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Improving the optical performance and functions of mirrors and lenses requires manufacturing pattern shapes such as those of microlens arrays. In this context, various measuring devices have been developed to accurately measure the depth of shapes with a microscopic interferometer. However, with an interferometer, the number of pixels of a light-receiving element, such as a charge-coupled device, is limited; furthermore, when measuring a pattern shape, the measurement field of view becomes narrow. Thus, measuring a wide range of shapes is not possible. By contrast, if the device can arbitrarily increase the number of measurement points, such as in the case of a three-dimensional measuring machine, in principle, a pattern shape can be measured, while ensuring the measurement capability for a wide range of shapes; however, in this case, the measurement time increases. A nano-profiler previously developed by the authors can measure the shape and slope angle distribution of a surface with a laser beam. In this study, the measurement program was changed to realize continuous high-speed scanning at 1 kHz, and the number of measurement points was increased to verify the compatibility between fine pattern shape measurements and diverse shape measurements. The results measured by the nano-profiler were compared with those obtained using microscopic and Fizeau-type interferometers, which can measure the pattern and overall shapes, respectively. In comparison, the difference in pattern depth and overall shape was 2.1 and 2.9 nm PV, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike interferometers that obtain data from the entire sample, three-dimensional (3D) measuring instruments acquire data from multiple points. A nano-profiler measures slopes at different points on the surface to determine the sample shape, while a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) utilizes contact or non-contact height displacement probes for taking measurements. Therefore, the 3D measurement time increases if the area to be measured is wide. This leads to a reduced measurement accuracy owing to environmental changes. To reduce the 3D measurement time, a nano-profiler that rotates measured objects at a constant velocity and quickly scans each measurement point by following a spiral trajectory was designed. The developed nano-profiler measures angular distribution instead of height distribution. This makes it possible to reduce the drive error during rotation. Compared to an interferometer, the measurement time was reduced from 163 to 17 min with the nano-profiler and a 10 nm peak-to-valley difference was achieved. The slope measurement with spiral scanning was confirmed to be a quick and accurate shape measurement technique that can be used while manufacturing high-precision optical components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-precision measurement of lenses and mirrors of free-form surface figures is necessary owing to the increasing functionality of optical elements. Previously, we developed a nanoprofiler measurement technology. The nano-profiler calculates the form from a slope distribution on the measurement surface. The slope distribution is calculated from the measurement result of the optical system that directly measures the slope of the surface using laser light and a quadrant photodiode, as well as the rotary encoder output that indicates the position of the optical system and the object to be measured. The slope distribution and optical path length are required to calculate the form. The geometrical length is between the measured surface of the object and the photodetector's surface. The optical path length was designed to be 400 mm when the instrument was manufactured; however, because assembly errors were included, the optical path length must be calibrated to obtain measurements with higher accuracy. Therefore, we herein propose a multistep self-calibration method to calibrate the optical path length. In this method, a plurality of forms is measured on the surface to be measured while changing the optical path length by a known amount. The optical path length was estimated based on the results of the multiple form measurements. Before the evaluation was performed, the optimum measurement conditions for the evaluation were determined via simulation, and the optical path length was obtained from the actual measurement results under the optimum conditions. The results show that the optical path length is 399.698 mm, and the standard deviation of the calculated variation in the optical path length is 5.3 μm. • This paper reviews self-calibration method of the optical path length. • Multiple measured results are used for self-calibration. • The optimum measurement conditions for self-calibration were determined from prior simulations. • Self-calibration was performed with an actual instrument and the results were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic arrangements of the hydrogen-terminated Si(001) surface after wet cleaning are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and by first-principles calculations. The hydrogen-terminated Si(001) surface after dilute HF cleaning is atomically rough with a structure of terraces and steps. In addition, it is confirmed that 1 × 1 dihydride structures are formed inside the terraces. First-principles calculations reveal that the maxima of the local density of states string parallel to the Si-H direction on the 1 × 1 dihydride structure, which makes it possible to determine the atomic arrangement of the observed atomic images. When the surface after HF cleaning is subsequently rinsed with ultrapure water, rows emerge along the 〈110〉 direction. Atomic images show that the rows are mainly formed by a 2 × 1 unit cell. To elucidate the atomic structure of the 2 × 1 unit cell, it is proposed that every other row of the ideal 1 × 1 dihydride surface is preferentially etched with ultrapure water. Total energy calculations are performed based on the first principles of quantum mechanics, which justify the proposed etching mechanism of the Si(001) surface with ultrapure water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the damage-free finishing of CVD-SiC substrates, which are used as materials for space telescope mirrors and glass lens