Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Electronic transport in nanometre-scale silicon-on-insulator membranes

Nature volume 439, pages 703–706 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The widely used ‘silicon-on-insulator’ (SOI) system consists of a layer of single-crystalline silicon supported on a silicon dioxide substrate. When this silicon layer (the template layer) is very thin, the assumption that an effectively infinite number of atoms contributes to its physical properties no longer applies, and new electronic, mechanical and thermodynamic phenomena arise1,2,3,4, distinct from those of bulk silicon. The development of unusual electronic properties with decreasing layer thickness is particularly important for silicon microelectronic devices, in which (001)-oriented SOI is often used5,6,7. Here we show—using scanning tunnelling microscopy, electronic transport measurements, and theory—that electronic conduction in thin SOI(001) is determined not by bulk dopants but by the interaction of surface or interface electronic energy levels with the ‘bulk’ band structure of the thin silicon template layer. This interaction enables high-mobility carrier conduction in nanometre-scale SOI; conduction in even the thinnest membranes or layers of Si(001) is therefore possible, independent of any considerations of bulk doping, provided that the proper surface or interface states are available to enable the thermal excitation of ‘bulk’ carriers in the silicon layer.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Scanning tunnelling microscopy experiment and images of surfaces of clean SOI.
Figure 2: Proposed band diagrams showing interface, bulk and surface bands for ultrathin SOI.
Figure 3: Sheet resistance, as function of the Si layer thickness, of a thin Si membrane with different bounding layers.

References

  1. Lu, Z. H., Lockwood, D. J. & Baribeau, J. M. Quantum confinement and light-emission in SiO2/Si superlattices. Nature 378, 258–260 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Legrand, B., Agache, V., Nys, J. P., Senez, V. & Stievenard, D. Formation of silicon islands on a silicon on insulator substrate upon thermal annealing. Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 3271–3273 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, W. & Asheghi, M. Phonon-boundary scattering in ultrathin single-crystal silicon layers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 3819–3821 (2004)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Liu, F., Huang, M. H., Rugheimer, P. P., Savage, D. E. & Lagally, M. G. Nanostressors and the nanomechanical response of a thin silicon film on an insulator. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 136101 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Celler, G. K. & Cristoloveanu, S. Frontiers of silicon-on-insulator. J. Appl. Phys. 93, 4955–4978 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kim, Y. A 0.25 mm 600MHz 1.5V SOI 64b ALPHATM microprocessor. ISSCC Dig. Tech. Pap. I, 432–433 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Yan, R. H., Ourmazd, A. & Lee, K. F. Scaling the Si MOSFET — From bulk to SOI to bulk. IEEE. Trans. Electron. Dev. 39, 1704–1710 (1992)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sutter, P., Ernst, W. & Sutter, E. Scanning tunneling microscopy on ultrathin silicon on insulator (100). Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 3148–3150 (2004)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lin, K. C., Holland, O. W., Feldman, L. C. & Weitering, H. H. Surface characterization of silicon on insulator material. Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 2313–2315 (1998)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Hovel, H. et al. Status of 300 mm SOI material: comparisons with 200 mm. Proc. Electrochem. Soc. 2003–05, 75–80 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Swartzentruber, B. S., Kitamura, N., Lagally, M. G. & Webb, M. B. Behavior of steps on Si(001) as a function of vicinality. Phys. Rev. B 47, 13432–13441 (1993)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Tromp, R. M., Hamers, R. J. & Demuth, J. E. Si(001) dimer structure observed with scanning tunneling microscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 1303–1306 (1985)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Fontes, E., Patel, J. R. & Comin, F. Direct measurement of the asymmetric dimer buckling of Ge on Si(001). Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2790–2793 (1993)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Schroder, D. K. Semiconductor Material and Device Characterization (Wiley & Sons, New York, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  15. McWhorter, P. J. & Winokur, P. S. Simple technique for separating the effects of interface traps and trapped-oxide charge in metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 48, 133–135 (1986)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Cristoloveanu, S. & Sheng, L. Electrical Characterization of Silicon-on-Insulator Materials and Devices (Kluwer, Boston, 1995)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Northrup, J. E. Electronic structure of Si(100)C(4x2) calculated within the GW approximation. Phys. Rev. B 47, 10032–10035 (1993)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Stroscio, J. A. & Ho, W. Long-range quasielastic scattering of low-energy electrons by conduction-band surface-plasmons on Si(111)7x7. Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1573–1576 (1985)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Heike, S., Watanabe, S., Wada, Y. & Hashizume, T. Electron conduction through surface states of the Si(111)-(7x7) surface. Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 890–893 (1998)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Tanikawa, T., Matsuda, I., Kanagawa, T. & Hasegawa, S. Surface-state electrical conductivity at a metal-insulator transition on silicon. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 016801 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Petersen, C. L., Grey, F., Shiraki, I. & Hasegawa, S. Micro-four-point probe for studying electronic transport through surface states. Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 3782–3784 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Yoo, K. & Weitering, H. H. Electrical conductance of reconstructed silicon surfaces. Phys. Rev. B 65, 115424 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Chen, D. X. & Boland, J. J. Chemisorption-induced disruption of surface electronic structure: Hydrogen adsorption on the Si(100)-2x1 surface. Phys. Rev. B 65, 165336 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Chen, D. X. & Boland, J. J. Spontaneous roughening of low-coverage Si(100)-2x1: Cl surfaces: Patch formation on submonolayer halogenated surface. Phys. Rev. B 70, 205432 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Hollinger, G. & Himpsel, F. J. Oxygen chemisorption and oxide formation on Si(111) and Si(100) surfaces. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1, 640–645 (1983)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Hamers, R. J. et al. Cycloaddition chemistry of organic molecules with semiconductor surfaces. Acc. Chem. Res. 33, 617–624 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Seino, K., Schmidt, W. G. & Bechstedt, F. Organic modification of surface electronic properties: A first-principles study of uracil on Si(001). Phys. Rev. B 69, 245309 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Meuris, M. et al. The IMEC clean — A new concept for particle and metal removal on Si surfaces. Solid State Technol. 38, 109–114 (1995)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the US National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, Madison, USA

    Pengpeng Zhang, Emma Tevaarwerk, Byoung-Nam Park, Donald E. Savage, Irena Knezevic, Paul G. Evans, Mark A. Eriksson & Max G. Lagally

  2. Soitec USA, 2 Centennial Drive, Massachusetts, 01960, Peabody, USA

    George K. Celler

Authors
  1. Pengpeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emma Tevaarwerk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Byoung-Nam Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Donald E. Savage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. George K. Celler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Irena Knezevic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Paul G. Evans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Mark A. Eriksson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Max G. Lagally
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Max G. Lagally.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

Reprints and permissions information is available at npg.nature.com/reprintsandpermissions. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhang, P., Tevaarwerk, E., Park, BN. et al. Electronic transport in nanometre-scale silicon-on-insulator membranes. Nature 439, 703–706 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04501

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04501

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing