Preparation and Characterization of Free-Standing Pellicles

Free-standing thin membranes or pellicles, thickness < 100 nm, are becoming increasingly attractive due to their wide range of applications in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, microelectromechanical systems, far-infrared sensors, etc. The silicon nitride (SiNx) and carbon nanotubes pellicles are two widely deployed examples. Apparently, the performance of such thin foils highly relies on the composition and thickness of the pellicle.

We have adopted two ion beam analysis (IBA) techniques for elemental quantification in thin pellicles. These techniques are Rutherford Backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) in the transmission geometry. To further improve and assess the sensitivity of these characterization techniques, pellicles with different compositions (B, SiNx, etc) and thicknesses are required to be developed in the cleanroom. The student will be also trained on the characterization of the fabricated pellicles using RBS technique.

Objectives of the internship:

• Development of free-standing pellicles in the cleanroom (60%)
• Elemental characterization of the prepared pellicles using RBS (30%)
• Report the results in a clear way (10%)