molds, plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM) and plasma-assisted polishing (PAP) were combined. In this study, the properties of such CVD-SiC substrates, including their surface morphology, composition and crystalline orientation, were investigated. Lapping using diamond abrasives and conventional chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) using CeO 2 slurry were conducted for comparison with the proposed atmospheric-pressure-plasma-based finishing process. Many scratches and a subsurface damage (SSD) layer were formed by the diamond lapping of CVD-SiC. Conventional CMP using CeO 2 slurry was conducted for the damage-free finishing of CVD-SiC. However, the polishing efficiency was very low. In the proposed process, PCVM, which is a noncontact dry etching process, was performed to remove the SSD layer while PAP, which combines plasma modification and soft abrasive polishing, was performed for damage-free surface finishing. PCVM was conducted on a diamond-lapped CVD-SiC surface. After PCVM for a short duration of 5 min, the scratches and SSD layer formed by lapping were completely removed, although the surface roughness was slightly increased. PAP using a resin-bonded CeO 2 grindstone was conducted to decrease the surface roughness of CVD-SiC processed by diamond lapping and PCVM for 5 min, for which a loose-held-type grindstone was demonstrated to be very useful. A flat and scratch-free surface with an rms roughness of 0.6 nm was obtained after PAP finishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical elements are used in various fields, in which it is required to measure spherical, aspherical, and free-form surface shapes. We use a nanoprofiler previously developed by our research group to measure a cylindrical surface shape. Unlike spherical or aspherical shapes, the cylindrical surface shape of free-form surface is rotationally asymmetrical and thus difficult to determine the measured position. Therefore, we processed fiducial marks on the measured sample and specified the measurement position by fiducial marks. Then we performed comparative measurements with a Fizeau interferometer using a computer generated hologram (CGH) as a reference plane. The nanoprofiler and interferometer measured to accuracies of 43.7 nm peak-to-valley (PV) and 60.9 nm PV, respectively; the difference between the two was 17.2 nm PV. Furthermore, a spherical shape and an aspherical shape were similarly measured by both devices. The spherical shape had a difference of 8.4 nm PV and that of the aspherical shape was 9.7 nm PV; thus the difference between the measurements of the cylindrical surface shape was larger. Considering that the guaranteed accuracy of CGH for measuring a cylindrical surface shape is ∼30 nm PV, we concluded that this is a reasonable result and fiducial marks are effective to determine the position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal oxidation (TO) and abrasive polishing were combined for atomic-scale planarization of 4H-SiC. It was found that the oxide/SiC interface was atomically flat regardless of the thickness of the oxide. The specimen prepared by TO was dipped in HF solution to remove the oxide. However, owing to the residual silicon oxycarbide (Si-C-O), the step/terrace structure of 4H-SiC could not be observed. Nanoindentation tests revealed that the hardness of Si-C-O was much lower than that of SiC. A thermally oxidized SiC surface was polished using CeO2 abrasives, which resulted in an atomically flat surface with a well-ordered two-bilayer step/terrace structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-precision free-form surface mirrors are required for synchrotron radiation facilities in the scientific field and semiconductor lithography systems in the industrial field. Previously, we developed a nano-profiler with the goal of achieving a measurement accuracy of 30 nm. The nano-profiler scanned and measured the slope angle of the surface to be measured with laser light and calculated the shape from the angle information. By driving the optical head and surface to be measured with four rotation axes and one translation axis, the surface could be scanned while keeping the optical path length constant. Although the rotation axis was controlled by a high-precision rotary encoder, pitching and yawing errors occurred in the translation axis. In this study, we attempt to eliminate the error of pitching and yawing from the conventional measurement operation of four axes of rotation and one axis of translation to the drive of only four axes of rotation. If the translation drive is eliminated, the optical path length will not be constant, and the sensitivity of the light-receiving element will change. Therefore, we propose a new method to calibrate the sensitivity of the receiving element and perform a comparative measurement with the conventional measurement method. Comparing the measured shapes obtained by both measurement results, it was found that the shapes had a maximum peak to valley difference of 6.2 nm. Thus, the proposed novel measurement method allows a significant reduction in pitching and yawing errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We studied processes of cleaning GaN(0001) surfaces on four different types of wafers: two types were hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) free-standing substrates and two types were metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) films grown on these HVPE substrates and prepared by annealing and/or Ar ion sputtering in ultra high vacuum. We observed the surfaces through treatments using in situ low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and Auger electron spectroscopy, and also using ex situ temperature programmed desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. For HVPE samples, we obtained relatively clean surfaces under optimized three-step annealing conditions (200 C for 12h+400 C for 1h+500 C for 5min) without sputtering, after which the surface contamination of oxide and carbide was reduced to % of that before annealing. Clear GaN(0001) patterns were obtained by LEED and RHEED. STM images showed flat terraces of nm size and steps of nm height. Upon annealing the HVPE-GaN samples at a much higher temperature (C), three-dimensional (3D) islands with facets were formed and the surface