Hydrogen-Terminated Single Crystal Diamond MOSFET with a Bilayer Dielectric of Gd2O3/Al2O3
, Minghui Zhang 1 and Hongxing Wang 1,2,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Authors of this study have examined Al2O3/Gd2O3 experimentally. Among other results, the dielectric constant of Gd2O3 was estimated to be 24.8 and the mobility of bilayer Gd2O3/Al2O3 was evaluated to 182.1 cm2/Vs. I have two major concerns that are given below:
1- Why did the authors report the dielectric constant of Gd2O3 only, which appears on the abstract of the paper? The data on Table 1 gives different information of this. What did not they estimate the dielectric constant of Gd2O3/Al2O3? Is the estimated dielectric constant to be ionic or electronic? The physical significance of dielectric constant of the materials examined should be rigorously discussed.
2- What is an H-diamond? It is not clarified in the introduction.
3- Fig. 2a does not clarify what are the various colored curves? What do they represent to?
4- There are some typos/grammatical errors that should be fixed.
5- Background references are not adequately provided.
I have provided my views to authors
Author Response
1、In this work, MOSFET devices without Gd2O3 dielectric layer were prepared on a uniform diamond substrate using the same process as a comparison (Cox=0.215 μF·cm-2), and the dielectric constant of Al2O3 alone was calculated(4.9), from which the separate dielectric constants were calculated.
2、The individual curves in the output characteristics graph have been annotated.
3、The typos/grammatical errors in the article had been corrected.
4、The citation process of the references did not take into account the latest research and has now been revised.
Reviewer 2 Report
This is an excellent article that should definitely be recommended for publication. There are just a few recommendations that can only improve it.
1. In the Introduction, the term “Hydrogen-terminated” needs to be explained.
2. Line 40-42. It would be useful to note here that the properties of these dielectric oxides strongly depend on the point defects (native, radiation, or thermochemically) produced therein as well at their surfaces:
Shablonin, E., et al Journal of Nuclear Materials, 543, 152600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152600
Pintsuk, G., et al. Fusion Engineering and Design, 174, 112994.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2021.112994
Fujii, T. et al . (2006). Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 26(10-11), 1857-1860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2005.09.094
3. Another point that would also be useful to note in the Introduction is what is the actual and the most optimal surface termination for these dielectric layers?
4. Reference list. Most of the links are quite old, and almost none (only 2 from 2018) are younger than five years. Does this mean that the topic has lost its relevance?
Author Response
The problem you mentioned has been changed.
An explanation of h-diamond has been added to the article.
The most current researches were not taken into account in the citation of the references, and the latest references have been changed.
Reviewer 3 Report
The paper entitled “Hydrogen-terminated single crystal diamond MOSFET with a bilayer dielectric of Gd2O3/Al2O3” focuses on the electrical properties of the Gd2O3/Al2O3 hydrogen-terminated single-crystal diamond metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor device.
The paper is interesting and well-explained. Although the introduction refers to the aim of the study and the results are understandably submitted, the arrangement of the text in the study should be changed.
I would like to recommend the publication of the manuscript in this journal after fulfilling the following recommendations:
1. The abstract should include more qualitative findings;
2. More information about the “RT probe system” should be given in section 2.
3. In section 3 the results obtained should be compared with similar studies.
4. The equations for calculating the dielectric constant, trapped charge densities, etc., should be shifted to section 2 Materials and Methods.
The English style and grammar are fine.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments on this article.
Regarding qualitative findings, the main focus in this dissertation study is on device characterization, and there may be few qualitative findings.
The issues you mentioned have been modified in the latest article.
A description of the RT system has been added to the article.
A comparative situation of the same type of experiment has been included in section 3.
Regarding the fourth revision, the author believes that the original article has better continuity in this order.
Reviewer 4 Report
In this paper, the authors interduce two dielectric layers of Al2O3 and Gd2O3 have been prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and magnetron sputtering deposition (SD), respectively. Based on this, a
metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) was successfully prepared on hydrogen-terminated single-crystal diamond and its related properties were studied. The idea behind this is interesting. However, I still have quite a number of concerns in this manuscript. There are times where there are not enough data to support the conclusions of the author. Please see some of the major concerns below.
