Cold molecular ions on a chip

We report the sympathetic cooling and Coulomb crystallization of molecular ions above the surface of an ion-trap chip. N$_2^+$ and CaH$^+$ ions were confined in a surface-electrode radiofrequency ion trap and cooled by the interaction with laser-cooled Ca$^{+}$ ions to secular translational temperatures in the millikelvin range. The configuration of trapping potentials generated by the surface electrodes enabled the formation of planar bicomponent Coulomb crystals and the spatial separation of the molecular from the atomic ions on the chip. The structural and thermal properties of the Coulomb crystals were characterized using molecular dynamics simulations. The present study extends chip-based trapping techniques to Coulomb-crystallized molecular ions with potential applications in mass spectrometry, cold chemistry, quantum information science and spectroscopy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

B clustering in amorphous Si

The authors have investigated ultrashallow p+/n-junction formation by solid-phase epitaxy, by using x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) measurements at the B K edge. The authors demonstrate that B clustering occurs during the very early stages of annealing-induced Si recrystallization, i.e., when B is still in the amorphous matrix. After complete regrowth, the local structure around B remains the same as in the amorphous phase, implying that B clusters are transferred to the crystalline structure. The XANES structure are assigned to B\u2013B sp2 bonds that are present in B clusters with two or more B atoms. Boron clustering and diffusion are further investigated by means of concentration profile analysis of ad hoc amorphous on insulator structures that evidences a clear concentration threshold for clustering and a concentration dependent B diffusion