stoichiometry was broken down with the desorption of nitrogen in the form of ammonia, since the samples include hydrogen as an impurity. Ar+ sputtering was effective for removing surface contamination, however, postannealing could not recover the surface roughness but promoted the formation of 3D islands on the surface. For MOCVD/HVPE homoepitaxial samples, the surfaces are terminated by hydrogen and the as-introduced samples showed a clear structure. Upon annealing at 500–600 C, the surface hydrogen was removed and a reconstruction structure partially appeared, although a structure was dominant. We summarize the structure differences among the samples under the same treatment and clarify the effect of crystal quality, such as dislocations, the concentration of hydrogen impurities, and the residual reactant molecules in GaN films, on the surface structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We developed a nano-profiler to determine the shape from slope distribution data for highly accurate free-form surface shape measurement; for example, high-precision optical systems are required in the x-ray and semiconductor fields. An accuracy of ±0.2 µrad is required to achieve a shape measurement accuracy of 30 nm. The angle of the rotary stage is controlled by the rotary encoder, and the calibration curve of the rotary encoder is guaranteed by the national standard machine. However, the error associated with assembling the rotary encoder to the device is not included in the national standard machine's calibration data. Therefore, we propose a method that combines self-calibration with six encoder heads and calibration with a national standard machine. Using this method reduces the extent of calibration by the national standard machine and minimizes the influence of the assembly error. Furthermore, to verify whether the calibration in the proposed method is appropriate, a new encoder for evaluation was installed and evaluated. The results revealed that the influence of the assembly error was reduced to the minimum, and the difference in the calibration between the encoder for evaluation and the national standard machine was 0.027 µrad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional low-temperature plasma treatment was reported to minimally improve the adhesion property of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), whereas heat-assisted plasma (HAP) treatment significantly improved the same. An unvulcanized rubber was previously used as an adherent for PTFE. This study aimed to achieve strong adhesive-free adhesion between PTFE and vulcanized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rubber. As-received vulcanized PDMS rubber did not adhere to HAP-treated PTFE, and as-received PTFE did not adhere to vulcanized rubber of plasma-jet (PJ) treated PDMS rubber; however, HAP-treated PTFE strongly adhered to vulcanized PJ-treated PDMS rubber, and both PTFE and PDMS exhibited cohesion failure in the T-peel test. The surface chemical compositions of the PTFE and PDMS sides were determined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The strong PTFE/PDMS adhesion was explained via hydrogen and covalent bond formation (C-O-Si and/or C(=O)-O-Si) between hydroxyl (C-OH) or carboxyl (C(=O)-OH) groups of the HAP-treated PTFE. This process was also applied to adhesive-free adhesion between a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkylvinylether copolymer (PFA) and PDMS; subsequently, a translucent PFA/PDMS assembly with strong adhesion was realized together with the PTFE/PDMS assembly. Strong adhesive-free adhesion between fluoropolymers (PTFE, PFA) and vulcanized PDMS rubber without using any adhesives and graft polymer was successfully realized upon plasma treatment of both the fluoropolymer and PDMS sides. Additionally, a PDMS sheet, which was PJ-treated on both sides, was applied to strongly adhere fluoropolymers (PTFE, PFA) to materials such as metal and glass. PJ-treated PDMS was used as an intermediate layer rather than a strong adhesive, achieving PTFE/PDMS/metal and PTFE/PDMS/glass assemblies. The PTFE/PDMS, PDMS/metal, and PDMS/glass adhesion strengths exceeded 2 N/mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although heat-assisted plasma treatment enables drastic improvement of the adhesion property of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), plasma-treated PTFE does not strongly adhere to any adherend. To clarify which rubber compounding agents positively affect the adhesion strength of a plasma-treated PTFE/rubber assembly, six types of unvulcanised rubbers were prepared and thermally compressed to a plasma-treated PTFE sheet. Thus, it was found that SiO2 addition to rubber drastically increased the adhesion strength of a plasma-treated PTFE/rubber assembly and cohesion failure of rubber occurred with large fractions of SiO2 although no adhesives were used. To confirm the reaction between plasma-treated PTFE and SiO2 powder, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed for the thermally compressed SiO2/PTFE assembly after repeated washing. The XPS results indicated that hydrophilic SiO2 powder strongly adhered to the plasma-treated PTFE, whereas hydrophobic SiO2 powder did not adhere to the PTFE. In this paper, a model was proposed for a possible mechanism of strong adhesion of a PTFE/rubber assembly through both hydrogen and covalent bonds between silanol groups of the SiO2 powder surface in the rubber and hydroxyl or carboxyl groups on the plasma-treated PTFE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface atomic step-terrace structure of 4H-SiC greatly affects its performance in power device applications. On the basis of the crystal structure of 4H-SiC, we propose the generation mechanism of the a-b-a*-b* type, a-b type and a-a type step-terrace structures. We demonstrate that the step-terrace structure of SiC can be controlled by adjusting the balance between chemical modification and physical removal in CeO2 slurry polishing. When chemical modification plays the main role in the polishing of SiC, the a-b-a*-b* type step-terrace structure can be generated. When the roles of physical removal and chemical modification have similar importance, the a-b-a*-b* type step-terrace structure changes to the a-b type. When physical removal is dominant, the uniform a-a type step-terrace