Articles you may be interested inReal time spectroellipsometry for optimization of diamond film growth by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition from CO/H2 mixtures Nucleation and bulk film growth kinetics of nanocrystalline diamond prepared by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrates Effect of gas composition and bias voltage on the structure and properties of a-C:H/SiO2 nanocomposite thin films prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition Growth of Er-doped silicon using metalorganics by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The formation mechanism and step‐coverage quality of SiO2 films formed by the pyrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) were studied, using a novel experimental technique called the “multi‐layered micro/macrocavity method.” The growth rate profiles at millimeter (macrocavity) and submicron (microtrench) sales deposited under a total pressure ranging from 2 to 760 Torr were simultaneously analyzed. The step coverage approaches conformal deposition either with decreasing volume‐to‐surface ratio (V/S) of the macrocavity reaction zone or with increasing total pressure. Combining these results with the growth‐rate profiles of the macrocavity shows that two kinds of intermediate species participate in deposition. One is a high‐activity species with a surface sticking probability near 1, and the other is a low‐activity. A nonlinear increase of the growth rate with the macrocavity V/S ratio indicates that a polymerization reaction occurs in the gas phase. A comprehensive model of the deposition kinetics is presented to correlate the step coverage quality and the growth rate uniformity with the operating conditions.

Using a triode plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system and high H2 dilution of SiH4 (down to a SiH4/H2 gas flow ratio of 0.33/99), amorphous-layer-free μc-Si:H has been successfully grown on insulating glass substrates in the continuous PECVD growth mode. It is demonstrated that an ultrathin layer of such μc-Si:H can serve as a seed layer to facilitate an epitaxial-like growth of μc-Si:H (seeded growth).

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BL-17A is a new structural biology beamline at the Photon Factory, Japan. The high-brilliance beam, derived from the new short-gap undulator (SGU#17), allows for unique protein crystallographic experiments such as data collection from microcrystals and structural determination using softer X-rays. However, microcrystal experiments require robust beam stability during data collection and minor fluctuations could not be ignored. Initially, significant beam instability was observed at BL-17A. The causes of the beam instability were investigated and its various sources identified. Subsequently, several effective countermeasures have been implemented, and the fluctuation of the beam intensity successfully suppressed to within 1%. Here the instability reduction techniques used at BL-17A are presented.