Matching Items (6)
Filtering by
Description
The purpose of this research is to optically characterize germanium-based chalcogenide thin films and evaluate how their properties change when the composition is altered. The composition changes based on if the chalcogenide contains selenium or sulfur, if the film is 60 nanometers or 200 nanometers, and if the film is doped with silver (ranging from 0 nanometers to 30 nanometers). These amorphous germanium-chalcogenide thin films exhibit interesting properties when doped with silver, such as transporting ions within the film in addition to electron transport. Using optical characterization techniques such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, profilometry, and ellipsometry, parameters that describe the optical characteristics are found, including the absorption coefficient, refractive index, optical band gap energy, and information on the density of states. This research concludes that as silver content within the film increases, the optical bandgap energy decreases—this is a consistent trend in existing literature. Having a better understanding of the materials’ physical properties will be useful to aid in the creation of microsystems based on these materials by selecting optimal composition and growth conditions. Important applications using these materials are currently being researched, including variable capacitor devices relying on the ionic conductor behavior these materials display. The optical properties like the absorption coefficient and the optical bandgap energy are invaluable in designing these applications effectively.
ContributorsRicks, Amberly Frances (Author) / Gonzalez Velo, Yago (Thesis director) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Holman, Zachary (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper goes does a market analysis on Inter Active Flat Panel Displays (IFPDs), and talks about how company X can grow its market share in IFPDs.
ContributorsKoroli, Eri (Co-author) / Phillips, Maya (Co-author) / Morales, Herwin (Co-author) / Hauck, Tanner (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This paper serves as an analysis of the current operational conditions of a real-world company – referred to as “Company X” – with respect to the IC substrate industry. The cost of substrates, a crucial component in the production of Company X’s product, has recently diverged from Company X’s predictions and is contributing to declining profitability. This analysis aims to discover the underlying cause for price divergence and recommend potential resolutions to improve the forecast of substrate costs and profitability. The paper is organized as follows: Chapter 1 is an introduction to IC substrates and the industry as a whole, Chapter 2 is a breakdown of the specific factors responsible for substrate prices, and Chapter 3 delivers a final recommendation to Company X and concludes the paper.
ContributorsO'Loughlin, Connor (Author) / Fares, Ari (Co-author) / Aggarwal, Bianca (Co-author) / King, Camden (Co-author) / Guillaume, Riley (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Mike (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
This thesis discusses the yield analysis process for determining the efficacy of experimental changes to a semiconductor manufacturing line, specifically within the chemical mechanical planarization department. Three yield analysis projects were analyzed and related to relevant literature to determine how the changes might impact overall semiconductor yield.
ContributorsRichards, Andrew (Author) / Machas, Michael (Thesis director) / Maguregui, Edgar (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
The investigation into wide band gap semiconductors for use in tandem solar cells has become an increasingly more researched area with many new absorbers outlining the landscape. Pairing silicon with another cheap wide band gap semiconductor absorber can generate more efficient solar cell, which could continue to drive up the energy output from solar. One such recently researched wide band gap absorber is ZnSnN2. ZnSnN2 proves too difficult to form under most conditions, but has the necessary band gap to make it a potential earth abundant solar absorber. The deposition process for ZnSnN2 is usually conducted with Zn and Sn metal targets while flowing N2 gas. Due to restrictions with chamber depositions, instead ZnO and SnO2 targets were sputtered with N2 gas to attempt to form separate zinc and tin oxynitrides as an initial single target study prior to future combinatorial studies. The electrical and optical properties and crystal structure of these thin films were analyzed to determine the nitrogen incorporation in the thin films through X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, and 4-point probe measurements. The SnO2 thin films showed a clear response in the absorption coefficient leading but showed no observable XRD peak shift. Thus, it is unlikely that substantial amounts of nitrogen were incorporated into SnO¬2. ZnO showed a clear response increase in conductivity with N2 with an additional shift in the XRD peak at 300 °C and potential secondary phase peak. Nitrogen incorporation was achieved with fair amounts of certainty for the ZnO thin films.
ContributorsTheut, Nicholas C (Author) / Bertoni, Mariana (Thesis director) / Holman, Zachary (Committee member) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Due to the high level of competition within the semiconductor industry, companies are looking to identify potential advantages in their manufacturing processes. This paper attempts to discover when it is more cost effective to disaggregate die versus maintaining a monolithic production process. Additionally, it will examine the current conditions of the market and how the results yielded from the research could be applied most effectively. Company X needs to maintain the same or more cores on their processors to stay ahead of their competition. This means that more surface area is needed on the silicon die, encouraging the change to die disaggregation and advanced packaging solutions. In the paper, we will first provide an analysis and go through our two cost equations for monolithic and disaggregated die. We will then break down each part of our cost equations and each variable that goes into it by doing a sensitivity analysis. The sensitivity analysis will give us some insight into which variables are affecting our cost equation the most, and thus which variables Company X should pay the most attention to while deciding whether or not to continue to use the monolithic die or move to the disaggregated process. Based on our findings we came to the conclusion that Company X should continue to utilize a monolithic die for all mobile products. However, all desktop and server products should start to consider utilizing a disaggregated die on a case by case basis while examining the specific factors in the cost equation.
ContributorsKuebler, Mason (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Llazani, Loris (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05