structure can be generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-crystal silicon carbide (4H-SiC) has a range of useful physical, mechanical and electronic properties that make it a promising material for fabrication of next-generation semiconductor devices. In this work, we report a hybrid polishing process combining thermal oxidation pretreatment and soft abrasive polishing to realize the damage-free and atomic-scale smooth finishing of the carbon face of 4H-SiC. By thermal oxidation pretreatment, the hardness of the carbon face has been reduced from 4.6 GPa to 1.7 GPa, which enables highly efficient polishing using CeO 2 slurry. For conventional CeO 2 slurry polishing without pretreatment, scratches still existed after a long polishing duration for 16 h. The probable scratch removal mechanism in CeO 2 slurry polishing has been proposed based on surface morphology changes during polishing. Whereas a scratch-free surface with well-ordered SiC atomic steps was obtained within a short polishing duration of only 3 h when polishing was conducted on a thermally oxidized surface. Our results demonstrate that hybrid polishing combining surface pretreatment and soft abrasive polishing is a promising approach to realize the damage-free and atomic-scale smooth finishing of the carbon face of 4H-SiC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Atomic-scale planarization of 4H-SiC (0001) by combination of thermal oxidation and abrasive polishing" that was published in the October 31, 2013 issue is presented.

Atomic structures of hydrogen-terminated Si(001) surfaces after HF cleaning are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. It is revealed that the surface is macroscopically rough but is composed of terraces and steps. Inside a terrace, 1x1 structures are formed. This corresponds to the ideal 1x1 dihydride structure. The step edges run along the <110> direction. On the other hand, the 1x1 dihydride structure disappears when the surface is subsequently rinsed with ultrapure water, because every other dihydride row of the ideal 1x1 structure is preferentially etched in ultrapure water. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scanning tunneling microscopy observations are performed on a H-terminated Si(001) surface treated with HF solutions and ultrapure water with very low dissolved oxygen and total organic carbon contents. Over a large area, row structures are observed in [110] and [11¯0] directions. Pyramidal-shaped etch pits are also observed, which are caused by anisotropic etching by OH ions. Detailed images clearly show 2×1 periodic structures. It is suggested that every other row of the ideally dihydride 1×1 surface is etched preferentially by OH ions. This explains the mechanism by which the smallest etch pits are formed. © 1998 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photolithography techniques have been used to enable the low-cost and high-speed transfer of a pattern onto a silicon wafer. However, owing to the high integration of semiconductors, extreme ultraviolet will be increasingly used as the exposure light source and all optics must be reflective to focus light because the wavelength of the light will be so short that it cannot pass through a lens. The form accuracy of reflective optics affects the accuracy of transfer, and a flatness of less than 32 nm on a 6 inch photomask substrate is required according to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors roadmap. Plasma chemical vaporization machining is an ultraprecise figuring technique that enables a form accuracy of nanometre order to be obtained. In our previous study, the removal volume was controlled by changing the scanning speed of the worktable. However, a discrepancy between the theoretical scanning speed and the actual scanning speed occurred owing to the inertia of the worktable when the change in speed was rapid. As an attempt to resolve this issue, we controlled the removal volume by controlling the electric power applied during plasma generation while maintaining a constant scanning speed. The methods that we adapted to control the applied electric power were amplitude-modulation (AM) control and pulse-width modulation (PWM) control. In this work, we evaluate the controllability of the material removal rate in the AM and PWM control modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new ultraprecise profiler has been developed to measure, for example, asymmetric and aspheric profiles. The principle of our measuring method is that the normal vector at each point on the surface is determined by making the incident light beam on the mirror surface and the reflected beam at that point of coincident. The gradient at each point is calculated from the normal vector, and the surface profile is then obtained by integrating the gradients. The measuring instrument was designed in accordance with the above principle. In the design, four ultraprecise goniometers were applied to adjust the light axis for normal vector measurement. The angle-positioning resolution and accuracy of each goniometer are, respectively, 0.018 and 0.2μrad. Thus, in the measuring instrument, the most important factor is the accuracy of the normal vectors measured by the goniometers. Therefore, the rotating angle-positioning errors were measured and calibrated. An elliptical profile mirror for nanometer hard-X-ray focusing was measured, and compared with the measured profile using a stitching interferometer. The absolute measurement accuracy of approximately 5nm (peak-to-valley) was achieved. Then the measurements of 1000-mm-long flat, spherical and parabolic mirrors were demonstrated. The surface profiles of the mirrors were obtained by integrating the interpolated gradient. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper overviews research activities at the “Research Center for Ultra Precision Science & Technology of Osaka University”. It describes the motivation of the research, and the physical concepts of new ultraprecision machining methods; i.e. elastic emission machining (EEM), plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM), atmospheric pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD), and hydroxyl electrochemical machining (H-ECM), and some application examples achieved by utilizing above methods are introduced. