Transport of positrons in the electrically biased metal-oxide-silicon system

This paper describes a study of the effect of an external electric field on the behavior of positrons in metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) systems. Doppler broadening measurements of the annihilation radiation were performed on capacitors with identical thermally grown SiO2 layers and with Al, W and Au layers as a gate. The data were analyzed by the combined use of the shape- and wing-parameters of the photo peak. The observed effects of the electric field are due to the field-driven transport of positrons through the SiO2, silicon and the interfaces. By applying a field of the order of 1 MV/cm the positrons can be efficiently transported through the approximately 100 nm thick SiO2 layer. From the transport behavior of the positrons it is concluded that the positron affinity is higher for SiO2 than for silicon and for the gate metal. By properly choosing the direction of the field, the positrons implanted into the SiO2 layer are collected either at the Si/SiO2 interface or at the SiO2/gate interface. For negative gate bias the positrons implanted into the substrate, that diffuse back to the SiO2, are transported through the oxide layer and injected into the gate metal. This is the first time that field-assisted transport of positrons across an insulating layer has been demonstrated. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.