1.The information for the Gd2O3/Al2O3 H-diamond MOSFET fabrication process is not enough. The authors should give much more information about this. So, the readers can get its reproducibility. For example, what is the differences between green and blue color?
2. The authors should give much more information about the novelty of this paper, especially the effect of using this new two dielectric layers of Al2O3 and Gd2O3 configuration, which applications can be used this device, and why is better to use these materials?
3. The fabrication tolerance analysis, which can offer a good guide for the fabrication requirement, and the key parameters, need to be added in the results section.
4. More references need to be included in the introduction part to understand the applications of using MOSFET/PIN devices.
a. Optimizations of Si PIN diode phase-shifter for controlling MZM quadrature bias point using SOI rib waveguide technology
- Optics & Laser Technology, 2021
b. Testing and Analysis of MOSFET-Based Absorber Integrated Antenna for 5G/WiMAX/WLAN Applications. Nanomaterials 2022,
5. Much more discussion about the results should be given in this paper, especially the author needs to provide enough physicals mechanism analysis about the results.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments on the revisions to this article.
The process information for the dielectric layer has been added to the latest article.
Information on the application prospects of the new dielectric layer has also been added to the latest article.
Regarding the tolerance analysis, it may not be possible to perform it at this time.
The latest references were updated in the article.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Authors have replied to my comments. They have made marginal changes to their ms during their revision. I cannot see such changes as an improvement. Moreover, the reply of the authors to the first question raised in my first review is not answered satisfactorily. In fact, the way the authors have replied to my concerns is unusual and unconventional. In one case (first version of the ms), they wrote they measured the dielectric constant of Gd2O3, and in their reply, they wrote the opposite. It is not clear whether the dielectric constants reported are electronic or ionic contributions. I am so much confused. It is not clear whether such a property is calculated or measured? If it is the former, then the authors of the work should discuss what level of theory, and software, was used to do so? Therefore, I do not recommend publication of this work in its current form without substantial revision.
Writing style is understandable.
Author Response
Thank you for your review.
For the question you mentioned, in this paper, the overall dielectric constant of the MOS structure of the double dielectric layer device is 11.9. The dielectric constant of ALD-Al2O3 prepared by the authors using the same process is 4.9. The dielectric constant of Gd2O3 calculated from the parallel connection of two dielectric layers to form a capacitor is 24.8. Both are obtained from actual experimental tests.
In addition, the dielectric constant should be ionic contribution.
Reviewer 3 Report
The paper has been improved. Please, replace the word "thesis" with a suitable one. This study is not equivalent to a dissertation.
The English language is fine.
Author Response
Thank you for your review, the issues you mentioned have been addressed in the article.
Reviewer 4 Report
The new version can be published
Author Response
Thank you for your review.
Round 3
Reviewer 1 Report
Authors have replied to my concern as follows:
Thank you for your review.
For the question you mentioned, in this paper, the overall dielectric constant of the MOS structure of the double dielectric layer device is 11.9. The dielectric constant of ALD-Al2O3 prepared by the authors using the same process is 4.9. The dielectric constant of Gd2O3 calculated from the parallel connection of two dielectric layers to form a capacitor is 24.8. Both are obtained from actual experimental tests.
In addition, the dielectric constant should be ionic contribution.
Reviewer concern
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However, as far as my knowledge is concern, static relative dielectric permittivity reported experimentally should be an average property. It is the sum of electronic and ionic contributions, which is well-known to researchers of the field and can be found in large body of research papers. Therefore, it is misleading to say, "the dielectric constant should be ionic contribution". If it is indeed the case, the authors should detail their experimental procedure of measurement of the ionic part of the dielectric constant. It is very serious.
.......
Author Response
Thank you for your review.
Previously the authors misunderstood the focus of your question. In this work, the capacitance characteristics were tested at 100 kHz using a probe stage system, from which the dielectric constant value was calculated. This value is the static macroscopic dielectric constant of the dielectric layer, which is contributed by both ions and electrons. The DFT algorithm was not used here to calculate the respective contributions of electrons and ions to the dielectric constant.