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A high current ion system for surface modification has been developed. It consists of a liquid metal ion source, a focusing lens system, deflection plates, a mass separator, and a deceleration electrode system. It can produce a high purity metal ion beam with an energy in the range of 10 eV to 10 keV and ion current up to 20 μA in a vacuum as low as 10-9 Torr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lens system for a large current liquid metal ion source has been designed by a numerical computer simulation method. As a computed result, the lens system can focus an ion beam having an emission angle of 60° to a beam having a radius of 1.8 mm at 1 m from the ion source. Following the simulated result, the lens system was constructed and tested. When the total ion current extracted from the ion source was less than 10 μA, more than 95% of the total ion was focused to a beam with a radius of about 2 mm at 1 m from the ion source, which agreed well with the computer simulation result. When the total ion current became more than 10 μA, the minimum radius of the focused ion beam at 1 m from the ion source gradually increased with it. However, even if the total ion current was more than 50 μA, almost 80% of it could be obtained on a 1×1 cm2 target at 1 m from the ion source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy observations are performed on hydrogen-terminated Si(110) surfaces after wet cleaning. When a Si(110) wafer is dipped into dilute HF-containing solution, the surface is constructed by piling small terraces and steps. When the sample is consequently rinsed with ultrapure water, some characteristic features such as a zig–zag chain inside a terrace, a single row at step edges and an isolated zig–zag chain on a terrace are clearly observed, and their atomic arrangements are determined. Excessive rinsing, however, creates the ridge-shaped structure of nanometer height, which is explained by anisotropic etching by OH- ions in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heating during plasma treatment, known as heat-assisted plasma treatment, has recently reported to positively affect the adhesion properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). In the present study, the adhesion properties of adhesive bonding and adhesive-free adhesion were compared for plasma-treated PTFE with different plasma treatment times and with or without heating during the plasma treatment. The relations among adhesion strength, plasma treatment time, radical density ratio, surface morphology, and surface hardness were investigated. No correlation was found between the adhesion strength and the radical density ratio or between the adhesion strength and the oxygen-containing-functional-group ratio. In contrast, correlation was observed between the adhesion strength and the surface hardness. In addition, the heat-assisted plasma treatment time affected the recovery of the weak boundary layer on the PTFE surface. Adhesive-free adhesion was found to require a longer heat-assisted plasma treatment time than adhesive bonding in order to achieve a high adhesion strength such as 1 N/mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The MnOx film prepared on the Al substrate by a hydrothermal impregnation method. • The MnOx film on the Al substrate consisted of mixed phase of MnO 2 and Mn 2 O 3. • The Pt-free MnOx/Al catalyst had high catalytic activity for H 2 O 2 decomposition. • Roughening the Al substrate improved both the catalytic activity and durability. • A conventional catalyst using Pt can be replaced with the developed MnOx catalyst. A platinum (Pt)-free manganese oxide (MnOx) catalyst film for H 2 O 2 decomposition was prepared on an aluminum (Al) substrate (MnOx/Al) by a hydrothermal impregnation method to decrease the cost of a container used in contact lens cleaning and effectively using Pt materials as other several catalysts. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy images confirmed that the Al substrate was covered with MnOx. The thickness of the MnOx film was about 300 nm. X-ray diffraction spectra showed that the MnOx film consisted of MnO 2 and Mn 2 O 3. The catalytic activity for H 2 O 2 decomposition was estimated by measuring the residual H 2 O 2 concentration, and the target value was ≦100 ppm. The MnOx/Al catalyst was immersed in 35,000 ppm H 2 O 2 solution for 360 min, then the H 2 O 2 concentration decreased to 737 ppm. This result indicated that the MnOx catalyst had a high catalytic activity for H 2 O 2 decomposition but it was not enough for practical use. To improve the catalytic activity, an Al substrate was roughened to increase the specific surface area before preparing an MnOx film. A method with the highest effect of increase in surface roughness was a combination of sandblasting and chemical etching. An MnOx catalyst film was prepared on the roughened Al substrate (MnOx/roughened-Al). When the MnOx/roughened-Al catalyst was immersed in 35,000 ppm H 2 O 2 solution for 360 min, the H 2 O 2 concentration decreased to 38 ppm. When the catalyst was used repeatedly for 10 times, the residual H 2 O 2 concentration was 66 ppm, which indicated that the Pt-free catalyst also had high catalytic durability. These results demonstrated that a roughening was extremely effective in improving both the catalyst activity and durability of a MnOx film catalyst, and a conventional catalyst of a Pt plating film can be replaced with the developed catalyst of the MnOx film on the roughened Al substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface structure of the hydrogen-saturated Si(110) surfaces after wet cleaning is studied on an atomic scale by means of scanning tunneling microscopy. When a surface oxide layer is stripped using a HF-containing solution, the surface consists of nanometer-scaled terraces and atomic steps along various directions. Coupled monohydride lines are formed inside a small terrace, as predicted by infrared spectra. The Si(110) surface after subsequent rinsing for a short period is occupied by a long terrace along the [110] direction in which the ideal 1×1 structure is formed. Atomic arrangements around step edges are determined in detail based on atomic images and first-principles calculations. A ridge-shaped structure is observed after excess rinsing