Design, fabrication and characterization of thin-film MIM diodes for rectenna array

104 Pages·2015·2.92 MB·English

by  Subramanian, Krishnan

University of South Florida
Scholar Commons
Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School
5-26-2004
Design, Fabrication and Characterization of Thin-
Film M-I-M Diodes for Rectenna Array
Subramanian Krishnan
University of South Florida
Follow this and additional works at:https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd
Part of theAmerican Studies Commons
Scholar Commons Citation
Krishnan, Subramanian, "Design, Fabrication and Characterization of Thin-Film M-I-M Diodes for Rectenna Array" (2004).Graduate
Theses and Dissertations.
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1119
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate
Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please [email protected].
Design, Fabrication and Characterization of Thin-Film M-I-M Diodes for
Rectenna Array

by

Subramanian Krishnan

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirement for the degree of
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of South Florida

Co-Major Professor: Elias K. Stefanakos, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor: Shekhar Bhansali, Ph.D.
Kenneth Buckle, Ph.D.

Date of Approval:
May 26, 2004

Keywords: MIM, Rectenna, Solar energy conversion, Thin-Film Insulator,
I-V Characteristics of MIM.

© Copyright 2004, Subramanian Krishnan
DEDICATION

To my Father, Mother, Brother and my Wife.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to people who have contributed to this work.
I gratefully acknowledge the continued support and guidance of my advisor, Dr.
Stefanakos and my co-advisor, Dr. Shekhar Bhansali. Their ideas and feedback
have kept me focused in my research. Our weekly group meetings have greatly
influenced and clarified my work. I would like to thank Dr. Buckle for serving as a
committee member.

I extend my special thanks to my fellow colleagues, Senthil, Praveen, Shyam for
their ideas and support. Their help is much appreciated.

I also want to thank my family and friends for their moral support and
encouragement over the period of my graduate school.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF FIGURES v

ABSTRACT viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Overview of Rectenna 2

1.1.1 Basic Structure of a Rectenna 5

1.1.2 MIM Tunnel Diode– A Brief Introduction 6

1.2 Objective 7

1.3 Organization of Thesis 8

CHAPTER 2 MIM TUNNEL DIODE 10

2.1 Introduction 10

2.2 Tunnel Diode 11

2.3 MIM Tunnel Diode 14

2.3.1 Factors Limiting MIM 16

2.3.2 Schottky Diode 17

2.3.3 Characteristics of MIM Diode 18

2.3.4 Theoretical Model of MIM Diode 20

i
2.4 Previous Development of MIM for Rectenna Concept 24

CHAPTER 3 DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF MIM DIODE 27

3.1 Introduction 27

3.2 Design Issues 28

3.3 Mask Design and Development 29

3.4 Fabrication Issues 33

3.5 Material Selection 34

3.6 Basic Processing Steps 36

3.6.1 Photolithography 37

3.6.2 Metal and Metal Oxide Deposition 41

3.6.2.1 Sputtering 41

3.6.2.2 Metal Oxide Deposition 44

3.6.2.3 E-Beam Evaporation 46

3.6.3 Lift-off 48

CHAPTER 4 DEVICE TESTING AND RESULTS 50

4.1 Introduction 50

4.2 Device Processing 50

4.2.1 Photolithography 51

4.2.2 Metal-Insulator-Metal Deposition 53

4.3 Optimization of the Fabrication Process 54

4.4 Theoretical Calculations 65

4.4.1 Frequency and Capacitance Calculations 67
ii
4.5 Measurement Set-up 68

4.6 Device Testing 69

4.7 Experimental Results and Discussions 71

4.8 Summary 79

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 82

5.1 Conclusion 82

5.2 Future Work 83

REFERENCES 85

APPENDIX 87

Appendix A: Detailed Processing Steps of MIM Diode 88

iii
LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Metals Considered and their Work-Function 35

Table 4.1 Surface Analysis Using Various Metrology Tools 58

Table A.1 Process Flow for Fabrication of MIM Diode 88

iv
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 William C. Brown Demonstrating Microwave Powered Helicopter 3

Figure 1.2 Frequency Spectrum 5

Figure 1.3 Block Diagram of a Rectenna and Load 6

Figure 2.1 Characteristics Curve of Tunnel Diode and PN Junction 11

Figure 2.2 Energy Band Diagram of Tunnel Diode 13

Figure 2.3 MIM Point-Contact Diode 15

Figure 2.4 I-V Characteristics of Cr/CrOx/Au MIM Diode 16

Figure 2.5 Theoretical Tunnel Resistances as a Function of Applied Voltage
for an Asymmetrical MIM Structure 18

Figure 2.6 Equivalent Circuit of Antenna Coupled MIM Diode 20

Figure 2.7 Schematic Energy Level Diagram of MIM Diode Under
Different Bias Conditions 23

Figure 3.1 Design Structure of MIM Diode 28
v
Figure 3.2 A Schematic of the Planar MIM Diode 29

Figure 3.3 A Schematic of the Sliding MIM Diode 30

Figure 3.4 Mask Design of MIM Diode 31

Figure 3.5 A Perspective View of the MIM Structure 32

Figure 3.6 Main Process of Photolithography 38

Figure 3.7 Methods of Photolithography 40

Figure 3.8 Sequence of Steps Showing Thin-Film Deposition Process 42

Figure 3.9 Top View of Sputtering Chamber 43

Figure 3.10 E-Beam Evaporation Process 48

Figure 4.1 Metal1 Layer Photo-resist Pattern after Developing and
before Metal Deposition 52

Figure 4.2 AFM Images Showing Agglomeration Sites 55

Figure 4.3 Aluminum Oxide Sputter-Deposited with 1:1 (Ar:O ) Gas Ratio 59
2

Figure 4.4 Aluminum Oxide Sputter-Deposited with 2:1 (Ar:O ) Gas Ratio 60
2

Figure 4.5 Aluminum Oxide Sputter-Deposited only with Argon 61

Figure 4.6 Final Structure of a MIM Diode after Fabrication 63
vi