New technique exceeds x-ray and electron diffraction in spatial composition profiling
July 5, 2006
Image credit: James Hannon, IBM
“We were excited to see this,” says James Hannon, a researcher at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. “People knew it would be possible, but no one had ever tried it. This is the first time this has ever been done.” Hannon refers to a new technique developed by him and his colleagues—other researchers at the University of New Hampshire and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque—to profile the spatial composition of ultrathin films in alloys in three dimensions.
In a Letter titled “Origins of Nanoscale Heterogeneity in Ultrathin Flims,” and published June 22nd by Physical Review Letters, Hannon presents the technique to measure the composition of ultrathin films during growth. This breakthrough is expected to help engineers and others working with thin films in a variety of technological fields as they work to create and manipulate new materials. “There are a lot of problems you could address if you could see how these films develop,” Hannon tells PhysOrg.com.
As an example, Hannon explains that the technique could be used to investigate in thin films. “You could measure the spacing between the first and second layers. If there were strain, it would buckle. Such strain would impact device performance. Right now, you would not be able to spatially resolve the strain.” The implication is that with the proper measurements, and with the knowledge gleaned by using the proposed technique, adjustments could be made to the film layers in order to solve a possible problem. “We could measure the exact configurations of atoms,” Hannon says.
Right now, the techniques in use to measure ultrathin films do not provide the kind of advantages offered by the technique proposed by Hannon and his team. With both x-ray and electron diffraction, the lateral resolution is poor, and while scanning probe microscopy offers good lateral resolution, it is generally impossible to tell one atom from another. Hannon’s team uses a low-energy electron microscope, which combines electron diffraction and high spatial resolution, to examine copper, and all of the above problems are solved.
But it is not just copper that this technique can be used to study. Hannon thinks that the technique can be applied to study germanium and silicon. “We know they want to mix,” he explains. “The surface does dramatic things to make the mixing occur. With this technique we could follow how they alloy in real time.”
It is work with alloys that Hannon sees great benefit for from this technique. He is working especially with semi-conductors, trying to figure out more exotic materials could be used. This is where the germanium and the silicon come in. The method has not actually been tested on semiconducting alloys yet, and because germanium and silicon are so similar, they would make a simple system to test. “It should be very simple,” says Hannon, “a nice test system to see how it works in semiconductors.”
Hannon does admit one main problem: the small size of the data set. “It’s a question of proving that this works,” he explains. “People could have tried this years ago, but the data set was thought too small. There is still a question of how much data is needed.” But Hannon feels that this can be overcome if the technique works on semiconductors.
“The industry is moving this way,” Hannon says. “Understanding alloying will be important for materials questions that come up.”
By Miranda Marquit, Copyright 2006 PhysOrg.com
-
Using RNAi-based technique, scientists find new tumor suppressor genes in lymphoma
Oct 13, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Team identifies 13 new tumor-suppressor genes in liver cancer
Nov 18, 2008 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Research reveals how dynamic changes in methylation can determine cell fate
Sep 26, 2011 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Study suggests methylation and gene sequence co-evolve in human-chimp evolutionary divergence
Sep 15, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Unconventional hunt for new cancer targets leads to a powerful drug candidate for leukemia
Aug 03, 2011 |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Understanding induced emfs
2 hours ago
-
What is the precise definition of a year?
3 hours ago
-
Universe as a cellular automaton
4 hours ago
-
Question about Newton's laws
5 hours ago
-
Gravity Question (I think) with mass and speed
7 hours ago
-
Can you manipulate any formula in Physics?
8 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - General Physics
More news stories
Explained: Sigma
It's a question that arises with virtually every major new finding in science or medicine: What makes a result reliable enough to be taken seriously? The answer has to do with statistical significance -- but ...
Feb 09, 2012 |
5 / 5 (19) |
65
Quantum physicist explains $100K offer for proof scaled-up quantum computing is impossible
(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT researcher Scott Aaronson has certainly riled the physics community with his offer this past Friday, of $100,000 to anyone who can prove that scaled-up quantum computing is impossible. ...
Diamond light, brighter than the sun
Its the size of five football pitches and generates light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. As the Diamond Light Source celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, Penny Bailey visits one of the ...
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
15
|
Physicists 'record' magnetic breakthrough
An international team of scientists has demonstrated a revolutionary new way of magnetic recording which will allow information to be processed hundreds of times faster than by current hard drive technology.
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (41) |
14
|
Hints of the Higgs - papers are submitted
Back in December 2011, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented some exciting results that provided tantalising hints of the Higgs boson.
Feb 08, 2012 |
4.1 / 5 (7) |
10
Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...
GPS court ruling leaves US phone tracking unclear
A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say.
Europeans protest controversial Internet pact
Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.
Europe stakes billion-dollar bet on new rocket
A pencil-slim rocket is scheduled to lift into space from South America on Monday, carrying a billion-dollar bet that Europe can grab a juicy slice of the market to place satellites in low orbit.
Study finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity
In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication ...
Netflix settlement trims 14 pct off 4Q earnings
(AP) -- Netflix pressed the rewind button on its fourth-quarter earnings after settling allegations that the video subscription service violated a consumer-privacy law.