with water, and infrared spectra indicate that the slope is composed of (111) microfacets. From these results, we present the mechanism underlying the formation of the hydrogen-terminated Si(110) surfaces during wet cleaning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for high-accuracy aspheric optical elements has increased significantly in recent years. The surface shapes of such optical elements must be measured with 1 nm Peak-to-Valley(PV) accuracy; however, it is difficult to achieve 1 nm PV accuracy with conventional methods. In this research, we developed a nanoprofiler based on the normal vector tracing method that can achieve the required accuracy. An aspheric mirror was measured by using the nanoprofiler, and repeatable, sub-nanometer measurements were achieved. Furthermore, we compared our nanoprofiler results with those of a Fizeau interferometer and found that the difference was within the systematic error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a nanoprofiler that relies on the use of the normal vector. Our aim was to enable the measurement of the profile of free-form surfaces with high precision. Since the nanoprofiler does not use a reference surface, it should be capable of measuring free-form surfaces with a high degree of accuracy. Repeatability at the sub-nanometer level has been achieved. In this study, with a goal of reducing and evaluating the related uncertainty, we set out to estimate the degree of systematic error. We investigated the effect of the systematic error on the measurement results by computer simulation. Then, by comparing the measured results with those of the simulation, we estimated the systematic error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electro-chemical mechanical polishing (ECMP), which combines anodic oxidation and soft abrasive polishing, was applied to single-crystal SiC. Ceria (CeO 2 ) slurry was used as an electrolyte for anodic oxidation as well as a polishing medium to remove the oxide layer. As a result of anodic oxidation, the surface hardness decreased from 34.5 GPa to 1.9 GPa, which made it possible to polish the oxidized SiC surface using a very soft abrasive such as CeO 2 . It was found that the material removal rate (MRR) of ECMP for a diamond-abrasive-polished surface was 3.62 μm/h. ECMP using CeO 2 slurry was conducted for 30 min on a diamond-abrasive-polished surface. All the scratches were completely removed and a smooth surface with a root mean square (RMS) roughness of 0.23 nm was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of plasma treatment on glass-cloth-containing polytetrafluoroethylene (GC–PTFE) was investigated. Previous plasma studies investigated pure PTFE (which does not contain glass cloth) but not GC–PTFE. The effect of Ar + H2O plasma treatment on GC–PTFE was investigated. The Ar + H2O plasma-treated GC–PTFE sheets were thermally compressed to stainless steel (SUS304) foils without using adhesive, and the GC–PTFE/SUS304 adhesion strengths were measured using a 90° peel test. The adhesion strength increased with the increase in the plasma treatment time (0.8 and 1.0 N/mm at 20 s and 300 s, respectively). Thus, strong adhesion between GC–PTFE/SUS304 was achieved without adhesive. This improvement in the adhesion properties of GC–PTFE can be attributed to the generation of oxygen-containing functional groups and the decrease in the surface roughness of the samples. Thereafter, the adhesion properties of GC–PTFE and pure PTFE were compared. Because, unlike pure PTFE, GC–PTFE has no weak boundary layer, GC–PTFE exhibited better adhesion properties than pure PTFE under short plasma treatment times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat-assisted plasma (HAP) treatment using He gas is known to improve the adhesive-bonding and adhesive-free adhesion properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). In this study, we investigated the effects of He and Ar gaseous species on the HAP-treated PTFE surface. Epoxy (EP) adhesive-coated stainless steel (SUS304) and isobutylene–isoprene rubber (IIR) were used as adherents for the evaluation of the adhesive-bonding and adhesive-free adhesion properties of PTFE. In the case of adhesive bonding, the PTFE/EP-adhesive/SUS304 adhesion strength of the Ar-HAP-treated PTFE was the same as that of the He-HAP-treated PTFE. In the case of adhesive-free adhesion, the PTFE/IIR adhesion strength of the Ar-HAP-treated PTFE was seven times lower than that of the He-HAP-treated PTFE. The relation among gaseous species used in HAP treatment, adhesion properties, peroxy radical density ratio, surface chemical composition, surface modification depth, surface morphology, surface hardness, and the effect of irradiation with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and UV photons were investigated. The different adhesive-free adhesion properties obtained by the two treatments resulted from the changes in surface chemical composition, especially the ratios of oxygen-containing functional groups and C–C crosslinks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Damaged layers and polishing haze exist on substrate surfaces owing to abrasion during figuring processes, which deteriorate surface integrity. We have developed a novel damage-free ultraprecision figuring technique and obtained atomically flat and damage-free SiC(0001) surfaces with a domain size of 300–500nm. Using ultraprecision-figured 0°-off 4H-SiC(0001) surfaces as substrates, we demonstrated the formation of graphene layers upon them and successfully produced atomically flat monolayer graphene with a domain size of over 300nm on entire ultraprecision-figured SiC surfaces by annealing in ultra high vacuum without any Si flux. The quality of the graphene layers on the ultraprecision-figured SiC surfaces was markedly higher than that of layers on non-figured SiC surfaces. This indicates that the damaged surface layers with scratches, defects, and so on, enhance roughness on SiC surfaces, and reduce the quality of graphene films. In addition, we found a new phenomenon:step terraces of 500nm width exhibited erosion at step edges, leading to the creation of hexagonal pits at terraces, while step terraces of 300nm width exhibited hardly any erosion. A graphitization mechanism was discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We studied