The submarine channel-fill system of the Cambrian Spurs Formation exhibits unique metre-scale cycles of breccia and diamictite. The studied sections, Eureka Spurs, are located at the Mariner Glacier in the central-eastern part of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. A facies analysis of the channel-fill deposit has led to the recognition of four main lithofacies: breccia, diamictite, thin-bedded sandstone and mudstone. The channel-fill deposit consists of two architectural elements: hollow-fill (HF) and sheet-like (SL) elements. The SL has wide convex-up geometry and consists solely of a very thick bed of diamictite, and is interpreted as a submarine channel lobe. The HF has a concave-up erosional base and flat upper surface. The HF consists of nine cyclic alternations of underlying breccia (cohesionless debris flow) and overlying diamictite (cohesive debris flow). The deposition of breccia is interpreted to have been controlled by repeated allogenic processes such as earthquakes. In contrast, the abrupt vertical transition from breccia to diamictite in each cycle is interpreted to have resulted from an autogenic, slope instability-related process. The interaction of the allogenic and autogenic factors recorded in the metre-scale unique cyclic deposits provides new criteria to interpret cycles of submarine debris flow.

The scaling of BEOL interconnect technology in ULSI circuitry requires the integration of Cu wiring with ultra-low K (ULK) dielectrics. We present the results of a study of the interaction between different-stoichiometry Ta(N)/Cu barrier processes and porous ULK dielectrics (k=2.4) at 32nm groundrules Auger and diffraction analysis of blanket wafers was used to benchmark two different stoichiometries of TaN barrier deposited using commercially-available ionized PVD sources. Comparison TEM and EDX/EELS images indicates that barrier oxidation is occurring in the low nitrogen-content Ta(N) barrier, which is absent at the higher stoichiometry. These differences are further manifested in defect-density analysis of patterned wafers comparing the two processes. These results illustrate the critical importance the TaN barrier properties play in enabling the integration of Cu/ULK interconnects at 32nm at beyond.

The refractive index contrast in dielectric multilayer structures, optical resonators and photonic crystals is an important figure of merit, which creates a strong demand for high quality thin films with a very low refractive index. SiO2 nano-rod layers with low refractive indices n = 1.08, the lowest ever reported in thin-film materials, is grown by oblique-angle e-beam deposition of SiO2 with vapor incident angle 85 degree. Scanning electron micrographs reveal a highly porous columnar structure of the low-refractive-index (low-n) film. The gap between the SiO2 nano-rods is ≤50 nm, i.e. much smaller than the wavelength of visible light, and thus sufficiently small to make scattering very small. Optical micrographs of the low-n film deposited on a Si substrate reveal a uniform specular film with no apparent scattering. The unprecedented low index of the SiO2 nano-rod layer is confirmed by both ellipsometry measurements and thin film interference measurements. A single-pair distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) employing the SiO2 nano-rod layer is demonstrated to have enhanced reflectivity, showing the great potential of low-n films for applications in photonic structures and devices.

Synthesis of ‘solid solution’ and ‘core-shell’ types of well defined Co-Pt based nanoalloys smaller than 10nm have been achieved by redox transmetalation reactions. This redox transmetalation are selectively observed only if the redox potential between two metals is favorable. The composition of the magnetic alloys can also be tuned by adjusting the ratio of reactants. Annealed core-shell nanoparticles transformed into mixed nanoalloys with face centered tetragonal (fct) structures, which show large coercivity and ferromagnetism at room temperature. These nanoparticles can potentially be used as an independent single magnetic bit of tera-bit information storage. Also, this kind of redox transmetalation reaction can be utilized as a general process to synthesize various types of nanoalloys with controlled composition in a selective fashion.

A stress-driven formation of self-assembled InGaAs islands has been studied by the growth on GaAs (100) substrates with sub-micron platinum stripe pattern. Islands or quantum dots preferentially nucleate at the boundary of metal patterns. In addition, a quantum dot-free region near the boundary of the metal pattern is found. Those results are attributed to the stress between metal stripe and GaAs surface, which produces a laterally stressed region around the metal stripe. Adatoms on this region preferentially migrate toward the edge of metal stripes with maximum stress. This result may show a possible way for the interconnection between randomly distributed self-assembled quantum dots and metal stripes.

High-quality Ta2O5 thin films for high-density memory devices were prepared at low temperatures by electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor depostion (ECR-PECVD) without postannealing treatment. The effects of deposition temperature on the microstructure, composition, and electrical properties of the dielectric films were studied. The increase in deposition temperature from 145 °C to 205 °C improved the stoichiometry of the Ta2O5 thin films. As a consequence, EBD increased from 3.3 MV/cm to 4.4 MV/cm, and ∊Ta2O5, increased from 14 to 25. Interfacial SiO2 layer was observed by cross-sectional TEM, and its effects on the electrical properties of the overall dielectric film were also studied. The incubation period in which interfacial SiO2 grows was discussed with regard to reactivity between oxygen and Si substrate.

The GaInP/AlGaInP heterostructure was grown on (100) GaAs substrate using low pressure metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (LP MOVPE) . The growth temperature and pressure were held constant at 740 °C and 40 torr, respectively. The GalnP multiquantum well layers from 10 Å to 85 A were lattice matched to the substrate. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and low temperature photoluminescence measurements indicated that the GaInP/AlGaInP well layers were uniform in thickness and that the interface was abrupt and free of defects. For high performance of visible laser diodes, highly doped p-AlGaInP layer(8X1017/cm3) was obtained. It was also found that the Zn acceptor concentration increased with growth rate. In this study, the GaInP/AlGaInP laser diode, 645nm and 20mW, was fabricated by employing multiquantum well and highly doped p-cladding layer.