Copper films of different thicknesses between 0.2 and 2 microns were electroplated on adhesion-promoting TiW and Ta barrier layers on <100> single crystal 6-inch silicon wafers. The residual stress was measured after each processing step using a wafer curvature technique employing Stoney’s equation. Large gradients in the stress distributions were found across each wafer. Controlled Cu grain gr...

In this paper the SnO2 nanolayers were deposited by rheotaxial growth and vacuum oxidation (RGVO) and analyzed for the susceptibility to ambient-air exposure and the subsequent recovery under vacuum conditions. Particularly the surface chemistry of the layers, stoichiometry and level of carbon contamination, was scrutinized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The layers were tested i) pr...

In this study, we report on investigations of the electronic structure of SrTiO3 annealed at temperature ranging between 550 and 840◦C in an ultrahigh vacuum. Annealing induced oxygen vacancies (Ovac) impart considerable changes in the electronic structure of SrTiO3. Using core-level photoemission spectroscopy, we have studied the chemical potential shift (∆μ) as a function of annealing tempera...

In this work, SnO₂ nanoflowers synthesized by a hydrothermal method were employed as hydrogen sensing materials. The as-synthesized SnO₂ nanoflowers consisted of cuboid-like SnO₂ nanorods with tetragonal structures. A great increase in the relative content of surface-adsorbed oxygen was observed after the vacuum annealing treatment, and this increase could have been due to the increase in surfa...

This work presents a novel technique to deposit ZnO thin films through a metal vacuum evaporation technique using colloidal nanoparticles (average size of 30 nm), which were synthesized by our research group, as source. These thin films had a thickness between 45 and 123 nm as measured by profilometry. XRD patterns of the deposited thin films were obtained. According to the HRSEM micrographs wo...

Hydrogen equilibration in polycrystalline silicon was investigated as a function of annealing time and temperature using electron spin resonance and hydrogen effusion measurements. During a vacuum anneal at least 1.5 1021 cm−3 H atoms are mobile in the lattice, however, only about 3.7 1018 cm−3 H atoms passivate Si dangling bonds. The results show that the annealing treatment can cause the vast...

We have developed a simple and reliable method for preparing single-atom tips. Electrochemical techniques are applied to deposit a noble metal film on the W < 111 > tip. With the protection of the metal film, the tip can be stored and transferred in the ambient condition. After a gentle annealing of the plated tip in vacuum, a thermally and chemically stable nano-pyramid with single atom sharpn...

X-ray masks have been fabricated by depositing a compressively stressed refractory material on a wafer, annealing to a zero stress state, and then forming the membrane. Amorphous TaSiN and TaSi alloys deposited with a magnetron sputter tool have been extensively characterized in terms of resistivity, composition, defectivity, surface roughness, and crystalline state. Optimization in terms of th...

We describe design, implementation and performance of an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) package for superconducting qubit chips or other surface sensitive quantum devices. The UHV loading procedure allows annealing, ultra-violet light irradiation, ion milling passivation devices before sealing them into a measurement package. retains during the transfer to cryogenic temperatures by active pumping with...

Barium titanate (BaTiO3, BTO) ferroelectrics are polar material that exhibits net spontaneous polarization without external applied field [1,2]. The polarization can be reoriented by applying the electric field. BTO with perovskite structure is widely used due to their ferroelectric, pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties in various electronic applications such as multi-layer ceramic capacit...