RESEARCH

Why is everything wrapped in aluminum foil??

Chamber 1
Operated by: Team Brunette
(Sarah and Ngoc)

The lab's oldest and largest chamber is operated by Team Brunette (lead by Sarah). This chamber is equipped with AES, LEED, an ion gun, a QMS, a rotatable TOF MS, a low temperature effusion cell, a differentially pumped molecular beam source chamber, and a Nd:YAG pumped DCM dye laser.

Chamber 2
Operated by: Team Oregon
(Tyler and Jon)

Team Oregon, lead by Tyler, operates the lab's second home-built UHV system. This chamber, like Chamber 1, is equipped with AES, LEED, QMS, and a differentially-pumped rastered-beam ion gun. In addition to these standard tools, Chamber 2 houses a custom, in-situ MBE chamber with the capacity to hold up to three high-temperature effusion cells and/or neutral plasma sources, a differentially-pumped molecular beam source chamber equipped with a low-temperature effusion cell, and a STM.

The work currently being performed on this chamber is concerned with the physics and chemistry of the interfaces between the group-IV semiconductor germanium and various potential gate-oxide materials (e.g. Ge_xO_y, GeON, GeN, SiO, metal oxides) for the purpose of eventual metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication. With the current silicon-based device technology fast approaching insurmountable barriers to further scaling, the scientific community has been fervently working toward some kind of fix (i.e. high-k dielectrics) for, or perhaps even a full replacement of, silicon as the base material in high-tech MOSFET devices. Having similar chemical, physical, and electrical properties as silicon, but possessing higher electron and hole mobilities, we see germanium as being the most feasible and practical candidate, with the potential impressive device characteristics. To this end, we are studying the chemistry of the formation/growth of germanium oxide, nitride, and oxynitride, and the electronic properties of the subsequent interface, with STM/STS and DFT computational modeling. We also look at the deposition and growth of other oxide materials on the Ge(001) surface, such as SiO, for the purpose of forming a Ge-protecting buffer layer on which various gate-oxide materials may be grown.

Chamber 3 - Spud
Operated by: Darby

Spud, maintained by Darby, is the baby of the family. The lab's smallest UHV chamber is equipped with an ion gun, QMS, and a high temperature effusion cell, and has LEED, Auger, and STM/STS capabilities.

Currently, the main focus of this chamber investigates the structure of various oxides (In₂O, Ga₂O, SiO, O₂, and O) on III/V semiconductor surfaces like GaAs and InAs. Because the oxide/semiconductor interfacial structure is of paramount importance to MOSFET device quality, the experiment focuses on that critical aspect using a combination of in-situ molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), STM, and STS. Combining techniques, we have been able to elucidate the exact bonding structure of both In₂O and Ga₂O on GaAs(001)-c(2*4)/(2*8). Currently, we are examining the structure of oxides on InAs(001)-c(2*4)/(2*8). These experiments are performed in collaboration with FreeScale Semiconductor (launched by Motorola) in hopes of developing advanced GaAs/InAs-based power amplifiers for use in cell phones.

Chamber 4 - Low Temperature-STM

Operated by: Jon

The low temperature STM can be cooled to 5K. It is ideal for single atom STS, x-STM/STS, H passivation effects, and narrow bandgap STS. Includes oxide MBE, sputtering, Auger, LEED, and potentially XPS.

Chamber 5 - Variable Temperature-STM

Operated by: Darby and Jian

Variable temperature STM can be heated to 500ºC while imaging. It is ideal for studying oxide annealing and PDA. Includes oxide MBE, sputtering, Auger, LEED, and potentially XPS.

OElectroniC
Operated by: Richard

This organic electronics characterization facility is equipped with a Keithley electrometer, a Solartron impedance spectrometer, an SRS lock-in amplifier, an Agilent dynamic signal analyzer, home-built transient spectroscopy, and a custom-built gas flow system. The facility is a very comprehensive setup for organic electronic device characterization and has a unique capability for gas sensor development.

Organic electronics are promising as a complementary technology to inorganic semiconductor devices, as they offer economical processing for low-cost, flexible, and large-area device applications. Despite extensive investigation, a fundamental and comprehensive understanding of charge transport processes in organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) remains elusive. The ongoing research focuses on electronic properties of trap states that are critical to organic materials. Trap energy distribution, frequency dispersion, and kinetics are under rigorous investigation. Novel readout techniques for gas sensors have been developed based on the fundamental understanding of charge-transport properties.

This research is part of the Integrated Nanosensors AFOSR MURI program. The device fabrication and organic thin film deposition are carried out in the Integrated Technology Lab (ITL) and the Integrated Nanosensors Lab, respectively.

Breast Cancer Detection
Maria Jose

The survival for women undergoing breast conservation therapy (BCT) has been shown to be equivalent to mastectomy; for this reason BCT has become the elective surgery treatment for early stage of breast cancer. The main concern of this treatment is the high percentage (20-40%) of these patients that have to undergo a second surgery to remove the rest of the primary tumor. The development of a technique that, intra-operatively assure the absence of tumor cells in the margins of the removed tumor will improve the quality of life of the patients and reduce the cost of the treatment of them.

Our goal is to develop an automated system that can detect the expression of several breast cancer molecular markers and at the same time analyze the morphology of the cells in the margins of the tumor. This information will reduce the number of patients that have to undergo a second surgery and will contribute to a faster and personalized treatment based in the specific characteristics of each tumor.

Research Poster

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Last updated: 02/16/07