Tools & Capabilities
Ion Implanters
Ion implantation is a materials engineering process by which ions of a material are accelerated in an electrical field and impacted into a solid. This process is used to change the physical, chemical, or electrical properties of the solid. Ion implantation is used widely in semiconductor industry as well as materials science research.
EME hosts two ion implanters, a low-energy implanter (with energy up to 150 keV) and a high-energy implanter with 1.7 MV tandem accelerator to reach energy more than 10 MeV.
Low Energy Implanter
The Low Energy Implanter features a 175kV accelerator with a SNICS II negative ion sputter source. Used for ion-implanting materials with energetic ions in the energy range 10keV to 175keV.
Typical samples sizes are a few cm square but wafers up to 100mm diameter can be accommodated. Many ions are available, including most standard dopants. Smaller samples can be heated to 700°K or cooled to 77°K during implantation.
High Energy Implanter
The High Energy Implanter features a 1.7MV tandem Pelletron® accelerator incorporating a 100kV injector with a SNICS II negative ion sputter source. Used for implanting ions in the energy range 15-100keV (using the injector only) and 200keV to several MeV (depending on selected ion charge state).
Most ions are available but implant fluences may be limited in some cases. Typical samples sizes are a few cm square but wafers up to 150mm diameter can be accommodated. Smaller samples can be heated to 700°K or cooled to 77°K during implantation.
Ion Beam Analysis
RBS, ERDA, PIXIE
The Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) system features a 1.7MV tandem Pelletron® accelerator incorporating a 60kV injector with an Alphatross ion source.
Used for ion-beam analysis of materials with energetic He+ and H+ beams (typically 1-3 MeV). Standard techniques include Rutherford backscattering and channelling analysis (RBS-C) and elastic recoil detection (ERD) for hydrogen profiling.
Particle-induce x-ray analysis (PIXIE) is currently under development. Typical sample sizes range from 5mm square to several centimeters square.