Silicon nitride

About: Silicon nitride is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 32678 publications have been published within this topic receiving 413599 citations. The topic is also known as: N₄Si₃.

Stability of low-temperature amorphous silicon thin film transistors formed on glass and transparent plastic substrates

Abstract: This article describes the formation of amorphous silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) on glass and flexible transparent plastic substrates using rf plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and a maximum processing temperature of 110 °C. Silane diluted with hydrogen was used for the preparation of the amorphous silicon, and SiH4/NH3/N2 or SiH4/NH3/N2/H2 mixtures were used for the deposition of the silicon nitride gate dielectric. The amorphous silicon nitride layers were characterized by transmission infrared spectroscopy and current-voltage measurements; the plastic substrates were 10 mil thick (0.25 mm) polyethylene terephthalate sheets. Transistors formed using the same process on glass and plastic showed linear mobilities ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 cm2/V s with ION/IOFF ratios⩾107. To characterize the stability of the transistors on glass, n- and p-channel transconductances were measured before and after bias stressing. Devices formed at 110 °C show evidence of charge trapping near the a-Si/SiNx interfa...

Selectively formable vertical diode circuit element

Abstract: A programmable low impedance interconnect diode element is disclosed having a lower electrode formed of a semiconductor material of a first conductivity type covered by an insulating dielectric layer which may be in a preferred embodiment comprised of an initial layer of silicon dioxide, a second layer of silicon nitride and a third layer of silicon dioxide, covered by a layer of semiconductor material of a second conductivity type A programmable read only memory array and a programmable logic array comprising a plurality of the above-described cells are also disclosed

Colloidal Processing of Silicon Nitride with Poly(acrylic acid): I, Adsorption and Electrostatic Interactions

Abstract: The role of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) in the dispersion of silicon nitride suspensions was investigated experimentally The effects of concentration, relative molecular mass, and suspension pH were evaluated The ionization of PAA was characterized by potentiometric titration and indicated a pH-dependent conformational transition The isoelectric point for silicon nitride decreased from pH 63 to pH 3 as the PAA concentration increased, roughly independent of relative molecular mass A broadening of the stability region for silicon nitride was attributed to this effect Redispersion in alkaline media, subsequent to destabilization by surface-charge neutralization, improved following preadsorption of PAA in acidic media This effect was attributed to formation of a protective polymer adlayer on the surface, which prevented primary minimum aggregation; an electrosteric contribution also may be present The influence of free polymer on the suspension properties also is discussed

High-Q silicon nitride microresonators exhibiting low-power frequency comb initiation

Abstract: Optical resonators with high quality factors (Qs) are promising for a variety of applications due to the enhanced nonlinearity and increased photonic density of states at resonances. In particular, frequency combs (FCs) can be generated through four-wave mixing in high-Q microresonators made from Kerr nonlinear materials such as silica, silicon nitride, magnesium fluoride, and calcium fluoride. These devices have potential for on-chip frequency metrology and high-resolution spectroscopy, high-bandwidth radiofrequency information processing, and high-data-rate telecommunications. Silicon nitride microresonators are attractive due to their compatibility with integrated circuit manufacturing; they can be cladded with silica for long-term stable yet tunable operation, and allow multiple resonators to be coupled together to achieve novel functionalities. Despite previous demonstrations of high-Q silicon nitride resonators, FC generation using silicon nitride microresonator chips still requires pump power significantly higher than those in whispering gallery mode resonators made from silica, magnesium, and calcium fluorides, which all have shown resonator Qs between 0.1 and 100 billion. Here, we report on a fabrication procedure that leads to the demonstration of “finger-shaped” Si3N4 microresonators with intrinsic Qs up to 17 million at a free spectrum range (FSR) of 24.7 GHz that are suitable for telecommunication and microwave photonics applications. The frequency comb onset power can be as low as 2.36 mW and broad, single FSR combs can be generated at a low pump power of 24 mW, both within reach of on-chip semiconductor lasers. Our demonstration is an important step toward a fully integrated on-chip FC source.

Diesel particulate filter apparatus

Abstract: According to the present invention, a filter body for collecting particulates is constituted of a fiber laminate material produced by laminating a fiber material comprising a core material in the form of a fiber, and a covering layer of a material different from that of the core material formed around the outer periphery of the core material by coating. The core material of the fiber material is selected from among inorganic fibers such as glass or ceramic fibers containing alumina, and heat-resistant alloy fibers each made of a heat-resistant alloy selected from among Ti-Al alloys, Fe alloys containing at least one of Mo, Cr and Ni, and Fe-Cr-Al-Y alloys. The covering layer is made of a material selected from among silicon carbide ceramics respectively derived from polytitanocarbosilane, polysilazane and polycarbosilane, thermoplastic materials, silicon carbide ceramics such as Si-C, Si-Ti-C-O and Si-C-O or silicon nitride ceramics such as Si-N-C-O, alumina ceramics, and zirconia ceramics.