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R Joseph Kline (Fed)

Research Interests

My research involves developing methods for X-ray metrology for complex 3D nanostructures for the semiconductor industry. I also develop methods for using soft and hard x-ray scattering to characterize the pattern shape and local chemistry in next generation lithographies such as directed-self assembly of block copolymers and extreme ultraviolet lithography. A method developed by our group called critical dimension small angle X-ray scattering (CDSAXS) was recently transferred to the semiconductor industry and is being used in memory fabs for characterizing high aspect ratio memory structures such as 3D-NAND. I am currently the project leader of the Metrology for Nanolithography project.

 

CDSAXS

Professional Service

Research Opportunities

National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship – Open to U.S. citizens with an annual stipend of $72,750 per year. Applications are due on either Feb. 1 or Aug. 1. Contact me if interested in an NRC post-doc for researching dimensional metrology for nanoelectronics, directed self-assembly of block copolymers, or X-ray scattering of polymers.

Selected Publications

  • “Buried Structure in Block Copolymer Films Revealed by Soft X-ray Reflectivity,” D.F. Sunday, J.L. Thelen, C. Zhou, J. Ren, P.F. Nealey, R.J. Kline, ACS Nano, 15, 6, 2021, 9577-9587 <Link>
  • “Influence of Additives on the Interfacial Width and Line Edge Roughness in Block Copolymer Lithography,” D.F. Sunday, X. Chen, T.R. Albrecht, D. Nowak, P.R. Delgadillo, T. Dazai, K. Miyagi, T. Maehashi, A. Yamazaki, P.F. Nealey, R.J. Kline, Chem. Mater. 32 (8), 2020, 2399-2407 <Link>
  • “X-ray characterization of contact holes for block copolymer lithography,” D.F. Sunday, F. Delachat, A. Gharbi, G. Freychet, C.D. Liman, R. Tiron, R.J. Kline, J. Appl. Cryst. 52 (1), 2019, 106-114 <Link>
  • “Metrology for the next generation of semiconductor devices,” N.G. Orji, M. Badaroglu, B.M. Barnes, C. Beitia, B.D. Bunday, U. Celano, R.J. Kline, M. Neisser, Y. Obeng, A.E. Vladar, Nature Electronics, 1 (10), 2018, 532-547 <Link>
  • "Determination of the Internal Morphology of Nanostructures Patterned by Directed Self Assembly," D.F. Sunday, M.R. Hammond, C. Wang, W.L. Wu, D.M. DeLongchamp, M. Tjio, J.Y. Cheng, J.W. Pitera, R.J. Kline, ACS Nano, 8 (8), 2014, 8426-8437 <Link>
  • "Molecular Origin of High Field-Effect Mobility in an Indacenodithiophene-Benzothiadiazole Copolymer," X. Zhang, H. Bronstein, A.J. Kronemeijer, J. Smith, Y. Kim, R.J. Kline, L.J. Richter, T.D. Anthopoulos, H. Sirringhaus, K. Song, M. Heeney, W. Zhang, I. McCulloch, D.M. DeLongchamp, Nature Comm. 4, 2013, 2238 <Link>
  • "Contact-induced crystallinity for high-performance soluble acene-based transistors and circuits," D. J. Gundlach, J. E. Royer, S. K. Park, S. Subramanian, O. D. Jurchescu, B. H. Hamadani, A. J. Moad, R. J. Kline, L. C. Teague, O. Kirillov, C. A. Richter, J. G. Kushmerick, L. J. Richter, S. R. Parkin, T. N. Jackson, and J. E. Anthony, Nature Materials 7 (3), (2008) 216-21 <Link>
  • "Liquid-Crystalline Semiconductoring Polymers with High-Charge Carrier Mobility," I. McCulloch, M. Heeney, C. Bailey, K. Genevicius, I. MacDonald, M. Shkunov, D. Sparrowe, S. Tierney, R. Wagner, W. Zhang, M.L. Chabinyc, R.J. Kline, M.D. McGehee, M.F. Toney, Nature Materials 5 (4), (2006) 328-333 <Link>
  • "Highly Oriented Crystals at the Buried Interface in Polythiophene Thin-Film Transistors," R.J. Kline, M.F. Toney, and M.D. McGehee, Nature Materials 5 (3), (2006) 222-228 <Link>

Awards

Publications

Advancing Measurement Science for Microelectronics: CHIPS R&D Metrology Program

Author(s)
Marla L. Dowell, Hannah Brown, Gretchen Greene, Paul D. Hale, Brian Hoskins, Sarah Hughes, Bob R. Keller, R Joseph Kline, June W. Lau, Jeff Shainline
The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 called for NIST to "carry out a microelectronics research program to enable advances and breakthroughs....that will accelerate

Quantitative relationships between film morphology, charge carrier dynamics, and photovoltaic performance in bulk-heterojunction binary vs. ternary acceptor blends

Author(s)
Weigang Zhu, Guoping Li, Subhrangsu Mukherjee, Natalia Powers-Riggs, Leighton Jones, Eliot Gann, R Joseph Kline, Andrew Herzing, Jenna Logsdon, Lucas Flagg, Charlotte Stern, Ryan Young, Kevin Kohlstedt, George Schatz, Dean DeLongchamp, Michael Wasielewski, Ferdinand Melkonyan, Antonio Facchetti, Tobin Marks
Addressing pertinent and perplexing questions regarding why nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) promote higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) than traditional

Strategic Opportunities for U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing

Author(s)
Anita Balachandra, David Gundlach, Paul D. Hale, Kevin K. Jurrens, R Joseph Kline, Tim McBride, Ndubuisi George Orji, Sanjay (Jay) Rekhi, Sivaraj Shyam-Sunder, David G. Seiler
Semiconductors are critical to our Nation's economic growth, national security, and public health and safety. Revolutionary advances in microelectronics

Acoustoelasticity, Theory and Experiment

Author(s)
L Jiang, Regis J. Kline, Y Yacobi, E Drescher-Krasicka
As a promising tool to characterize residual stress in engineering structural components, acoustoelasticity has been the subject of a great deal of research

Patents (2018-Present)

Created October 9, 2019, Updated December 8, 2022