Very low effective Schottky barrier height for erbium disilicide contacts on n-Si through arsenic segregation

The segregation of As+ ions implanted into thin Er films deposited on n-Si substrates is studied after ErSi2-x formation. The same lowering of the effective Schottky barrier height (SBH) below 0.12 eV is obtained at moderate annealing temperatures, regardless of the redistribution of As dopants at the ErSi2-x/Si interface. On the other hand, if the implanted dose is slightly enhanced, the annealing temperature required to reach sub-0.12-eV effective SBH can be further reduced. This process enables the formation of very low effective SBH ErSi2-x/n-Si contacts with a low thermal budget

A benzoxazine/substituted borazine composite coating: A new resin for improving the corrosion resistance of the pristine benzoxazine coating applied on aluminum

In this paper, laboratory synthesized Phenol-paraPhenyleneDiAmine (P-pPDA) benzoxazine containing different amounts of B-trimesityl-N-triphenylborazine was applied by spin coating on aluminum and thermally cured. The addition of the borazine derivative (borazine 1) does not appear to modify the curing characteristics of the P-pPDA matrix itself as shown by FTIR, DSC and DEA analyses; however, some interactions - chemical and/or physical (co-crystallization) – between P-pPDA and borazine 1 cannot be excluded. The microstructure of the composites is characterized by a two phase system consisting of a dispersion of nanosized (10–20 nm) clusters for the lowest borazine 1 concentration (0.5 wt%), evolving towards bigger (100–200 nm), agglomerated clusters for higher borazine 1 concentrations (3 wt%) and finally, continuous, dendritic structures within the P-pPDA matrix for the highest borazine 1 concentration (10 wt%). The benzoxazine composite coating containing 0.5 wt% trimesitylborazine derivative showed a largely increased and durable ability to protect the aluminum substrate. It is shown that a highly capacitive behavior and durable barrier properties can be obtained for P-pPDA coatings containing such a low amount of borazine derivative homogeneously dispersed in the benzoxazine matrix. For concentrations of 3 wt%, as agglomeration took place and dendrites appeared for the highest concentration of borazine derivative (10 wt%), the corrosion resistance decreased with time

Organic surfaces excited by low-energy ions: atomic collisions, molecular desorption and buckminsterfullerenes.

This article reviews the recent progress in the understanding of kiloelectronvolt particle interactions with organic solids, including atomic displacements in a light organic medium, vibrational excitation and desorption of fragments and entire molecules. This new insight is the result of a combination of theoretical and experimental approaches, essentially molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Classical MD simulations provide us with a detailed microscopic view of the processes occurring in the bombarded target, from the collision cascade specifics to the scenarios of molecular emission. Time-of-flight SIMS measures the mass and energy distributions of sputtered ionized fragments and molecular species, a precious source of information concerning their formation, desorption, ionization and delayed unimolecular dissociation in the gas phase. The mechanisms of energy transfer and sputtering are compared for bulk molecular solids, organic overlayers on metal and large molecules embedded in a low-molecular weight matrix. These comparisons help understand some of the beneficial effects of metal substrates and matrices for the analysis of molecules by SIMS. In parallel, I briefly describe the distinct ionization channels of molecules sputtered from organic solids and overlayers. The specific processes induced by polyatomic projectile bombardment, especially fullerenes, are discussed on the basis of new measurements and calculations. Finally, the perspective addresses the state-of-the-art and potential developments in the fields of surface modification and analysis of organic materials by kiloelectronvolt ion beams

A Microscopic View of Macromolecule Transfer in the Vacuum Using Gas and Bismuth Clusters

Transferring large nonvolatile molecules in the vacuum is key to both their characterization by mass spectrometry (ion mobility, etc.) and their use as nanofabrication building blocks in soft-landing-type experiments. Recently, our group performed the successful transfer and redeposition of intact and bioactive lysozyme (14 kDa) with large gas cluster ion beams, in the absence of a solvent or matrix, demonstrating that such beams could serve as tools for macromolecule manipulation. A number of fundamental questions arose in relation with this experimental proof-of-concept, concerning for instance the maximum molecular size for successful transfer, the effect of the cluster projectile incidence angle, the dependence of molecular dissociation on the projectile energy and size, the internal energy uptake ultimately leading to metastable decay reactions, or the influence of the surface interactions on desorption. To address these questions, a series of molecular dynamics simulations were conducted involving cluster impacts on an adsorbed globular polystyrene (PS) macromolecule of 60 kDa, with a mass and shape comparable to those of a protein such as bovine serum albumin. Conditions of intact desorption of this PS molecule by Ar clusters are identified, in terms of energy per atom and incidence angle, and the results are compared to 30 keV Bi5 impacts, commonly used for molecular analysis and 2D imaging in our time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry experiments. When Ar cluster impact conditions are appropriate for intact desorption, the take-off angle of the macromolecule is larger than the projectile incidence. Bombardment by a massive methane projectile (6.6 × 104 methane molecules) does not induce qualitatively different results, and in general, the energy per atom or energy per unit mass remains the deciding factor concerning the survival or dissociation of the bombarded molecule. In contrast with large gas clusters, Bi5 projectiles largely fail at desorbing the intact macromolecules, because of the detrimental effect of the collision cascade and the insufficient momentum transferred by the crater expansion for molecular lift off. Additionally, 10 keV Ar5000 projectiles with 45−75° incidence with respect to the surface normal directly transfer momentum to the macromolecule via their backscattered Ar atoms and small clusters, inducing molecular desorption with center-of-mass velocities of the order of 1 km/s. The implications for future experiments are discussed