Nanostructure characterization of high k materials by spectroscopic ellipsometry

In this work, the optical and structural properties of high k materials such as tantalum oxide and titanium oxide were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, where a Tauc-Lorentz dispersion model based in one (amorphous films) or two oscillators (microcrystalline films) was used. The samples were deposited at room temperature by radio frequency magnetron sputtering and then annealed at temperatures from 100 to 500 °C. Concerning the tantalum oxide films, the increase of the annealing temperature, up to 500 °C does not change the amorphous nature of the films, increasing, however, their density. The same does not happen with the titanium oxide films that are microcrystalline, even when deposited at room temperature. Data concerning the use of a four-layer model based on one and two Tauc-Lorentz dispersions is also discussed, emphasizing its use for the detection of an amorphous incubation layer, normally present on microcrystalline films grown by sputtering.     

La掺杂浓度对PLZT薄膜红外光学性质的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶法在Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si衬底上制备了不同La掺杂浓度PLZT(x/40/60)薄膜- x射线衍射分析表明制备的PLZT(x/40/60)薄膜是具有单一钙钛矿结构的多晶薄膜- 通过红外椭圆偏振光谱仪测量了波长为2-5—12-6μm范围内PLZT薄膜的椭偏光谱，采用经典色 散模型拟合获得PLZT薄膜的红外光学常数，同时也拟合获得PLZT薄膜的厚度- 随着La掺杂浓 度的增大，折射率逐渐减小- 而消光系数除PLZT(4/40/60)薄膜外，呈现逐渐增大的趋势- 分析表明这些差异主要与PLZ 关键词： PLZT薄膜 红外光学性质 红外椭圆偏振光谱     

ZnSe/SiO2复合薄膜光学常数与荧光光谱的研究

采用溶胶-凝胶工艺与原位生长技术，制备了ZnSe/SiO₂复合薄膜.X射线衍射分 析表明薄膜中ZnSe晶体呈立方闪锌矿结构.X射线荧光分析结果显示薄膜中Zn与Se摩尔比为1 ∶1.01—1∶1.19.利用场发射扫描电子显微镜观察了复合薄膜的表面形貌，结果表明复合薄 膜表面既存在尺寸约为400nm的ZnSe晶粒，也存在尺寸小于100nm的ZnSe晶粒.利用椭偏仪测 量了薄膜椭偏角Ψ，Δ与波长λ的关系，采用Maxwell-Garnett有效介质理论对薄膜的光学 常数、厚度、气孔率、ZnS 关键词： 2复合薄膜')" href="#">ZnSe/SiO₂复合薄膜 光学性质 椭偏光度法 荧光光谱     

模拟退火法在吸收薄膜的椭偏反演算法中的应用

将一种广泛用于求解复杂系统优化问题的技术－－模拟退火法－－用来求解椭偏反演方程。首先假设一个薄膜模型，计算出其相应的椭偏参数（Ψ，Δ）的值，在这个计算值的基础上加入不同标准偏差的高斯噪声；然后将加入噪声后的值（Ψm,Δm)作为模拟的测量数据，采用模拟退火算法进行求解，验证得知这种方法求得的薄膜参数很接近于假设的薄膜模型参数的真值，与其他文献的报道结果一致，而且在扩大搜寻范围时，仍然可以得到准确解，从而证明了该方法的可行性以及有效性。     

Real time ellipsometry for monitoring plasma-assisted epitaxial growth of GaN

GaN is grown on Si-face 4H-SiC(0 0 0 1) substrates using remote plasma-assisted methods including metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (RP-MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry is used for monitoring all the steps of substrate pre-treatments and the heteroepitaxial growth of GaN on SiC. Our characterization emphasis is on understanding the nucleation mechanism and the GaN growth mode, which depend on the SiC surface preparation.     