the procedure of cleaning GaN(0001) substrate surfaces by wet etching and subsequent annealing in ultrahigh vacuum for two different types of freestanding GaN wafers: hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) crystal and Na flux liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) crystal wafers. A flat surface containing GaN(0001)2×2 reconstruction was successfully achieved on both HVPE and LPE surfaces by etching in HF and subsequent annealing at ∼550°C but was not achieved by etching in HCl, NaOH, and HNO3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we demonstrate CMOS characteristics on a Si(110) surface using surface flattening processes and radical oxidation. A Si(110) surface is easily roughened by OH- ions in the cleaning solution compared with a Si(100) surface. A flat Si(110) surface is realized by the combination of flattening processes, which include a high-temperature wet oxidation, a radical oxidation, and a five-step room-temperature cleaning as a pregateoxidation cleaning, which does not employ an alkali solution. On the flat surface, the current drivability of a p-channel MOSFET on a Si(110) surface is three times larger than that on a Si(100) surface, and the current drivability of an n-channel MOSFET on a Si(110) surface can be improved compared with that without the flattening processes and alkali-free cleaning. The 1/f noise of the n-channel MOSFET and p-channel MOSFET on a flattened Si(110) surface is one order of magnitude less than that of a conventional n-channel MOSFET on a Si(100) surface. Thus, a high-speed and low-flicker-noise p-channel MOSFET can be realized on a flat Si(110) surface. Furthermore, a CMOS implementation in which the current drivabilities of the p-channel and n-channel MOSFETs are balanced can be realized (balanced CMOS). These advantages are very useful in analog/digital mixed-signal circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A surface preparation method with fine SiO2 particles in water is developed to flatten Si(001) surfaces on the nanometer scale. The flattening performance of Si(001) surfaces after the surface preparation method is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. The observed surface is so flat that 95% of the view area (100×100nm2) is composed of only three atomic layers, namely, one dominant layer occupying 50% of the entire area and two adjacent layers. Furthermore, a magnified image shows the outermost Si atoms regularly distributed along the 〈110〉 direction on terraces. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Electrochemical etching enables processing with an atomic-level accuracy, without deteriorating the physical properties of the workpiece; however, contamination of its surface with electrolytes is unavoidable. If it is possible to carry out electrochemical etching without using electrolytes, such a process will be applicable to electronic device manufacturing and precision nanoscale processing of semiconductor materials. In addition, this process does not require the use of chemicals, cleaning after processing or disposal of waste fluid, which results in a low-cost and environmentally friendly process. To develop an electrochemical etching process that does not require the use of electrolytes, we proposed a method in which a functional-group-modified electrode is used as the cathode. A carboxylated graphite electrode was prepared by treating a graphite electrode with sulfuric acid. Electrolysis of ultrapure water was carried out using the obtained electrode as a cathode. The results indicate that the electrolysis current obtained using the modified electrode is approximately six-fold that obtained using an unmodified electrode. Furthermore, we can etch a Cu surface conically in ultrapure water. The current efficiency increases by 70% at maximum, and the minimum current required for electrochemical etching decreases compared with that in the case of using an unmodified electrode. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To improve the thickness uniformity of thin quartz crystal wafer, a new machining process that utilizes an atmospheric pressure plasma was developed. In an atmospheric pressure plasma process, since the kinetic energy of ions that impinge to the wafer surface is small and the density of the reactive species is large, high-efficiency machining without damage is realized, and the thickness distribution is corrected by numerically controlled scanning of the quartz wafer to the localized high-density plasma. By using our developed machining process, the thickness distribution of an AT cut wafer was improved from 174 nm [peak to valley (p-v)] to 67 nm (p-v) within 94 s. Since there are no unwanted spurious modes in the machined quartz wafer, it was proved that the developed machining method has a high machining efficiency without any damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we designed, fabricated, and evaluated a hard x-ray focusing mirror having an ideally focused beam with a full width at half maximum in the intensity profile of 36 nm at an x-ray energy of 15 keV. The designed elliptically curved shape was fabricated by a computer-controlled fabrication system using plasma chemical vaporization machining and elastic emission machining, on the basis of surface profiles accurately measured by combining microstitching interferometry with relative angle determinable stitching interferometry. A platinum-coated surface was employed for hard x-ray focusing with a large numerical aperture. Line-focusing tests on the fabricated elliptical mirror are carried out at the 1-km-long beamline of SPring-8. A full width at half maximum of 40 nm was achieved in the focused beam intensity profile under the best focus conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metrology plays an important role in surface figuring with subnanometer accuracy. We have developed relative angle determinable stitching interferometry for the surface figuring of elliptical mirrors, in order to realize hard x-ray nanofocusing. In a stitching system, stitching angles are determined not by the general method using a common area between neighboring shots, but by the new method using the mirror’s tilt angles measured at times when profile data are acquired. The high measurement accuracy of approximately 4 nm (peak-to-valley) was