THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

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Current Research.

My current research focuses on the study of physical and chemical properties of surfaces and interfaces mainly applied to electronic materials. More specifically to the correlation of chemical bonding and atomic arrangement to the electrical characteristics of metal-oxide-semiconductor structures. Mainly focused on high-k dielectrics such as HfO₂, Al2O₃ and La₂O₃ grown on high-mobility substrates such as Ge, GaAs and InGaAs.

Research Experience.

In the last few years I have worked on the passivation of Si surfaces using monolayers of Sr and Se as well as in the interface properties of high-k dielectrics on silicon. These studies were carried out using XPS, UPS, electron diffraction, x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Specialty areas include:

· Surface Science: Chemical and structural analysis using XPS and other electron spectroscopies, synchrotron XPS and XAS, electron diffraction (RHEED and LEED).

· Growth of ultra-thin layers including deposition methods as MBE, PVD, PVD Sputter, ALD and thermal processing.

· Surface passivation of semiconductors: Si, Ge and III-Vs.

· Electrical characterization of Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor devices.

Future Research Directions.

In the near future I will explore research topics in the area of renewable energy with the purpose of contributing to the important necessity for energy harvesting and storage. The two major topics will be “organic solar cells” and “complex metal hydrides”. Organic solar cells fabrication is a ~10 times cheaper than those based on silicon but efficiencies are in great disadvantage. In this regard a great research opportunity is, for example, improving the electrical properties at the semiconductor/contact interfaces to avoid degradation. The technology for hydrogen fuel cell has reached some degree of maturity; however hydrogen storage is still an open question. A safer alternative to H₂ gas storage (H₂ pressure ~ 10,000 psi) is the use of complex metal hydrides as a mean of storing hydrogen. This field requires a great effort to make the metal hydrides a feasible technology for the future.