Participants: G. S. Was, PI and L. M. Wang, Co-PI (with K. Najafi of EECE and R. Goldman of MSE)
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
A new and highly versatile ion implanter will provide greatly expanded capabilities to the University’s research programs, attract new research projects and foster the training of graduate and undergraduate students in ion-solid interactions. The 400 kV ion implanter made by National Electrostatics Corporation consists of an ion source and lens system, a gas supply system, a 90° analyzing magnet, a mass defining slit, beam position monitor, accelerator tube, and electrostatic quadrupole triplet lens, a beamline with a Faraday cup, neutral beam trap and raster-scanner, and a target station capable of 6 inch (150 mm) wafer handling, a four-position faraday cup arrangement for dose measurement and target temperature control from LN2 temperature to 800°C, and an ion source (Danfysik model 921A) for the production of high current and high brightness ion beams. Its versatility is due to its ability to ionize materials that have a low vapor pressure by using an oven to heat the charge materials to several hundred degrees, giving it the capability of making ions from a large fraction of the periodic chart. The implanter will be utilized immediately in research programs encompassing a wide range of scientific disciplines and focusing on nanoparticle formation in metals and ceramics, semiconductor nanostructures and heterostructures, atomic and molecular structure modification, and biomedical device materials.
Examples of some of the novel uses of this facility are the formation of 3-D arrays of nanostructures to enhance physical and mechanical properties of materials, semiconductor nanopatterning by seeding the formation of nanometer-sized arrays of semiconductor structures, synthesis of bipolar quantum dot thermoelectric devices, femtosecond laser-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, refractive index patterning and the improvement of photoactive devices via ion implantation, and improved adherence of polymer coatings used in next-generation embolization coils for treating neurovascular defects, such as aneurysms and brain tumors. It will also play the lead role in providing surface modification capability to users of the NSF National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) at the Michigan node.
Overall, this implanter will provided a critical resource to 14 active research programs encompassing the work of 28 faculty in 9 departments at Michigan and representing over $22M of active or pending research programs, and will provide a unique resource to surrounding and partner schools. A significant role of the implanter will be to promote the teaching, training and education of graduate, undergraduate students and post-docs in surface modification and materials at the nanoscale, through research projects and formal classes, and to provide special programs for undergraduate students and K-12 outreach.