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Mission

The Electron and Optical Physics Division's mission is to develop measurement capabilities needed by emerging electronic and optical technologies, particularly those required for submicrometer fabrication and analysis. In pursuit of this mission, it maintains an array of research, measurement, and calibration activities. In particular, the Division:

• fabricates nanostructures, and develops measurement techniques for determining their electronic and magnetic properties. A key facility supporting this work is the Nanoscale Physics Laboratory (NPL), described below, which was brought online in July 2000, after several years of design and construction. The core tool of the NPL is a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope (STM), designed and built within the Division, which has picometer spatial resolution and can operate in magnetic fields as high as 10 Tesla. Another key measurement capability of long standing within the Division is scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA), which provides submicrometer resolution of magnetic structures via analysis of the spins of ejected electrons. Our SEMPA laboratory was upgraded this year with a new field-emission scanning electron microscope, which can attain 10 nm spatial resolution, the highest available anywhere. This capability underpins the Division's drive to develop metrology for the next generation of magnetic data storage devices.

• develops metrology and fabrication capabilities for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) optical components and systems. EUV optics, which deals with "light" of 10 nm wavelength, is a favored candidate technique for next-generation semiconductor lithography, and the Division works closely with the leading industrial efforts in this field. In July 2000, we took delivery of a 5000 kg vacuum chamber housing a reflectometer capable of measuring the massive (45 kg) mirrors that will be used in an alpha-tool EUV stepper. This chamber was connected to the Division's SURF III synchrotron radiation source in December 2000, and is scheduled for the first mirror measurements in the Spring of 2001. By virtue of its operating wavelength, EUV optics is intrinsically a nanoscale technical discipline: it requires nanometer accuracy of optical figures over macroscopic dimensions, and fabrication of multiplayer structures with near-atomic sharpness of interfaces. During the past decade, the Division has developed a range of metrologies for use by the EUV optics community, and has provided NIST calibration services for EUV optical components used in lithography, solar and stellar astronomy, synchrotron radiation research, and EUV laser sources.

• provides the central national basis for absolute radiometry in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) and EUV regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, which together span the photon energy range of 5 eV to 250 eV. This basis is maintained through a combination of ionization chambers, calibrated transfer standard detectors, and an electron storage ring, the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF III), which provides a dedicated source of radiation over this spectral range. As an absolutely calculable source, SURF III is being developed as the primary national standard of source-based radiometry from the EUV through the infrared spectral regions. It also supports a range of research activities by members of the Division, other NIST organizational units, and external customers.

Organization

The Division consists of three groups, which together employ about 28 full-time equivalent members of staff, and during the past year had the equivalent of 10 Guest Researchers working full-time during visits of three or more months.

The Photon Physics Group (841.01) is primarily engaged in research in DUV and EUV optics and radiometry and the development of EUV and x-ray microscopy and tomography. The group operates an EUV optics characterization beamline at SURF III that provides custom calibrations for the EUV optics community, the only such dedicated facility in the United States. It is also responsible for the maintenance of national radiometric standards in the ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet spectral regions.

The Far Ultraviolet Physics Group (841.02) is responsible for SURF III operations and for source-based radiometry and calibration services in the EUV-DUV spectral regions (spanning the wavelength range 5 nm to 200 nm). The latter mission is pursued by operation of two dedicated calibration beamlines at SURF III: one primarily for custom calibrations of instrumentation, the other for calibration of photodiodes that are disseminated as transfer standards.

The Electron Physics Group (841.03) has the mission of advancing measurement science for the determination of electronic and magnetic properties of nanometer-scale systems. It has particular expertise in polarized electron technology, which led to the development of the SEMPA technique. As a leader in STM-based research, it has designed and constructed some of the world's most sensitive scanning tunneling microscopes, able to resolve vertical displacements of about 0.3 pm. These instruments are presently used for studying a variety of phenomena, such as the nanostructure of magnetic domains, magnetic coupling in multilayer systems, atomically resolved surface electronic structure, thin-film growth, and the effect of surface topography on magnetic properties. The Group has used to advantage its strong historical presence in the fields of electron-atom scattering and optical pumping of atomic beams to apply its capabilities in these areas to attain a position of world leadership in the laser control of atomic adsorption on surfaces.

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"Technical Activities 2000" - Table of Contents