9872692 Kolodzey This proposal addresses semiconductor device issues to understand the electronic properties of a novel insulator, oxidized aluminum nitride, and the transistors made with it. This study is important because the PI found that the thermal oxidization of epitaxial aluminum nitride on Si substrates produces aluminum oxide (sapphire) having nearly ideal electronic properties. Using this aluminum oxide, the PI has made metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitors which behave similarly to conventional structures based on silicon dioxide (SiO2). The PI would like to make transistors using aluminum oxide, and request the funding to enable a student to fabricate and test field effect transistors using oxidized aluminum nitride as the gate insulator. The motivation for this research is two-fold: to provide information on devices using a new materials system, and to evaluate aluminum oxide as the gate insulator in metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), as a possible alternative to SiO2. To address these questions and to provide the data to support a proposal for a more comprehensive program, the PI will request funding for one year of research under the Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) Program. The funds will be used for a graduate student, faculty time, travel, materials and supplies. The plan is to demonstrate transistor action and to enlist industrial support for longer term funding under the NSF GOALI program. ***
