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Metallized-film capacitors have the property, even under high continuous voltage, to self-heal i.e., to clear a defect in the dielectric. The self-healing process is a consequence of a transient arc discharge. It has been previously shown that during the discharge, due to Joule effect, the metal is vaporized until the arc extinguishes. The discharge duration has been found to be inversely proportional to the mechanical pressure applied on the layers of metallized films making up a capacitor. The aim of this study is to understand the physical processes involved in this spontaneous extinction of the arc discharge. Emission spectroscopy has been used to provide information about the physical properties (temperatures, electronic and neutral particles densities, etc.) of the plasma induces by a self-healing. An analysis, based on the broadenings and shifts of Al atomic lines, of the experimental light spectra obtained has shown that the self-healing process leads to the generation, from the vaporized metal, of a high-density and relatively weakly ionized aluminum plasma. The plasma density increases with the pressure applied on the film layers and, consequently, the density power needed to extend the plasma zone increases as well and the arc discharge goes out faster as experimentally observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fabrication of devices at the 45nm node and beyond requires resist film with a thickness below 150nm. The physicochemical properties of thin films, such as glass transition, are in general different from the bulk ones and new characterization tools are often necessary. The glass transition of thin resist films has been studied by two techniques: spectroscopic ellipsometry and multi wavelength optical interferometry. Films of simple homopolymers (PS, PMMA) and a EUV polymer platform supplied by AZ Electronic Materials were studied and their values were compared with DSC measurements of the bulk material. A variation of the glass transition temperature was detected with both techniques for PS and PMMA when the thickness of the film decreases below 100nm. Indications for additional interesting interactions for moderately thick films (100–300nm) especially in the case of PMMA are reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article reports non-conductive ferromagnetic properties of metal/polymer nanocomposite films intended to be used for RF applications. The nanocomposite arrangement is unique showing a core double-shell structure of metal-carbon-polystyrene: M/C//P1/P2, where M=Co, Ni is the core material, C=graphene or carbon is the first shell acting as a protective layer against oxidation, P1=pyrene-terminated polystyrene is the second shell for electrical insulation, and P2=polystyrene is a supporting matrix (// indicates actual grafting). The nanocomposite formulation is briefly described, and the film deposition by spin-coating is detailed. Original spin-curves are reported and analyzed. One key outcome is the achievement of uniform and cohesive films at the wafer scale. Structural properties of films are thoroughly detailed, and weight and volume fractions of M/C are considered. Then, a comprehensive overview of DC magnetic and electrical properties is reported. A discussion follows on the magnetic softness of the nanocomposites vs. that of a single particle (theoretical) and the raw powder (experimental). Finally, unprecedented achievement of high magnetization (~0.6 T) and ultra-high resistivity (~1010µΩ cm) is shown. High magnetization comes from the preservation of the existing protective shell C, with no significant degradation on the particle net-moment, and high electrical insulation is ensured by adequate grafting of the secondary shell P1. To conclude, the metal/polymer nanocomposites are situated in the landscape of soft ferromagnetic materials for RF applications (i.e., inductors and antennas), by means of two phase-diagrams, where they play a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is a very sensitive optical metrology technique commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing lines to accurately measure the thickness and refractive index of different layers present on specific dedicated metrology targets on the wafers. In parallel, optical defectivity techniques are widely implemented in production lines to inspect a significant amount of dies representative of the full wafer and detect physical and patterning defects. A new approach can then simply emerge which is to apply ellipsometry metrology techniques at a full or die wafer scale. This strategy, at the frontier between metrology and defectivity field is expected to bring solutions for certain types of process deviation. In our case, ellipsometry’s optical response was collected on large areas of product wafers to capture specific deviations such as film properties, thickness, and patterning variation. This is an innovative strategy that relies on a model-less approach to detect process drifts, using ellipsometry’s sensitivity to material properties and design architecture variations. In this paper, we will present this approach on three industrial cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the two routes with grafting schemes (covalent or not covalent) for producing non-conductive ferromagnetic films of core double-shell cobalt–graphene–polystyrene nanocomposites. Films present high moment (103 emu/g) and high resistivity ( 10^10~\mu \Omega \cdot cm) leading to a constant permeability of 1.9 with a magnetic loss tangent of 10^\mathrm -3 at 10 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]