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Analyzing the surface passivity effect of germanium oxynitride: a comprehensive approach through first principles simulation and interface state density

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Abstract

High-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, which are used for direct dark matter detection, have the advantages of a low threshold and excellent energy resolution. The surface passivation of HPGe has become crucial for achieving an extremely low energy threshold. In this study, first-principles simulations, passivation film preparation, and metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor characterization were combined to study surface passivation. Theoretical calculations of the energy band structure of the –H,–OH, and –NH2 passivation groups on the surface of Ge were performed, and the interface state density and potential with five different passivation groups with N/O atomic ratios were accurately analyzed to obtain a stable surface state. Based on the theoretical calculation results, the surface passivation layers of the Ge2ON2 film were prepared via magnetron sputtering in accordance with the optimum atomic ratio structure. The microstructure, C-V, and I-V electrical properties of the layers, and the passivation effect of the Al/Ge2ON2/Ge MOS were characterized to test the interface state density. The mean interface state density obtained by the Terman method was 8.4 × 1011 cm−2 eV−1. The processing of germanium oxynitrogen passivation films is expected to be used in direct dark matter detection of the HPGe detector surface passivation technology to reduce the detector leakage currents.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Science Data Bank at https://cstr.cn/31253.11.sciencedb.14917 and https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.14917.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Key Laboratory of Particle Technology and Radiation Imaging (Ministry of Education) at the Tsinghua University, which is a member of the China Dark Matter Experimental Cooperation Group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nuclear Science and TechnologyJoint Laboratory of **** Ultra-Low Radiation Background Measurement of Ministry of Ecology and EnvironmentKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, Bei**g Normal University, Bei**g Normal University, Bei**g, 100875, China

    Sheng-Jie Du, Yuan-Yuan Liu, Zhong-Zheng Tang, Jian-** Cheng & Sha-Sha Lv

  2. Joint Research Center, Nuctech Company Limited, Bei**g, 100084, China

    **u-**a Li

  3. Department of Engineering Physics, Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging of Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Bei**g, 100084, China

    Yang Tian, Zhi Deng & Yu-Lan Li

  4. Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Bei**g, 100084, China

    Ke Jia & Zheng-Cao Li

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Contributions

SJD, XXL, YT, JPC and SSL contributed to the overall research concept and supervision of this study. SJD, XXL, KJ, ZZT, ZD, and SSL participated in material preparation, data collection, data processing program writing, and data analysis. YYL, YLL, ZCL, and SSL provided experimental suggestions and optimized experimental condition. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SJD, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read approved final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sha-Sha Lv.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12005017).

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Du, SJ., Li, XX., Tian, Y. et al. Analyzing the surface passivity effect of germanium oxynitride: a comprehensive approach through first principles simulation and interface state density. NUCL SCI TECH 35, 45 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-024-01398-1

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