Abstract: Au particles were prepared by evaporation in ultra high vacuum at high temperature, on the surfaces of TiO2 micro-spheres with the anatase structure. The morphology and the structural deformation in Au deposits were studied by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and image simulations by the multislice technique. The particles were polyhedral, limited by (100) and (111) faces. Patches with a hexagonal lattice were found around the particles, which was interpreted as thin Au islands on the surface. In these islands the Au lattice was deformed and perfectly accommodated to the (110) surface of TiO2. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: The energy dispersion of an exciton in a coupled quantum well is modified by an external in-plane magnetic field. We find that the in-plane magnetic field can shift the ground state of the magnetoexciton from a zero in-plane center-of-mass (CM) momentum to a finite CM momentum, and render the ground state of the magnetoexciton stable against radiative recombination due to momentum conservation. At the same time, a spatial separation of the electron and hole is realized. Thus an in-plane magnetic field can be used to tailor the radiative properties of excitons in coupled quantum wells.

Abstract: With further down-scaling below 0.25mum technologies, CoSi2 is replacing TiSi2 because of its superior formation chemistry on narrow lines and favourable stress behaviour. Shallow trench isolation (STI) is used as the isolation technique in these technologies. In this study, convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) measurements and finite element modelling (FEM) are performed to evaluate the local stress components in the silicon substrate, induced in STI structures with a 45 nm or a 85 nm CoSi2 silicidation. High compressive stresses in the active area and tensile stress around the trench corners are observed.

Abstract: The use of an energy-filtering held emission gun transmission electron microscope (CM30 FEG Ultratwin) allows, apart from imaging morphologies down to nanometer scale, the fast acquisition of high-resolution element distributions. Electrons that have lost energy corresponding to characteristic inner-shell loss edges are used to form the element maps. The production of Ultra Large-Scale Integration (ULSI) devices with dimensions below 0.25 mum requires among others the formation of a multilayer metallization scheme by means of repeatedly applying the deposition and etching of dielectrics and metals. In this work the evolution of the surface chemical species on etched Al lines in a post-etch cleaning process has been investigated by energy filtering transmission electron microscopy, with the aim to understand the role of each process step on the removal of the etching residues. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.