US-Brazil Collaborative Research: Planning Visit - Collaboration On Ion Beam Studies of High-k Dielectric Materials

在这次由国际科学与工程办公室美洲项目资助的计划访问中，罗伯特·M·华莱士将前往巴西阿雷格里港的南里奥格兰德联邦大学(FURGS)，与伊斯雷尔·J·鲍姆沃尔教授协调一个合作研究项目的计划。这一潜在项目的主题是基于Hfn的材料的离子束表征以及薄膜成分在不同热处理后与硅衬底的扩散机制。UNT和FURGS的实验室都有互补的研究能力，可以用来研究两个机构就基于Hfn的电介质的互扩散效应得出的结论中明显存在的矛盾。他们可以通过合成和表征具有相同界面层特性的薄膜来研究这些效应。还可以研究氧化退火对氮化HF-硅酸盐薄膜的影响。此次计划访问将使华莱士博士能够检查FURGS可用的设施和技术，以便将它们与北德克萨斯大学(UNT)的高k介质材料合成能力进行比较。它还将使两位研究人员有机会为他们将提交给各自资助机构的提案确定项目。这项研究应该对全球半导体行业具有直接的技术兴趣和相关性。访问还将使研究人员能够就预期的学生交流讨论与每个小组相关的学生的教学和培训。这种交流不仅可以直接转移研究知识和专业知识，还可以为学生的文化教育做出贡献。

In this planning visit funded by the Americas Program of the Office of International Science and Engineering, Robert M. Wallace will travel to the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (FURGS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil to coordinate plans for a collaborative research project with Prof. Israel J. Baumvol. The subjects of the potential project are ion-beam characterization of hafnium-based materials and diffusion mechanisms of film constituents with the silicon substrate after various thermal treatments. The laboratories at both UNT and FURGS have complementary research capabilities that can be used to study the apparent contradictions in conclusions reached at each institution regarding interdiffusion effects in hafnium-based dielectrics. They can study these effects by synthesizing and characterizing films with identical interfacial layer properties. The effect of oxidation annealing on nitrided Hf-silicate films can also be examined.This planning visit will allow Dr. Wallace to examine the facilities and techniques available at FURGS in order to compare them with the high-k dielectric materials-synthesis capabilities at the University of North Texas (UNT). It will also give the two researchers the opportunity to define the projects for the proposals they will submit to their respective funding agencies. This research should have direct technological interest and relevance to the global semiconductor industry. The visit will also enable the researchers to discuss teaching and training of the students associated with each group in terms of expected student exchanges. Such exchanges would not only transfer research knowledge and expertise directly, but they also contribute to the students' cultural education.