Solid-State Dewetting Dynamics of Amorphous Ge Thin Films on Silicon Dioxide Substrates

We report on the dewetting process, in a high vacuum environment, of amorphous Ge thin films on SiO2/Si (001). A detailed insight of the dewetting is obtained by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ex situ scanning electron microscopy. These characterizations show that the amorphous Ge films dewet into Ge crystalline nano-islands with dynamics dominated by crystallization of the amorphous material into crystalline nano-seeds and material transport at Ge islands. Surface energy minimization determines the dewetting process of crystalline Ge and controls the final stages of the process. At very high temperatures, coarsening of the island size distribution is observed.

Removal of CrN Contamination from EUV Mask Backside Using Dry Cleaning

For EUV lithography, a reflective mask is essential because of use of the strong energy, wavelength of 13.5 nm. The EUV mask consists of multi-layered, multi-material structure and is susceptible to various contaminants. Since EUV lithography process should be used in a high vacuum environment, an electrostatic chuck (ESC) is used to fix or hold the EUV mask using electrostatic force. In general, in order to use ESC chuck, it needs a thin conductive layer (CrN layer) on the backside. However, the contact points of the electrostatic pin chuck can make exfoliation of conductive CrN layer producing CrN particles. If these particles are present on the backside of the mask, CD or DOF may be affected during EUV exposure. The 1 μm particle can leads to a gap radius of 42mm [4]. Moreover, these backside particles may travel to the front side. Therefore, backside cleaning should be performed to remove particles from the mask backside surface.

A modified ‘NanoSuit®’ preserves wet samples in high vacuum: direct observations on cells and tissues in field-emission scanning electron microscopy

Although field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) has proven very useful in biomedical research, the high vacuum required (10 −3 to 10 −7 Pa) precludes direct observations of living cells and tissues at high resolution and often produces unwanted structural changes. We have previously described a method that allows the investigator to keep a variety of insect larvae alive in the high vacuum environment of the electron microscope by encasing the organisms in a thin, vacuum-proof suit, the ‘NanoSuit®'. However, it was impossible to protect wet tissues freshly excised from intact organisms or cultured cells. Here we describe an improved ‘NanoSuit' technique to overcome this limitation. We protected the specimens with a surface shield enhancer (SSE) solution that consists of glycerine and electrolytes and found that the fine structure of the SSE-treated specimens is superior to that of conventionally prepared specimens. The SSE-based NanoSuit affords a much stronger barrier to gas and/or liquid loss than the previous NanoSuit did and, since it allows more detailed images, it could significantly help to elucidate the ‘real' organization of cells and their functions.