The contact resistivity, ρ c, between phase change material (PCM) and an electrode plays an important role in the operation of highly scaled phase change random access memory (PCRAM). We investigated the effect of surface cleaning on the ρ c between a W electrode and amorphous GeCu2Te3 (GCT) which shows high thermal stability. The surface cleaning of the amorphous GCT was conducted by Ar reverse sputtering. The ρ c of the amorphous GCT whose surface was cleaned with Ar reverse sputtering was 6.7×10-3Ω cm2. Meanwhile, the ρ c of the amorphous GCT with no surface cleaning was 8.0×10-5Ω cm2. The low ρ c in the amorphous GCT with no surface cleaning was apparently due to the existence of a low resistance Cu-rich underlayer which was formed as a consequence of surface oxidation of the amorphous GCT. These results indicate that the surface of a PCM must be treated carefully to accurately measure the contact resistivity between the PCM and electrodes.

We investigated electronic structure of one-dimensional biradical molecular chain which is constructed by exploiting the covalency between organic molecules of a diphenyl derivative of s-indacenodiphenalene (Ph2-IDPL). To control the crystallinity, we used gas deposition method. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) revealed developed band structure with wide dispersion of the one-dimensional biradical molecular chain.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2010 in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 1 – August 5, 2010.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2010 in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 1 – August 5, 2010.

A number of mutant lines showing different levels of improved quantitative resistance to bacterial leaf blight (BLB) were obtained through selection of plants or lines derived from seeds of the rice cultivar Harebare exposed to thermal neutrons and gamma-rays. The selections were made on M2–M4 materials under natural BLB-epidemic conditions and/or by artificial inoculation of one of the BLB isolates. Bacterial isolates predominating under the natural conditions were identified as belonging to the differential BLB isolate group I, and the isolates of this group were used in the artificial inoculation for selection of mutants. The selected M4 mutant lines were tested in M5 for BLB resistance by artificial inoculations of four differential bacterium isolates, groups I, II, III and IV. The M6 mutant lines showed quantitatively elevated resistances to the isolate of bacterium group I and also to the other three differential isolates. Analysis of variance of the data demonstrated that the observed elevated quantitative resistances of the mutants to the isolates I, II, III and IV were isolatespecific. Host-parasite interactions in quantitative resistance to BLB and their modification by induced mutations are discussed.

A thin-amorphous MnOx layer using self-forming barrier process with a Cu-Mn alloy shows good adhesion and diffusion barrier properties between copper and dielectric layer, resulting in excellent reliability for stress and electromigration. Meanwhile, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) can be employed for conformal deposition of the barrier layer in narrow trenches and vias for future technology node. In our previous research, a thin and uniform amorphous MnOx layer could be formed on TEOS-oxide by thermal metal-organic CVD (MOCVD), showing a good diffusion barrier property. In addition, a good adhesion strength is necessary between a Cu line and a dielectric layer not only to ensure good SM and EM resistance but also to prevent film delamination under mechanical or thermal stress conditions during fabrication process such as chemical mechanical polishing or high temperature annealing. To date, no information is available with regard to the adhesion property of CVD-MnOx. In this work, we report diffusion barrier property in further detail and adhesion property in PVD-Cu/CVD-MnOx/SiO2/Si. The temperature dependence of the adhesion property is correlated with the chemical composition and valence state of Mn investigated with SIMS and Raman spectroscopy.

Substrates were p-type Si wafers having a plasma-TEOS oxide of 100nm in thickness. CVD was carried out in a deposition chamber. A manganese precursor was vaporized and introduced into the deposition chamber with H2 carrier gas. After the CVD, a Cu overlayer was deposited on some samples using a sputtering system in load lock chamber of the CVD machine. The diffusion barrier property of the MnOx film was investigated in annealed samples at 400 oC for 100 hours in a vacuum of better than 1.0×10-5 Pa. The Adhesion property of Mn oxide was investigated by Scotch tape test in the as-deposited and in the annealed Cu/CVD-MnOx/TEOS samples. The obtained samples were analyzed for thickness and microstructure with TEM, chemical bonding states of the MnOx layer with XPS, and composition of each layer with SIMS.

