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ELECTROMECHANICAL LIFTING ACTUATION OF A MEMS CANTILEVER AND NANO-SCALE ANALYSIS OF DIFFUSION IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE DIELECTRICS

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Date Issued:
2015
Abstract/Description:
This dissertation presents experimental and theoretical studies of physical phenomena in micro- and nano-electronic devices. Firstly, a novel and unproven means of electromechanical actuation in a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) cantilever was investigated. In nearly all MEMS devices, electric forces cause suspended components to move toward the substrate. I demonstrated a design with the unusual and potentially very useful property of having a suspended MEMS cantilever lift away from the substrate. The effect was observed by optical micro-videography, by electrical sensing, and it was quantified by optical interferometry. The results agree with predictions of analytic and numerical calculations. One potential application is infrared sensing in which absorbed radiation changes the temperature of the cantilever, changing the duty cycle of an electrically-driven, repetitively closing micro-relay.Secondly, ultra-thin high-k gate dielectric layers in two 22 nm technology node semiconductor devices were studied. The purpose of the investigation was to characterize the morphology and composition of these layers as a means to verify whether the transmission electron microscope (TEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) could sufficiently resolve the atomic diffusion at such small length scales. Results of analytic and Monte-Carlo numerical calculations were compared to empirical data to validate the ongoing viability of TEM EDS as a tool for nanoscale characterization of semiconductor devices in an era where transistor dimensions will soon be less than 10 nm.
Title: ELECTROMECHANICAL LIFTING ACTUATION OF A MEMS CANTILEVER AND NANO-SCALE ANALYSIS OF DIFFUSION IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE DIELECTRICS.
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Name(s): Rezadad, Imen, Author
Peale, Robert, Committee Chair
Del Barco, Enrique, Committee Member
Tetard, Laurene, Committee Member
Prenitzer, Brenda, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2015
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This dissertation presents experimental and theoretical studies of physical phenomena in micro- and nano-electronic devices. Firstly, a novel and unproven means of electromechanical actuation in a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) cantilever was investigated. In nearly all MEMS devices, electric forces cause suspended components to move toward the substrate. I demonstrated a design with the unusual and potentially very useful property of having a suspended MEMS cantilever lift away from the substrate. The effect was observed by optical micro-videography, by electrical sensing, and it was quantified by optical interferometry. The results agree with predictions of analytic and numerical calculations. One potential application is infrared sensing in which absorbed radiation changes the temperature of the cantilever, changing the duty cycle of an electrically-driven, repetitively closing micro-relay.Secondly, ultra-thin high-k gate dielectric layers in two 22 nm technology node semiconductor devices were studied. The purpose of the investigation was to characterize the morphology and composition of these layers as a means to verify whether the transmission electron microscope (TEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) could sufficiently resolve the atomic diffusion at such small length scales. Results of analytic and Monte-Carlo numerical calculations were compared to empirical data to validate the ongoing viability of TEM EDS as a tool for nanoscale characterization of semiconductor devices in an era where transistor dimensions will soon be less than 10 nm.
Identifier: CFE0006228 (IID), ucf:51075 (fedora)
Note(s): 2015-08-01
Ph.D.
Sciences, Physics
Doctoral
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): MEMS -- electrostatic repulsion -- EDS -- TEM -- Resolution -- MOSFET -- High-k dielectrics
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006228
Restrictions on Access: campus 2017-02-15
Host Institution: UCF

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