Victor Yu. Aristov

The structural and chemical composition of the surface layer (100–140 nm) of niobium radiofrequency cavities operating at cryogenic temperature has enormous impact on their superconducting characteristics. During the last years, cavities treated with a new thermal processing recipe, so-called nitrogen infusion, have demonstrated an increased efficiency and high accelerating gradients. The role and importance of nitrogen gas has been a topic of many debates. In the present work we employ variable-energy synchrotron x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), to study the niobium surface subjected to the following treatments: vacuum annealing at 800 °C, nitrogen infusion, and vacuum heat treatment as for the infusion process but without nitrogen supply. Careful analysis of XPS energy-distribution curves revealed a slightly increased thickness of the native oxide Nb₂O₅ for the infused samples (∼3.8 nm) as compared to the annealed one (∼3.5 nm) which indicates insignificant oxygen incorporation into niobium during 120 °C baking and no effect of nitrogen on the formation of oxides or other niobium phases. By conducting an additional in-situ annealing experiment and analyzing the niobium after the failed infusion process, we conclude that the vacuum furnace hygiene particularly during the high-temperature stage is the prerequisite for success of any treatment recipe.

We present the fabrication and investigation of the properties of nanocomposite structures consisting of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) metallic nano-objects self-organized on the surface and inside of organic molecular thin-film copper tetrafluorophthalocyanine (CuPcF₄). Metallic atoms, deposited under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions onto the organic ultrathin film, diffuse along the surface and self-assemble into a system of 2D metallic overlayers. At the same time, the majority of the metal atoms diffuse into the organic matrix and self-organize into 3D nanoparticles (NPs) in a well-defined manner. The evolution of the morphology and electronic properties of such structures as a function of nominal metal content is studied under UHV conditions using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) techniques. Using HR-TEM, we have observed the periodicity of atomic planes of individual silver NPs. The steady formation of agglomerates from individual single nanocrystallites with intercrystallite boundaries is observed as well. PES reveals generally weak chemical interactions between silver and the organic matrix and n-doping of CuPcF₄ at the initial stages of silver deposition, which is associated with charge transfer from the 2D wetting layer on the basis of core-level spectra shift analysis.

Defect metrology for advanced FinFET devices faces a variety of challenges in terms of accurate classification of Defect Review Scanning Electron Microscopy (DR-SEM) images. As the Defect of Interest (DOI) size shrinks in proportion to the printed feature dimension, it is critical that these platforms adjust to continue to provide the best possible defect classification. This can be achieved most efficiently by introducing Computer-Aided Design (CAD) information into these platforms. In order to improve imaging of defects in DR-SEM, CAD data is used to enhance the alignment step, providing more accurate navigation to defects and allowing the magnification to scale according to the smaller defect size. We present a streamlined method to introduce this CAD based alignment step into the existing recipe management system on the DR-SEM platform. While decreasing image FOV is beneficial, the introduction of CAD information into Automatic Defect Classification (ADC) can provide valuable information on the defect's location. Design Based ADC (DBA) achieves this by providing the means to differentiate the defect's impact on device performance based on CAD data such as mask or process step. We present two case studies of DBA on multi- patterning and epi layers in the sub-1x FinFET process.

Trilayer graphene exhibits exceptional electronic properties that are of interest both for fundamental science and for technological applications. The ability to achieve a high on–off current ratio is the central question in this field. Here, we propose a simple method to achieve a current on–off ratio of 10⁴ by opening a transport gap in Bernal-stacked trilayer graphene. We synthesized Bernal-stacked trilayer graphene with self-aligned periodic nanodomain boundaries (NBs) on the technologically relevant vicinal cubic-SiC(001) substrate and performed electrical measurements. Our low-temperature transport measurements clearly demonstrate that the self-aligned periodic NBs can induce a charge transport gap greater than 1.3 eV. More remarkably, the transport gap of ∼0.4 eV persists even at 100 K. Our results show the feasibility of creating new electronic nanostructures with high on–off current ratios using graphene on cubic-SiC.

The evolution of the morphology and the electronic structure of the hybrid organic-inorganic system composed of aluminum nanoparticles (NPs) distributed in an organic semiconductor matrix—copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)—as a function of nominal aluminum content was studied by transmission electron microscopy and by photoemission spectroscopy methods. The aluminum atoms deposited onto the CuPc surface diffuse into the organic matrix and self-assemble to NPs in a well-defined manner with a narrow diameter distribution, which depends on the amount of aluminum that is evaporated onto the CuPc film. We find clear evidence of a charge transfer from Al to CuPc and we have been able to determine the lattice sites where Al ions sit. The finally at high coverage about 64 Å the formation of metallic aluminum overlayer on CuPc thin film takes place.

The atomic structure of the cubic-SiC(001) surface during ultra-high vacuum graphene synthesis has been studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction. Atomically resolved STM studies prove the synthesis of a uniform, millimeter-scale graphene overlayer consisting of nanodomains rotated by ±13.5° relative to the left angle bracket 110 right angle bracket-directed boundaries. The preferential directions of the domain boundaries coincide with the directions of carbon atomic chains on the SiC(001)-c(2 × 2) reconstruction, fabricated prior to graphene synthesis. The presented data show the correlation between the atomic structures of the SiC(001)-c(2 × 2) surface and the graphene/SiC(001) rotated domain network and pave the way for optimizing large-area graphene synthesis on low-cost cubic-SiC(001)/Si(001) wafers.

The structure of the [lsqb]001[rsqb]-oriented single crystalline tungsten probes sharpened in ultra-high vacuum using electron beam heating and ion sputtering has been studied using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The electron microscopy data prove reproducible fabrication of the single-apex tips with nanoscale pyramids grained by the {011} planes at the apexes. These sharp, [lsqb]001[rsqb]-oriented tungsten tips have been successfully utilized in high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of HOPG(0001), SiC(001) and graphene/SiC(001) surfaces. The electron microscopy characterization performed before and after the high resolution STM experiments provides direct correlation between the tip structure and picoscale spatial resolution achieved in the experiments.