Water sorption properties of carbonized layers produced by controlled B<Superscript>+</Superscript> bombardment of thin polyimide and polysulfone films

Thin polyimide (PI) and polyethersulfone (PES) films are widely used as functional layers for microelectronic sensors. Ion implantation modifies the layer structure and morphology of these polymers and hence results in new mechanical and optical properties. However, ion-modified layers also show a change in sensitivity to moisture uptake under specific conditions. This is important for developing humidity sensors. Therefore, the water sorption ability of such modified polymer layers is studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry under definite relative humidity conditions (1–95%). Swelling data were obtained by fitting procedures based on changes of effective layer thickness and optical constants due to water uptake. Irradiation doses from 0.5 to 5×10¹⁵ B⁺ cm^–2 at an energy of 180 keV were used for polymer modification. At irradiation doses from 0.5 to 0.7×10¹⁵ B⁺ cm^–2, the maximum out-of-plane swelling is reached. At higher doses >2×10¹⁵ B⁺ cm^–2, the swelling decreases and corresponds to values of the pure polymer layers. The wetting properties of the layer surfaces determined by contact angle measurements are important to explain this behavior.     

Nanoscale surface roughness characterization by full field polarized light-scattering

Characterizing surface roughness in nanoscale nondestructively is an urgent need for semiconductor and wafer manufacturing industries. To meet the need, an optical scatter instrument in bidirectional ellipsometry has been developed for characterizing nanoscale surface roughness, in particular, on the wafers after chemical-mechanical polishing. The polarized angular dependence of out-of-plane light-scattering from nanoscale surface roughness is analyzed and characterized. These analysis and characterization results show strong correlations of surface roughness and angular dependence of bidirectional ellipsometric parameters for full field light-scattering. The experimental findings prove good agreement with theoretical predictions for different surface roughnesses. As a result, the nanoscale surface roughness can be accurately measured and characterized by the angular dependence and the polarization of light scattered from surface.     

纳米厚度薄膜外差椭偏测量技术的研究

结合激光外差干涉法和透射式椭偏测量原理,研究了一种快速、高精度测量纳米厚度薄膜光学参数的方法。计算并分析了复灵敏度因子随薄膜参数和入射角度的变化规律、椭偏参数的选择及容许测量误差。两个声光调制器产生20kHz的拍频,采用简单的直接比相方法即可获得优于0.1°的相位分辨率,而且测量系统中没有使用任何波片和运动部件,抗干扰能力强且测量过程完全自动化,适用于工业现场在线连续测量。实验数据和理论分析表明,此方法可以达到亚纳米级测量精度。     

Optical characterization and determination of carrier density of ultrasonically sprayed CdS:Cu films

In this work, CdS and Cu doped CdS films (at the Cu percentages of 1, 3 and 5) have been deposited onto glass substrates at 350 ± 5 °C by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique and their application potential for photovoltaic solar cells have been investigated. Optical properties and thicknesses of the films have been investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). Ellipsometric angle ψ was used as the source point for optical characterizations. The optical constants (n and k) and the thicknesses of the films have been fitted according to Cauchy model. Also, optical properties of the produced films have been analyzed by transmittance and reflectance spectra. Refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (k) and reflectance (R) spectra have been taken by spectroscopic ellipsometer, while transmittance spectra have been taken by UV/vis spectrophotometer. The optical method has been used to determine the band gap type and value of the films. Mott-Schottky (M-S) measurements have been made to determine the conductivity type and carrier concentration of the films. Samples showed n-type conductivity and carrier concentration of undoped CdS sample was found to be 1.19 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³. Also, it was concluded that Cu doping has an acceptor effect in CdS samples. From the results of these investigations, the application potential of CdS:Cu films for photovoltaic solar cells as window layer was searched.     

薄膜光学常数的椭偏测量

利用光谱型椭偏仪测量了镀在熔石英玻璃基片上的氟化镁薄膜在300～850nm波长范围内的椭偏参数.并利用Levenberg-Marquardt算法.反演出了氟化镁薄膜在该波长范围内的色散曲线.通过与纯氟化镁体材料的色散曲线比较,发现所镀的氟化镁薄膜的折射率略小于体材料的折射率.     

AlN:Cr thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition: Studies by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic ellipsometry

The structure and optical properties of AlN thin films doped with Cr atoms were studied by X-ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry analyses. The films were synthesized by pulsed laser deposition from an AlN:Cr (10% Cr) target onto Si(1 0 0) wafers in vacuum at residual pressure of 10⁻³ Pa or in nitrogen at a dynamic pressure of 0.1 Pa. The study of the XRD patterns revealed that both phases co-existed in the synthesized films and that the amorphous one was prevalent. Two different amorphous matrices, i.e. two types of chemical bond arrangements, were found in films deposited at 0.1 Pa N₂. By difference, deposition in vacuum resulted in the coexistence of hexagonal and cubic crystallites embedded into an amorphous matrix. The introduction of Cr atoms into the AlN lattice causes a broadening of the IR spectrum along with the shift toward higher wavenumbers of the characteristic Al-N bands at 2351 cm⁻¹ and 665 cm⁻¹, respectively. This was related to the generation of a compressive stress inside films. In comparison to the optical constants of pure AlN films, the synthesized AlN:Cr films exhibited a smaller refractive index and showed a weak absorption throughout the 300-800 nm spectral region, characteristic to amorphous AlN structure.     

Adsorption and electrically stimulated desorption of the triblock copolymer poly(propylene sulfide-bl-ethylene glycol) (PPS-PEG) from indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces

Protein-resistant triblock copolymers, poly(propylene sulfide-bl-ethylene glycol) (PPS-PEG) have been previously demonstrated to chemisorb onto gold surfaces forming monolayers that resist non-specific protein adsorption and are stable against oxidation. In this paper, we report on the adsorption of PPS-PEG onto a transparent and electrically conductive substrate, indium tin oxide (ITO). In addition, we demonstrate the controlled desorption of PPS-PEG by applying an electrical stimulus. We have used three complementary surface characterization techniques: variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to analyze the adsorption and electro-desorption of PPS-PEG from an ITO surface. All three methods confirmed the formation of PPS-PEG adlayers on the ITO surfaces. Based on our experimental XPS and ToF-SIMS results as well as former publications, we postulate that the chemisorption of the PPS-PEG on ITO involves direct sulfide-indium (or tin) interactions. When an ascending anodic electrical stimulus was applied to the surface of the modified samples, a gradual and steady polymer removal was observed, with complete loss of the polymeric monolayer at a potential of 2000 mV (referenced to Ag electrode). Anodic polarization did not result in oxidation of the thioether function of the PPS-PEG adlayers, indicating excellent oxidation resistance of PPS-PEG on ITO surfaces. This work is focused on exploiting electrical stimuli for the in situ surface modification under dynamic control.