Modifications induced by silicon and nickel ion beams in the electrical conductivity of zinc nanowires

AbstractNew observations of x-ray spectra from foil-excited heavy ion beams are reported. By observing the target in a direction along the beam axis, an improvement in spectral resolution, δλ/λ, by about a factor of two is achieved, due to the reduced Doppler broadening in this geometry.

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Removing Substrate Background in TEM Microanalysis

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100052857 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

pp. 568-569

Author(s):

John C. Russ ◽

Nicholas C. Barbi

Keyword(s):

Electrical Conductivity ◽

Rapid Growth ◽

Organic Film ◽

Absolute Concentration ◽

Background Signal ◽

X Ray ◽

Elemental Concentrations ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Electron Microscopes ◽

The Continuum

The rapid growth of interest in attaching energy-dispersive x-ray analysis systems to transmission electron microscopes has centered largely on microanalysis of biological specimens. These are frequently either embedded in plastic or supported by an organic film, which is of great importance as regards stability under the beam since it provides thermal and electrical conductivity from the specimen to the grid.Unfortunately, the supporting medium also produces continuum x-radiation or Bremsstrahlung, which is added to the x-ray spectrum from the sample. It is not difficult to separate the characteristic peaks from the elements in the specimen from the total continuum background, but sometimes it is also necessary to separate the continuum due to the sample from that due to the support. For instance, it is possible to compute relative elemental concentrations in the sample, without standards, based on the relative net characteristic elemental intensities without regard to background; but to calculate absolute concentration, it is necessary to use the background signal itself as a measure of the total excited specimen mass.

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Macromolecular structures of biological specimens are not obscured by controlled osmium impregnation

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100076639 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

pp. 606-607

Author(s):

Klaus-Ruediger Peters ◽

Samuel A. Green

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Electrical Conductivity ◽

Critical Point ◽

Metal Films ◽

High Magnification ◽

Osmium Impregnation ◽

Instrumental Resolution ◽

20 Nm ◽

Continuous Metal

High magnification imaging of macromolecules on metal coated biological specimens is limited only by wet preparation procedures since recently obtained instrumental resolution allows visualization of topographic structures as smal l as 1-2 nm. Details of such dimensions may be visualized if continuous metal films with a thickness of 2 nm or less are applied. Such thin films give sufficient contrast in TEM as well as in SEM (SE-I image mode). The requisite increase in electrical conductivity for SEM of biological specimens is achieved through the use of ligand mediated wet osmiuum impregnation of the specimen before critical point (CP) drying. A commonly used ligand is thiocarbohvdrazide (TCH), first introduced to TEM for en block staining of lipids and glvcomacromolecules with osmium black. Now TCH is also used for SEM. However, after ligand mediated osinification nonspecific osmium black precipitates were often found obscuring surface details with large diffuse aggregates or with dense particular deposits, 2-20 nm in size. Thus, only low magnification work was considered possible after TCH appl ication.

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Preparation of TEM samples by focused ion beams

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100138968 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 53 ◽

pp. 518-519

Author(s):

John F. Walker ◽

J C Reiner ◽

C Solenthaler

Keyword(s):

Integrated Circuit ◽

Polycrystalline Silicon ◽

Field Effect Transistor ◽

High Spatial Resolution ◽

Ion Beam ◽

Ion Beams ◽

Focused Ion Beams ◽

Precise Location ◽

Effect Transistor ◽

Circuit Technology

The high spatial resolution available from TEM can be used with great advantage in the field of microelectronics to identify problems associated with the continually shrinking geometries of integrated circuit technology. In many cases the location of the problem can be the most problematic element of sample preparation. Focused ion beams (FIB) have previously been used to prepare TEM specimens, but not including using the ion beam imaging capabilities to locate a buried feature of interest. Here we describe how a defect has been located using the ability of a FIB to both mill a section and to search for a defect whose precise location is unknown. The defect is known from electrical leakage measurements to be a break in the gate oxide of a field effect transistor. The gate is a square of polycrystalline silicon, approximately 1μm×1μm, on a silicon dioxide barrier which is about 17nm thick. The break in the oxide can occur anywhere within that square and is expected to be less than 100nm in diameter.

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Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of the topography of silicon surfaces exposed to ion beams

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100130298 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 1132-1133

Author(s):

Mark Denker ◽

Jennifer Wall ◽

Mark Ray ◽

Richard Linton

Keyword(s):

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry ◽

Incidence Angle ◽

Ion Beam ◽

Depth Profiling ◽

Depth Resolution ◽

Ion Beams ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Trace Impurities ◽

Energy Dose

Reactive ion beams such as O2+ and Cs+ are used in Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) to analyze solids for trace impurities. Primary beam properties such as energy, dose, and incidence angle can be systematically varied to optimize depth resolution versus sensitivity tradeoffs for a given SIMS depth profiling application. However, it is generally observed that the sputtering process causes surface roughening, typically represented by nanometer-sized features such as cones, pits, pyramids, and ripples. A roughened surface will degrade the depth resolution of the SIMS data. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of the roughness of the surface to the primary ion beam energy, dose, and incidence angle. AFM offers the ability to quantitatively probe this surface roughness. For the initial investigations, the sample chosen was <100> silicon, and the ion beam was O2+.Work to date by other researchers typically employed Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) to probe the surface topography.

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