Defect Energies for Muonium (Hydrogen) in Semiconductors

*非技术摘要*这一个人研究人员奖支持一个项目，其主要目标是对最近关于控制氢在半导体和其他电子材料中的杂质时的电学性质的参数的预测进行实验测试。如果结果证实了这一理论，这项研究将建立一种简单的方法来预测氢杂质对新材料性能的影响。氢很容易进入大多数材料，其缺陷化学目前在半导体工业中用于延长硅基器件的可靠性，但它在其他一些材料中可能会产生非常负面的影响，包括一些正在开发用于下一代器件的材料。由于氢在这些材料中具有高度的反应性，而且很难研究，所以这项研究使用了一种短暂的人工产生的杂质，它非常好地模仿了氢的行为。一个国际研究小组将在英国、加拿大和瑞士的加速器设施中进行这些实验。面向工业职业的本科生和硕士研究生以及博士生将在物理、化学和材料工程的重叠领域接受研究方法方面的培训，并将在大型小组研究环境中获得宝贵的经验。*技术摘要*这个个人研究人员奖支持一个项目，该项目旨在为一系列半导体材料中的氢的施主和受主缺陷水平建立热力学能量。这一结果将为最近关于氢缺陷的能量被普遍钉扎的预测提供一个关键的检验，并将从实验上确定这一能量。这种影响延伸到新的电子材料和器件，因为当H钝化其他缺陷的不必要的电活动时，它对器件的可靠性至关重要，但也会引入自身的活动。如果普适性得到证实，将这种H缺陷能量放置在给定材料的能带结构中是一个很好的预测其电学行为的指标。由于氢是非常活泼的，很难作为孤立的杂质进行研究，所以这个项目使用了它的轻质假同位素Muonium。实验是由一个国际团队在英国、加拿大和瑞士的基于加速器的Muon-Spin研究设施进行的。面向行业的本科生和硕士研究生以及博士生将接受物理、化学和材料工程重叠领域的研究方法培训，并将在大群体环境中获得宝贵的实践经验。

****NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT*****This individual investigator award supports a project with a primary goal of providing an experimental test of recent predictions regarding the parameter that controls electrical properties of hydrogen when it is an impurity in semiconductors and other electronic materials. If the results confirm the theory, the research will establish a simple method to predict how the properties of new materials are impacted by hydrogen impurities. Hydrogen easily enters most materials and its defect chemistry is currently used in the semiconductor industry to extend the reliability of silicon based devices, but it can have very negative effects in some other materials, including a few being developed for use in next generation devices. Because hydrogen is highly reactive inside these materials and difficult to study, this research uses a short-lived artificially produced impurity that mimics hydrogen's behavior extremely well. An international research team will conduct these experiments at accelerator-based facilities in England, Canada and Switzerland. Undergraduates and MS students aiming for industrial careers, as well as PhD students, will receive training in research methods in the overlapping regions of physics, chemistry and materials engineering, and will gain valuable experience in a large-group research environment.****TECHNICAL ABSTRACT*****This individual investigator award supports a project seeking to establish thermodynamic energies for donor and acceptor defect-levels of hydrogen in a series of semiconductor materials. The results will provide a crucial test of recent predictions that the energy of H defects is universally pinned, and will determine that energy experimentally. The impact extends to new electronic materials and devices since H is crucial to device reliability when it passivates unwanted electrical activity of other defects, but can also introduce activity of its own. If universality is confirmed, placement of this H defect energy within the band structure of a given material is an excellent predictor of its electrical behavior. Because H is very reactive and difficult to study as an isolated impurity, this project uses its light pseudo-isotope Muonium. Experiments are conducted by an international team at accelerator-based muon-spin research facilities in the UK, Canada, and Switzerland. Undergraduate and MS students destined for industry, as well as PhD students, will receive training in research methods in overlap areas of physics, chemistry and materials engineering, and will gain valuable practical experience in a large-group environment.