In the CVD deposition below 300 °C, no Cu delamination was observed both in the as-deposited and in the annealed Cu/CVD-MnOx/SiO2 samples. On the other hand, in the CVD deposition at 400 °C, the Cu films were delaminated from the CVD-MnOx/TEOS substrates. The XPS peak position of Mn 2p and Mn 3s spectra indicated that the valence state of Mn in the as-deposited barrier layer below 400 °C was 2+. Composition analysis with SIMS as well as Raman also indicated the presence of a larger amount of carbon at 400 °C than at less than 300 °C. The good adhesion between Cu and MnO could be attributed to an amount of carbon inclusion in the CVD barrier layer.

Adhesion strength in sputter-deposited Cu thin films on various types of barrier layers was investigated by scratch test. The barrier layers were Ta1-xNx with varied nitrogen concentration of 0, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5. Microstructure observation by TEM indicated that each layer consists of mixed phases of β;-Ta, bcc-TaN0.1, hexagonal-TaN, and fcc-TaN, depending on the nitrogen concentration. A sulfur- containing amorphous phase was also present discontinuously at the Cu/barrier interfaces in all samples. Scratch test showed that delamination occurred at the Cu/barrier interface and that the overall adhesion strength increased with increasing the nitrogen concentration. A good correlation was found between the measured adhesion strength and the composing phases in the barrier layer.

Unidirectional solidification of Ti-48Al binary alloy using γ-TiAl single-phase seed crystals has been carried out by an optical floating zone method. The lamellar orientation of the grown PST crystal follows the orientation of the Ti-57Al seed crystal, while it fails to follow that in the case of the Ti-53Al seed. Microstructure analysis reveals that the seed crystal of Ti-57Al exhibits a flat liquid/solid interface in melting (γ→+L) even after making contact with 48Al to grow, whereas the seed of Ti-53Al shows a cellular interface due to the peritectic reaction in melting (γ→α+L). At the 57/48 interface, an abrupt change of Al concentration was detected from the seed to the grown crystal, indicating an occurrence of composition travel to skip the peritectic reaction, which is responsible for the control of lamellar orientation of the grown PST crystals. The same attempt has been made by using the 57Al single crystal seed with a different orientation, and the lamellar orientation of the grown PST crystal was confirmed to follow the orientation of the seed.

A method for site specific characterization of the materials using a dedicated focused ion beam(FIB) system and an analytical transmission electron microscope (TEM) was developed. Needless to say, in TEM specimen preparation using FIB system, stability of a specimen is quite important. The specimen stage employed in the developed FIB system is the one designed for high resolution TEM, and the specimen drift rate of the stage is less than lnm/min. In addition, FIB-TEM compatible specimen holder which allows milling of a specimen with the FIB system and observation of the specimen with the TEM without re-loading was developed. To obtain thin specimen from the area to be characterized correctly, confirmation of the area before final milling is needed. However, observation of cross sectional view in a FIB system is recommended because it causes damage by Ga ion irradiation. To solve this problem, we used a STEM unit as a viewer of FIB milled specimen.

We prepared an atomically flat silicon substrate which had a step-terrace structure and observed the topography of the ozone-oxidized surface to clarify whether homogeneous oxidation occurs with ozone. The oxide was formed with high-concentration ozone gas with a thickness of 2.5nm at a temperature of 350°C. The oxide surface still maintained the same step-terrace structure as observed before oxidation, which revealed that ozone-oxidation occurs layer-by-layer and produces an atomically flat oxide. XPS and MEIS analyses show that the stoichiometry of ozone oxide grown at 350°C is the same as that of an oxide grown thermally at 750°C.