The analysis of various parameters of metal oxides and the search of criteria, which could be used during material selection for solid-state gas sensor applications, were the main objectives of this review. For these purposes the correlation between electro-physical (band gap, electroconductivity, type of conductivity, oxygen diffusion), thermodynamic, surface, electronic, structural properties, catalytic activity and gas-sensing characteristics of metal oxides designed for solid-state sensors was established. It has been discussed the role of metal oxide manufacturability, chemical activity, and parameter's stability in sensing material choice as well.

Metal oxides for solid-state gas sensors: What determines our choice?

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is gaining attention as a thin film deposition method, uniquely suitable for depositing uniform and conformal films on complex three-dimensional topographies. The deposition of a film of a given material by ALD relies on the successive, separated, and self-terminating gas–solid reactions of typically two gaseous reactants. Hundreds of ALD chemistries have been found for depositing a variety of materials during the past decades, mostly for inorganic materials but lately also for organic and inorganic–organic hybrid compounds. One factor that often dictates the properties of ALD films in actual applications is the crystallinity of the grown film: Is the material amorphous or, if it is crystalline, which phase(s) is (are) present. In this thematic review, we first describe the basics of ALD, summarize the two-reactant ALD processes to grow inorganic materials developed to-date, updating the information of an earlier review on ALD [R. L. Puurunen, J. Appl. Phys. 97, 121301 (2005)], and give an overview of the status of processing ternary compounds by ALD. We then proceed to analyze the published experimental data for information on the crystallinity and phase of inorganic materials deposited by ALD from different reactants at different temperatures. The data are collected for films in their as-deposited state and tabulated for easy reference. Case studies are presented to illustrate the effect of different process parameters on crystallinity for representative materials: aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, zinc oxide, titanium nitride, zinc zulfide, and ruthenium. Finally, we discuss the general trends in the development of film crystallinity as function of ALD process parameters. The authors hope that this review will help newcomers to ALD to familiarize themselves with the complex world of crystalline ALD films and, at the same time, serve for the expert as a handbook-type reference source on ALD processes and film crystallinity.

Crystallinity of inorganic films grown by atomic layer deposition: Overview and general trends

Sensor technology has an important effect on many aspects in our society, and has gained much progress, propelled by the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Current research efforts are directed toward developing high-performance gas sensors with low operating temperature at low fabrication costs. A gas sensor working at room temperature is very appealing as it provides very low power consumption and does not require a heater for high-temperature operation, and hence simplifies the fabrication of sensor devices and reduces the operating cost. Nanostructured materials are at the core of the development of any room-temperature sensing platform. The most important advances with regard to fundamental research, sensing mechanisms, and application of nanostructured materials for room-temperature conductometric sensor devices are reviewed here. Particular emphasis is given to the relation between the nanostructure and sensor properties in an attempt to address structure-property correlations. Finally, some future research perspectives and new challenges that the field of room-temperature sensors will have to address are also discussed.

Nanostructured Materials for Room-Temperature Gas Sensors

Concrete mathematics, a foundation for computer science, by Ronald L. Graham, Donald E. Knuth and Oren Patashnik. Pp 625. £24·95. 1989. ISBN 0-201-14236-8 (Addison-Wesley)

Light emitting diodes reliability review

On the scaling issues and high-κ replacement of ultrathin gate dielectrics for nanoscale MOS transistors

Amorphous Ta2O5 films were deposited by sputtering Ta onto silicon substrates with reactive ion beam. Electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements on the film found that the plasma oscillation energy is 23.1 eV. The refractive index and the extinction coefficient were measured with spectroscopic ellipsometry over the spectral range of 1.9–4.9 eV. The optical band gap is found to be 4.2 ± 0.05 eV. The valence band consists of three bands separated by ionic gaps. The values of electron effective masses were estimated with DFT quantum-chemical calculation. Experiments on injection of minority carriers from silicon into oxide were also conducted and we found that the electron component of conduction current governed by the electron current in the amorphous Ta2O5.

Hei Wong

Papers

On the scaling issues and high-κ replacement of ultrathin gate dielectrics for nanoscale MOS transistors

Electronic structure and charge transport properties of amorphous Ta2O5 films

Low-frequency noise study in electron devices: review and update

Conduction mechanisms in MOS gate dielectric films

Defects in silicon oxynitride gate dielectric films