ABSTRACT
The selective etching characteristics of silicon, germanium, and Si0.5Ge0.5 subjected to a downstream H2/CF4/Ar plasma have been studied using a pair of in situ quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). At 50 °C and 760 mTorr, Si can be etched in preference to Ge and Si0.5Ge0.5, with an essentially infinite Si/Ge etch-rate ratio (ERR), whereas for Si/Si0.5Ge0.5, the ERR is infinite at 22 °C and 760 mTorr. XPS data showed that the selectivity is due to the differential suppression of etching by a â¼2 ML thick CxHyFz layer formed by the H2/CF4/Ar plasma on Si, Ge, and Si0.5Ge0.5. The data are consistent with the less exothermic reaction of fluorine radicals with Ge or Si0.5Ge0.5 being strongly suppressed by the CxHyFz layer, whereas, on Si, the CxHyFz layer is not sufficient to completely suppress etching. Replacing H2 with D2 in the feed gas resulted in an inverse kinetic isotope effect (IKIE) where the Si and Si0.5Ge0.5 etch rates were increased by â¼30 times with retention of significant etch selectivity. The use of D2/CF4/Ar instead of H2/CF4/Ar resulted in less total carbon deposition on Si and Si0.5Ge0.5 and gave less Ge enrichment of Si0.5Ge0.5. These results are consistent with the selectivity being due to the differential suppression of etching by an angstrom-scale carbon layer.
ABSTRACT
To deposit an ultrathin dielectric onto WSe2, monolayer titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc) is deposited by molecular beam epitaxy as a seed layer for atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 on WSe2. TiOPc molecules are arranged in a flat monolayer with 4-fold symmetry as measured by scanning tunneling microscopy. ALD pulses of trimethyl aluminum and H2O nucleate on the TiOPc, resulting in a uniform deposition of Al2O3, as confirmed by atomic force microscopy and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The field-effect transistors (FETs) formed using this process have a leakage current of 0.046 pA/µm(2) at 1 V gate bias with 3.0 nm equivalent oxide thickness, which is a lower leakage current than prior reports. The n-branch of the FET yielded a subthreshold swing of 80 mV/decade.
ABSTRACT
A recently developed dimerization/macrocyclization was employed to synthesize a series of macroheterocycles which were biologically evaluated, leading to the discovery of a number of potent cytotoxic agents (e.g., 27: GI50 = 51 nM against leukemia CCRF-CEM cell line; 29: GI50 = 99 nM against melanoma MDA-MB-435 cell line). Further biological studies support an apoptosis mechanism of action for these compounds involving deregulation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and suppression of mitochondrial function in cancer cells.
