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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Nanoscale Device Characterization Division

Projects/Programs

Displaying 26 - 50 of 63
Crossbar Memory Arrays

Integrated Testbeds for Advanced Metrology

Ongoing
Crossbar Memory Arrays An especially prolific structure in memory architectures aimed at accelerating neural network operation is the crossbar array (Fig. 1). We produce medium-scale arrays that hold up to 20,000 nanodevices which can be characterized, read from, and written to individually or in
Custom-built wafer level probes in position to perform EDMR measurements on fully processed transistors.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Ongoing
Custom-built wafer level probes in position to perform EDMR measurements on fully processed transistors. Electronics are all around us and have completely reinvented nearly every aspect of our society. Virtually any system, large or small, contains some type of electronics that may or may not be
Prototype cryogenic atomic force microscope system with nanoscale electron spin resonance capability

Manipulation and Imaging of Dilute Densities of Electron Spins

Ongoing
While the characteristics of the unpaired electrons which are trapped in these bonding errors have a dramatic impact on the macroscale material properties, observing these same unpaired electrons has proven quite difficult. These unpaired electrons are transient in time, temperature, and pressure
STM image of the surface states of a topological insulator - 3D perspective

Measuring Topological Insulator Surface State Properties

Ongoing
A family of TI materials can by synthesized by combining binary compounds of Bismuth (Bi) or Antimony (Sb) with Selenium (Se) and Tellurium (Te) to form Bi 2Se 3, Bi 2Te 3, and Sb 2Te 3 compounds. In these material compounds the spin of the electron has a strong interaction with the motion of the
Schematic diagram of a 3D stacked integrated circuit (3D-SIC), achieved using copper through-silicon via interconnects.

Metrology for Emerging Integrated Systems

Ongoing
The Emerging Integrated Systems Metrology program supports measurements for advanced manufacturing and secure nano-manufacturing, novel devices and electronic materials. Specifically, the program aims to develop the metrology required to enable a quantitative assessment and physical understanding of

Metrology for Printing and Graphic Arts Substrates

Ongoing
Paper is a complex, heterogeneous, multi-phased material. While there is a significant body of work related to the dielectric properties of cellulose, comparatively fewer studies have been done on printing and writing grades of paper. In our previous work, we have been able to differentiate between
Simulation of FMRFM data

Nanomagnet Dynamics

Completed
The motion of the magnetization in magnetic nanostructures is at the core of important technologies such as computer hard drives and magnetic memory chips. Additionally, emerging technologies such as magnetic logic and second-generation spin-torque memory chips write and read "bits" of information
Layout of the Nanotechnology Xccelerator Reticle with 30 unique tiles occupying 41 different slots within the reticle.

The Nanotechnology Xccelerator

Ongoing
The Nanotechnology Xccelerator was announced on September 13, 2022 and was officially accepted for production at Skywater Technology Foundry using the Sky130 technology in Q1 2024. Sky130, which comes in both a conventional and open-source process design kit, is a 5-metal layer process. To
EBIC Current

Neuromorphic Device Measurements

Ongoing
One type of device that is emerging as an attractive artificial synapse is the resistive switch, or memristor. These devices, which usually consist of a thin layer of oxide between two electrodes, have conductivity that depends on their history of applied voltage, and thus have highly nonlinear
Picture of magnetic tunnel junction

Novel Hardware for Alternative Computing

Ongoing
Magnetic tunnel junctions Magnetic tunnel junctions (see Fig. 1) consist of two thin films of a ferromagnetic material separated by a few atomic layers of an insulating material.  The insulator is so thin that electrons can tunnel quantum mechanically through it. The rate at which the electrons
schematic of the MOTIS ion beam source

Novel Sources for Focused-ion Beams

Completed
Commercial focused ion beams (FIBs) are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, they serve as diagnostic tools, slicing through a nanodevice to expose its internal structure. They can also shape nanoscale materials either by adding atoms to a structure or by shaving them off. And they
EDMR set up to measure the electrode process of an electrochemical cell.

Operando Measurements of Electrochemical (Charge-transfer) Processes

Ongoing
There are two ways to study a very fast process such as charge transfer. One can use very high-speed measurement that can follow the effect of the process, or one use a method that is sensitive only to the process itself. Either way has its weakness. Many fast measurements can follow the process
NIST 193 nm Microscope.

Optical Methods for 3-D Nanostructure Metrology (Archived)

Completed
This project develops new approaches to optical microscopy based on a high magnification optical platform that samples the full 3-D scattered field. Both the semiconductor industry and the evolving nanomanufacturing sector are facing enormous challenges measuring nanometer scale features over large
Spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement of a 2D monolayer and the optical property for such a thin layer.

Optical and Optoelectronic Materials Characterization

Ongoing
Today's electronics have reached a point where sheer computation power has combined form and function as the key driver of large consumer markets. The demand for portable and pervasive electronics with greater functionality promises significant changes over the next decades in how society interacts
Schematic of quantum entangled molecules or nanoparticles in dual cavity system.

Photonic Quantum State Imaging Metrology

Ongoing
Fundamental understanding of quantum behavior of single molecules, which is a favorable candidate for quantum information processing technologies, has advanced gradually, relying on empirical studies mostly. This requires a measurement platform to study fundamental quantum characteristics in single
A 3" wafer is seen concentric with the lower plasma electrode.

Precision Materials for Quantum Devices

Ongoing
MBE System Our fabrication system is composed of ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chambers that support the in-vacuum exchange of 75 mm wafers without exposure to air as seen in Figure 1. These chambers are: (1) a deposition chamber with electron gun deposition, UHV compatible sputter guns, in situ shadow

Probing Graphene Electronic Devices with Atomic Scale Measurements

Ongoing
Two of the remarkable features of graphene that are opening avenues to multiple applications are its high transport carrier mobility and the broad tunability of its electronic properties. Graphene charge carriers can be tuned continuously from negative carriers (i.e., electrons), to positive (holes)
The Daffodil Board

Prototyping Platforms for Emerging Technologies

Ongoing
Emerging technologies aim to overcome traditional memory limitations with higher density, lower power consumption, faster read/write speeds, better endurance, and lower cost [2]. Many new candidate memory elements are analog or stochastic, requiring new testing infrastructure, and the context of
Schematic of unresolved imaging of a periodic structure. Extracting deep-subwavelength information from such images requires mastery of several techniques; this project seeks to integrate machine learning for metrology.

Quantitative Nanoscale Imaging Through Artificial Intelligence

Ongoing
This project extends optical capabilities for the characterization of nanoscale devices as they increase in complexity, with challenging new materials properties, thicknesses, and length scales that challenge simplistic applications of the fundamental equations of electromagnetism. Critical
Measuring interactions between chiral edge states. 2D heterostructure (left); magnetoresistance data (right).

Quantum Transport Measurements

Ongoing
It is necessary to isolate, control, and understand the fundamental physics of exotic states of matter to create nanoengineered systems with the requisite quantum properties for quantum information systems and advanced computing applications. We develop measurement capabilities and design test