achieved in the measurement of a cylindrical surface having the same curvature as the elliptically designed shape to enable hard x-ray nanofocusing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous visible light irradiation is used to observe intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) surfaces by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). A deposited a-Si:H surface is wet-cleaned in order to terminate the a-Si:H surface with H atoms. A current-sample bias (I–V) curve shows a rectifying behavior in the dark, and the tunneling current increases dramatically only under the reverse-bias condition with light irradiation. This is attributed to the photoexcited minority carriers that lead to the appearance of a higher voltage across the vacuum than that in the dark. Experiments with both p-type and n-type substrates justify the suggested model. High tunneling current under irradiation enables us to obtain highly resolved STM images. Current imaging tunneling spectroscopy observations show that the detected tunneling current in the reverse direction is increased over the entire surface with irradiation, and the increment of the tunneling current is different at each surface site. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new figure correction method has been applied in order to fabricate an elliptical mirror to realize a one-dimensionally diverging X-ray beam having high image quality. Mutual relations between figure errors and intensity uniformities of diverging X-ray beams have also been investigated using a wave-optical simulator and indicate that figure errors in relatively short spatial wavelength ranges lead to high-contrast interference fringes. By using a microstitching interferometer and elastic emission machining, figure correction of an elliptical mirror with a lateral resolution close to 0.1 mm was carried out. A one-dimensional diverging X-ray obtained using the fabricated mirror was observed at SPring-8 and evaluated to have a sufficiently flat intensity distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We established an efficient ultraprecise figuring process in which numerically controlled plasma chemical vaporization machining (NC-PCVM) and numerically controlled elastic emission machining (NC-EEM) are utilized serially. Intensity images of the x rays reflected by total reflection mirrors greatly fluctuate with respect to the figure error of spatial wavelength ranging from submillimeter to 10 mm. In NC-PCVM, figure errors for spatial wavelength range longer than 10 mm are removed efficiently by using the rotary electrode, and the spatial wavelength close to 1 mm can be corrected by using the pipe electrode. The residual figure error for the spatial wavelength close to 0.1 mm is finally removed by EEM. In this article, we describe the ultraprecise figuring process utilizing the NC-PCVM. Two elliptical mirrors for a Kirkpatrick–Baez (KB) microfocusing unit were manufactured by NC-PCVM using the rotary electrode and the pipe electrode in combination, and a figure accuracy higher than 3 nm (p–v) was achieved for the spatial wavelength range longer than 1 mm. The focusing properties of the two mirrors were evaluated at BL29XUL of SPring-8, and line focusing widths of 0.12 and 0.2 μm (full width at half maximum) were achieved at 15 keV. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new stitching interferometry based on a microscopic interferometer having peak-to-valley height accuracy of subnanometer order and lateral resolution higher than 20 μm was developed to measure surface figures of large-size x-ray mirror optics. Cumulative errors of the stitching angle in a long spatial wavelength range were effectively reduced to be 1×10[sup -7] rad levels using another interferometer having a large cross section in the optical cavity. Some optical performances of ultraprecise x-ray mirrors, such as submicrofocused beam profile, were wave optically calculated from the measured surface figure profiles and observed at the 1 km long beamline (BL29XUL) of SPring-8. Observed and wave optically calculated results were in good agreement with a high degree of accuracy. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the dissociative adsorption process of halogen molecules (Cl2 and F2) on the Si(0 0 1) surface by first-principles molecular-dynamics (FPMD) calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations. From FPMD calculations, we demonstrate that Cl2 and F2 molecules adsorb dissociatively at dangling bonds of a buckled dimer with no energy barrier, so that the buckled dimer becomes geometrically flat. In addition, STM observations show that the dissociative adsorptions of Cl2 and F2 induce buckled dimers at the SA step on the Si(0 0 1)-(2×1) surface to become symmetric dimers, in good agreement with the results of FPMD calculations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polydopamine (PDA)—a known adhesive coating material—was used herein to strongly immobilize a Pt-particle catalyst on an acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene copolymer (ABS) substrate. Previous studies have shown that the poor adhesion between Pt particles and ABS surfaces is a considerable problem, leading to low catalytic durability for H2O2 decomposition during contact-lens cleaning. First, the ABS substrate was coated with PDA, and the PDA film was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Second, Pt particles were immobilized on the PDA-coated ABS substrate (ABS-PDA) using the electron-beam irradiation reduction method. The Pt particles immobilized on ABS-PDA (Pt/ABS-PDA) were observed using a scanning electron microscope. The Pt-loading weight was measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Third, the catalytic activity of the Pt/ABS-PDA was evaluated as the residual H2O2 concentration after immersing it in a 35,000-ppm H2O2 solution (the target value was less than 100 ppm). The catalytic durability was evaluated as the residual H2O2 concentration after repeated use. The PDA coating drastically improved both the catalytic activity and durability because of the high Pt-loading weight and strong adhesion among Pt particles, PDA, and the ABS substrate. Plasma treatment prior to PDA coating further improved the catalytic durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]