Exploration of the ultimate patterning potential achievable with high resolution focused ion beams

Controlled and reproducible fabrication of nano-structured materials will be one of the main industrial challenges in the next few years. We have recently proposed exploitation of the nano-structuring potential of a high resolution Focused Ion Beam Tool, to overcome basic limitations of current nano-fabrication techniques. The aim of this article is to present some new routes for material patterning, which benefit from ion-induced local property modifications or damage. In the experiments we describe hereafter an ultra-sharp pencil of 30 keV gallium ions is used to tailor the characteristics of several materials at a scale of a few nanometres. The experimental results are then compared to simulations. First, we simulate the control of collisional defects generated in a thin magnetic layer under FIB irradiation. The results explain the stable magnetic structures we have obtained experimentally. This was achieved with a low surface ion dose (10¹² to 10¹⁴ ions/cm²). In addition we have explored the promising direction of Bottom-up or self-organization processes using a FIB instrument. We have defined artificial surface defects. These defects created by the impact of an 8-nm FWHM probe were used to pin the diffusion and to organize nanometre-sized gold clusters on a graphite surface. PACS 79.20.Rf; 81.07.-b     

Structural and magnetic properties of FIB-irradiated microstructures on a Pt/Co multilayer

We present a study of the structural and magnetic effects induced by focused 30 keV Ga⁺ ion beam irradiation on a Pt(2.8 nm)/[Pt(0.6 nm)/Co(0.3 nm)]₆/Pt(6.5 nm) ferromagnetic multilayer, using transmission electron microscopy, optical and magneto-optical microscopy. The work is of relevance to high-density data-storage applications, where media planarity is crucial for device reliability.     

Detection and Visualization Methods Used in Thin-Layer Chromatography

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - The use of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) for separation, identification and quantification of different organic and inorganic...     

The thermal properties of carbon-silica adsorbents (carbosils) prepared by methylene chloride pyrolysis

The thermal properties of complex carbon-silica adsorbents (carbosils) were investigated using differential thermal analysis. The adsorbents were prepared by pyrolysis of methylene chloride. Pyrolysis reaction on silica surface was carried out at different temperatures (400–700 °C) and at different pressures of CH₂Cl₂ vapours. Thermal analysis was carried out in air atmosphere. The following parameters characterizing the properties of the adsorbents were determined: carbon content, specific surface area, carbon layer thickness, pore volume, mean pore radius, differential of heats of adsorption ofn-hexane and benzene, and micrographs. The correlation between topography and morphology of carbon deposits (dependent on the parameters of the pyrolysis process) and the courses of DTA and TG curves corresponding to individual carbosils have been determined.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels DTA wurden die thermischen Eigenschaften von komplexen Kohlenstoff-Silikaadsorptionsmitteln (Carbosil) untersucht. Die Adsorptionsmittel wurden durch Pyrolyse von Methylenchlorid gefertigt. Die Pyrolyse wurde an der Oberfläche von Silika bei verschiedenen Temperaturen (400–700 °C) und bei verschiedenen CH₂Cl₂-Drücken durchgeführt. Die Thermoanalyse geschah in Luftatmosphäre. Folgende Parameter zur Charakterisierung der Eigenschaften der Adsorbenten wurden ermittelt: Kohlenstoffgehalt, spezifische Oberfläche, Kohlenstoffschichtdicke, Porenvolumen, Porendurchmesser, Ableitung der Adsorptionswärme vonn-Hexan und Benzol sowie Oberflächenmikrogramme. Es konnte der Zusammenhang zwischen Topografie und Morfologie der Kohlenstoffablagerungen (abhängig von den Parametern des Pyrolysevorganges) sowie dem Verlauf der DTA- und TG-Kurven der entsprechenden Carbosile festgestellt werden.

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Studies of properties of complex carbon-silica adsorbents used in sorption-desorption processes (solid-phase extraction)

Adsorption properties of carbon and carbonsilica adsorbents, prepared by n-octanol and glucose pyrolysis and catalytic decomposition of n-butane, have been studied regarding their applicability for the extraction and concentration of phenol, its nitro- and chloroderivatives and trihalomethanes [THM] from aqueous solutions in the concentration range of 2 to 20 mg/l. The adsorbents investigated have been subjected to various physico-chemical processes (hydrothermal treatment, oxidation, silanization) in order to improve their efficiency. The adsorption isotherms measured correspond well to the Freundlich equation. A good correlation have been observed between the values of the Freundlich constant k and the adsorbent efficiency. The investigation has been carried out using the off line method, and recovery rates for the compounds studied as high as 40–100% have been obtained.Dedicated to Professor J.F.K. Huber on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

On the activation and deactivation of patch-like carbon-mineral adsorbents

Some possibilities of activation and deactivation of carbon-mineral (silica) adsorbents are discussed. These can be achieved either by hydrothermal treatment of the comples adsorbents at different temperatures or by chemical modification of their mineral part.     

Magnetization reversal in weakly coupled magnetic patterns

Ion irradiation is an original process to pattern the structural and as a consequence the magnetic properties of ultra-thin films, down to the nanometer scale. Patterns of dots and tracks have been fabricated by focused Ga⁺ ion beam scanned onto a Co layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Depending on the dose, the magnetic behaviour of the nanometric irradiated lines can be tuned from the ferromagnetic with reduced coercivity to paramagnetic. The larger the fluence, the smaller is the exchange between dots or tracks. These systems enabled investigations of the competition between exchange and dipolar interactions. For arrays designed with high irradiation doses and only coupled by dipolar interactions, the magnetic relaxation proceeds by the magnetization reversal of individual dots and follows a power-law time decay. Monte Carlo simulations reproduce this time dependence.     

Low surface area carbonized silica obtained by the pyrolysis of dichloromethane: A column packing for adsorption and exclusion chromatography

Carbonized silica has been used as column packing for HPLC. Up to now it has been obtained by the pyrolysis of the vapour of benzene as well as aliphatic and aromatic alcohols. This paper reports on the properties of carbonized silica obtained by the pyrolysis of dichloromethane and used as column packing in HPLC.     

The preparation, properties and application of carbon fibers for SPME

The conditions of preparation of new types of carbon fibers for solid phase micro extraction (SPME) prepared by methylene chloride pyrolysis (at 600 °C) on the quartz fiber (100 μm) as well as by supporting synthetic active carbon (prepared especially for this purposes) supported in a special epoxide-acrylic polymer is described. The properties of such carbon fibers for SPME were defined by determination of the partition coefficient of the tested substances (i.e., benzene, toluene, xylenes, trichloromethane and tetrachloromethane) and by the microscopic investigations with the application of the optical and scanning electron microscope.

The obtained carbon SPME fibers were applied to the analysis of some volatile organic compounds from its aqueous matrix. During chromatographic GC test, at the investigated SPME carbon fibers, we obtained different but mostly high partition coefficients for the determined compounds (Kfs from 120 for trichloromethane up to 11,500 for tetrachloromethane).

Owing to the high partition coefficients of the studied substances obtained on carbon fibers, it was possible to do the analysis of organic substances occurring in trace amounts in different matrices. In this paper, we present the analysis of BTX contents in the petrol analyzed with the application carbonized with CH₂Cl₂ SPME fiber (C1NM) and a headspace over the petrol sample (concentration of each BTX g/dm³).