Investigations of the ionizing radiation induced effects in ultra-thin strained-silicon layers on insulator using confocal microscopy measurements

M. Gaillardin (1) , Sébastien Girard (1) , Y. Ouerdane (2) , A. Boukenter (2) , F. Andrieu (3) , C. Tabone (3) , O. Faynot (3)

1 DAM - Direction des Applications Militaires
2 LHC - Laboratoire Hubert Curien
3 CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information

This study describes investigations on the ionizing radiation effects induced in ultra-thin Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) devices. Electrical tests exhibit various behaviors after irradiation which depends on the intrinsic mechanical stress of the thin silicon film. The electrical characteristics of strained Silicon-On-Insulator devices evidence a decrease of the subthreshold slope that may be related to a radiation induced degradation of the carrier mobility. This appears in addition to the deviation of the threshold voltage classically observed on irradiated Silicon-On-Insulator samples. The major issue discussed in this paper is whether a strain relaxation or the buildup of interface states at strained silicon/silica interfaces leads to the observed carrier mobility degradation. Radiation-induced mechanisms are then discussed with electrical measurements and optical spectra obtained by confocal microscopy measurements which have already demonstrated their potential to probe irradiated materials.

Keywords: Strained silicon; Radiation; Confocal microscopy

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

M. Gaillardin, Sébastien Girard, Y. Ouerdane, A. Boukenter, F. Andrieu, et al.. Investigations of the ionizing radiation induced effects in ultra-thin strained-silicon layers on insulator using confocal microscopy measurements. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2011, 357, pp.1989-1993. ⟨10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2010.12.072⟩. ⟨ujm-00587483⟩