or bonded to an atom of the metal element
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor material is an oxide including a metal element and nitrogen, in which the metal element is indium (In), an element M (M is aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), yttrium (Y), or tin (Sn)), and zinc (Zn) and nitrogen is taken into an oxygen vacancy or bonded to an atom of the metal element.