Work

A Kinetic Monte Carlo model for material aging: Simulations of second phase formation at Au/Bi2Te3 junction in oxygen environments

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Electronic properties of semiconductor devices are sensitive to defects such as second phase precipitates, grain sizes, and voids. These defects can evolve over time especially under oxidation environments and it is therefore important to understand the resulting aging behavior in order for the reliable applications of devices. In this paper, we propose a kinetic Monte Carlo framework capable of simultaneous simulation of the evolution of second phases, precipitates, grain sizes, and voids in complicated systems involving many species including oxygen. This kinetic Monte Carlo model calculates the energy barriers of various events based directly on the experimental data. As a first step of our model implementation, we incorporate the second phase formation module in the parallel kinetic Monte Carlo codes SPPARKS. Selected aging simulations are performed to examine the formation of second phase precipitates at the eletroplated Au/Bi2Te3 interface under oxygen and oxygen-free environments, and the results are compared with the corresponding experiments.

Source: Journal of Applied Physics

DOI: 10.1063/1.4868317

Authors: X. W. Zhou, N. Y. C. Yang

Institution: Sandia National Laboratories California

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia National Laboratories

Awards: G194215011, G2075401295, G351415096, G7318852158, G8456466421