Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Dimensional scaling of many different types of materials and devices has been required to continue to meet the demands of the ever-increasing performance requirements. To produce advanced materials and devices, precise measurement on the scale of individual atoms is required. This type of measurement is required for many research areas, including, advanced silicon-based materials and devices, polymer-based devices for memory and sensor applications, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), photonic bandgap materials and devices, etc.. It is the acquisition of a Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE) system that is the focus of this proposal. The Spectroscopic Ellipsometer system is required for material and device analysis to facilitate the measurement of the thickness and the optical properties of thin films on a sub 1nm scale. In many applications these films can be made up of multiple layers. A Spectroscopic Ellipsometer is purpose built for analysing these type of film stacks. The fabrication and analysis of these films and devices will be carried out at the University of Manitoba. The equipment requested in this proposal will be used in conjunction with other analysis and fabrication equipment already in place in the Nano-System Fabrication Laboratory at the University of Manitoba. A few examples of the application of this system to research that is currently being undertaken at the University of Manitoba include research into silicon-based materials and devices, the development of switchable photonic band gap components, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and conjugated polymer systems. Precise measurement of the physical properties (thickness and particularly optical properties) of nano-scale materials is fundamental to the fabrication of the fabrication and utilization in new materials devices. The acquisition of this Spectroscopic Ellipsometer system is vital to the continuation of research advancement in these multidisciplinary research areas. The failure to obtain such a system will severely limit the full analysis of the materials and devices that may be produced. The requested equipment is not available in the department or at the University of Manitoba. Since this research required the use of the NSFL, facilities at other Universities are not at all practical. With the use of this equipment, in the NSFL, students, both graduate and undergraduate, undertaking research projects in these areas will gain a fundamental knowledge of the latest analysis techniques in material and device nano-scale technologies.