Materials World Network: Hydrogen Transport and Trapping in Ion-Cut Phenomena

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This Materials World Network award to Arizona State University is for a collaborative program between researchers from Arizona State University and University of the Western Cape South Africa, which is a historically disadvantaged university. This award, co-funded by the Electronic Materials program in the Division of Materials Research and the Africa, Near East and South Asia program in the Office of International Science and Engineering, is to investigate the fundamental aspects of hydrogen transport and trapping in ion-induced delamination of thin surface layers from silicon and other semiconductors. The ion-cut process uses hydrogen atoms to promote splitting and transfer of a thin surface layer onto a different substrate. Although the ion-cut phenomenon is widely applied, little is known about the fundamentals of hydrogen transport and trapping in this process. This program addresses in particular how hydrogen content, transport, and position change as a function of the dose, implant temperature, implant depth, chemical co implants, induced stresses, and anneal mechanisms in ion implanted or plasma hydrogenated materials. The investigation will be done at both Arizona State University and University of the Western Cape South Africa with an international exchange of students and scientific staff. A unique aspect of this program is that the student-exchange periods will be staggered, such that the collaborating graduate students will optimize the time spent working together in the same laboratory. A culturally diversified team with active involvement of Los Alamos National Laboratory will conduct this collaborative research program. All students will have an additional opportunity to collaborate closely with M. Nastasi, team leader of the ion-solid interactions and interface engineering group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition, students at Arizona State University in education, business, and liberal arts will benefit from exposure to materials science and engineering through the course Sensing the World, a course developed by University of the Western Cape in South Africa.