A transmission electron microscopy study of microstructural defects in proton implanted silicon

The microstructure of silicon on defect layer, a new type of silicon-on-insulator material using proton implantation and two-step annealing to obtain a high resistivity buried layer beneath the silicon surface, has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Implantation induced a heavily damaged region containing two types of extended defects involving hydrogen: {001} platelets and {111} platelets. During the first step annealing, gas bubbles and {111} precipitates formed. After the second step annealing, {111} precipitates disappeared, while the bubble microstructure still remained and a buried layer consisting of bubbles and dislocations between the bubbles was left. This study shows that the dislocations pinning the bubbles plays an important role in stabilizing the bubbles and in the formation of the defect insulating layer. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Fabrication of Silicon Crystal-Facet-Dependent Nanostructures by Electron-Beam Lithography

Silicon crystal-facet-dependent nanostructures have been successfully fabricated on a (100)-oriented silicon-on-insulator wafer using electron-beam lithography and the silicon anisotropic wet etching technique. This technique takes ad-vantage of the large difference in etching properties for different crystallographic planes in alkaline solution. The mini-mum size of the trapezoidal top for those Si nanostructures can be reduced to less than 10nm. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations indicate that the etched nanostructures have controllable shapes and smooth surfaces.

The photon scanning tunneling microscope and its applications

A simple photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is described. Its lateral resolution (similar to 10nm with a maximal scanning range of 10 mu m x 10 mu m ) is much better than that of a conventional optical microscope. Its principle, the fiber optic tip fabrication and PSTM images of different samples such as mica, HDPE and LiNbO3 are presented.

Directing single-walled carbon nanotubes to self-assemble at water/oil interfaces and facilitate electron transfer

Both the behavior and the general key factors for assembling flexible SWNT films at the water/oil interface were investigated; the electron transfer, one of the most fundamental chemical processes, at the SWNT-sandwiched water/oil interface was also firstly illustrated using scanning electrochemical microscopy.

Length dependence of electron conduction for oligo(1,4-phenylene ethynylene)s: A conductive probe-atomic force microscopy investigation

The dependence of electron conduction of oligo(1,4-phenylene ethynylene)s (OPEs) on length, terminal group, and main chain structure was examined by conductive probe-atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM) via a metal substrate-molecular wire monolayer-conductive probe junction. The electron transport in the molecular junction was a highest occupied molecule orbital (HOMO)-mediated process following a coherent, non-resonant tunneling mechanism represented by the Simmons equation.

In Situ Scanning Tunneling Microscopy on the Dynamic Process of the Replacement of Coronene on Au (111) by 6-Mercapto-1-Hexanol

The replacement of coronene monolayer on Au (111) by 6-mercapto-1-hexanol (MHO) was studied by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in solutions. It was found that the rate of replacement depends strongly on the concentration of MHO. The replacement finished within a second at a higher concentration of MHO. At a lower concentration, the slow replacement could be followed by in situ STM. The replacement occurred initially near the elbow position of reconstructed Au (111) with the formation of pits in a single or several missing molecules. With the proceeding of replacement, these small pits expanded, and the surrounding coronene molecules were gradually substituted by MHO, which developed into ordered domains within a spatial confined environment. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of Au (111) was lifted. The replacement expanded fast along the reconstruction lines in the domain. For the fast replacement, a (root 3 x root 3) R30 degrees adlattice was observed, while a c(4 x 2) superlattice was observed for the slow replacement.