The initial oxidation of magnesium: an in situ study with XPS,HERDA and ellipsometry

The initial oxidation of magnesium at oxygen partial pressures between 1.3 × 10^?8 and 1.3 × 10^?5 Pa and at temperatures ranging from 273 to 550 K has been investigated in situ with X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ellipsometry and high resolution elastic recoil detection analysis (HERDA). Quantitative analysis of the XPS spectra showed a clear oxygen deficiency with respect to MgO for the initial oxide. HERDA measurements confirmed this relatively low oxygen content in the thin oxide layers formed. Ellipsometry measurements showed that the electronic structure of the initially formed oxide differs significantly from that of bulk MgO. The band gap values at room temperature for the oxide layers investigated are clearly smaller than the value for bulk MgO. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analogy in adsorption behavior of homopolyelectrolyte mixtures as compared to analogous diblock polyampholytes

The adsorption behavior of aqueous mixtures of the homopolyelectrolytes poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and poly[(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDMAEMA) was investigated in comparison with the adsorption of the ampholytic diblock copolymer PMAA‐b‐PDMAEMA on silicon substrates. Ellipsometry was used to determine the amount of adsorbed homopolyelectrolyte and diblock polyampholyte. Furthermore, the topography of the adsorbed polymers was investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and compared with the structures observed in aqueous solutions by dynamic light scattering (DLS). For all types of investigated polyelectrolytic mixtures or the single polyampholyte, the adsorption was strongly influenced by the pH of the polymer solution. Although single homopolyelectrolytes showed only one maximum in adsorption according to their charge, the mixtures made from these homopolyelectrolytes showed two or three maxima. The third maximum near the isoelectric point of the mixture was assigned to a new species formed by aggregation of the two homopolyelectrolytes. Altogether, the adsorption behavior of the polyelectrolytic mixtures was in between the behavior of the pure homopolyelectrolytes and the analogous polyampholytes and therefore understandable from both of these polymer species. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 338–345, 2002; DOI 10.1002/polb.10091     

Wetting of surfactant solutions by alkanes.

Ellipsometry, surface tensiometry, and contact-angle measurement have been used to study the transition between partial wetting and pseudo-partial wetting of surfactant solutions by alkanes. In the partial wetting regime, the air-water surface tension is the same with and without alkane. In the pseudo-partial wetting regime, the air-water surface tension is lowered by the presence of alkane, showing that oil is solubilised into the surfactant monolayer. A discontinuous change in the coefficient of ellipticity with increasing surfactant concentration provides unequivocal evidence for the first-order nature of the wetting transitions. Ellipsometry has been used to explore the generality of wetting transitions of alkanes (dodecane, hexadecane, and squalane) on surfactant solutions [dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, tetredecyltrimethylammonium bromide, dibucaine hydrochloride, and Aerosol OT (AOT)]. Of the systems studied, only hexadecane on AOT solutions did not show a wetting transition. Excess alkane remains as a lens on the surface of the surfactant solutions at all concentrations, but the contact angle is a minimum at the wetting transition. A semiquantitative model for the variation of the contact angle with surfactant concentration is provided.     

Comparative characterisation by atomic force microscopy and ellipsometry of soft and solid thin films

Ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to study the film thickness and the surface roughness of both ‘soft’ and solid thin films. ‘Soft’ polymer thin films of polystyrene and poly(styrene–ethylene/butylene–styrene) block copolymer were prepared by spin‐coating onto planar silicon wafers. Ellipsometric parameters were fitted by the Cauchy approach using a two‐layer model with planar boundaries between the layers. The smooth surfaces of the prepared polymer films were confirmed by AFM. There is good agreement between AFM and ellipsometry in the 80–130 nm thickness range. Semiconductor surfaces (Si) obtained by anisotropic chemical etching were investigated as an example of a randomly rough surface. To define roughness parameters by ellipsometry, the top rough layers were treated as thin films according to the Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA). Surface roughness values measured by AFM and ellipsometry show the same tendency of increasing roughness with increased etching time, although AFM results depend on the used window size. The combined use of both methods appears to offer the most comprehensive route to quantitative surface roughness characterisation of solid films. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infrared ellipsometry of nanometric anisotropic dielectric layers on absorbing materials

An inversion problem of infrared ellipsometry is resolved on the basis of a fresh mathematical approach, which does not use the traditional regression analysis for data handling and has no need of initial guesses for the desired parameters. It is shown that obtained simple analytical equations for ellipsometric quantities open up new possibilities for determining optical parameters of an anisotropic ultrathin layer. The novel method possesses very high sensitivity because it is based on the phase conversion measurements of polarized reflected light. The method is tested using a numerical simulation and the results demonstrate clearly that it is successfully applicable for nanometric layers in the infrared spectral region.