The use of citation indicators to gauge impact in science has increased significantly in the last decades. Yet, in the normal sense of the word, the impact of a scientific paper is still largely elusive. This work presents the results of full textual analysis of all citations of a single highly-cited paper. For this purpose, a reference impact score RIS is defined, which is derived from the context and content of the citations. First results suggest that the RIS reflects the impact of the cited paper on the research in its citing articles. Low-RIS citations in particular are often perfunctory and redundant, whereas high-RIS citations reveal regularities that might be related to impact.

In this paper, 3D volumetric energy deposition and local crosslinking of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) are experimentally and numerically explored in focused helium ion beam lithography (HIBL). In particular, a through-membrane exposure method is developed to make visible and subsequently to measure the 3D interaction volume and energy deposition of helium ions in HSQ. By comparing the actual dimensions of the crosslinked HSQ structures with Monte Carlo modeling of the spatial distribution of the energy deposition, the critical energy density for crosslinking HSQ is obtained. Finally, 3D nanofabrication of complex crosslinked HSQ nanostructures such as embedded nanochannels and suspended grids is demonstrated using two different exposure configurations. The proposed method expands the 2D point spread function of HIBL into three dimensions, thus opening a new avenue for nanoscale 3D fabrication.

We report on advanced defect classification using TNO's RapidNano particle scanner. RapidNano was originally designed for defect detection on blank substrates. In detection-mode, the RapidNano signal from nine azimuth angles is added for sensitivity. In review-mode signals from individual angles are analyzed to derive additional defect properties. We define the Fourier coefficient parameter space that is useful to study the statistical variation in defect types on a sample. By selecting defects from each defect type for further review by SEM, information on all defects can be obtained efficiently.

Spin-triplet Cooper pairs induced in ferromagnets form the centrepiece of the emerging field of superconducting spintronics. Usually the focus is on the spin-polarization of the triplets, potentially enabling low-dissipation magnetization switching. However, the magnetic texture which provides the fundamental mechanism for generating triplets also permits control over the spatial distribution of supercurrent. Here we demonstrate the tailoring of distinct supercurrent pathways in the ferromagnetic barrier of a Josephson junction. We combine micromagnetic simulations with three-dimensional supercurrent calculations to design a disk-shaped structure with a ferromagnetic vortex which induces two transport channels across the junction. By using superconducting quantum interferometry, we show the existence of two channels. Moreover, we show how the supercurrent can be controlled by moving the vortex with a magnetic field. This approach paves the way for supercurrent paths to be dynamically reconfigured in order to switch between different functionalities in the same device.

A combined X-ray and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) instrument is presented that enables the local detection of X-ray absorption on surfaces in a gas environment. To suppress the collection of ion currents generated in the gas phase, coaxially shielded STM tips were used. The conductive outer shield of the coaxial tips can be biased to deflect ions away from the tip core. When tunneling, the X-ray-induced current is separated from the regular, ‘topographic’ tunneling current using a novel high-speed separation scheme. We demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument by measuring the local X-ray-induced current on Au(1 1 1) in 800 mbar Ar.

Particle defects are important contributors to yield loss in semi-conductor manufacturing. Particles need to be detected and characterized in order to determine and eliminate their root cause. We have conceived a process flow for advanced defect classification (ADC) that distinguishes three consecutive steps; detection, review and classification. For defect detection, TNO has developed the Rapid Nano (RN3) particle scanner, which illuminates the sample from nine azimuth angles. The RN3 is capable of detecting 42 nm Latex Sphere Equivalent (LSE) particles on XXX-flat Silicon wafers. For each sample, the lower detection limit (LDL) can be verified by an analysis of the speckle signal, which originates from the surface roughness of the substrate. In detection-mode (RN3.1), the signal from all illumination angles is added. In review-mode (RN3.9), the signals from all nine arms are recorded individually and analyzed in order to retrieve additional information on the shape and size of deep sub-wavelength defects. This paper presents experimental and modelling results on the extraction of shape information from the RN3.9 multi-azimuth signal such as aspect ratio, skewness, and orientation of test defects. Both modeling and experimental work confirm that the RN3.9 signal contains detailed defect shape information. After review by RN3.9, defects are coarsely classified, yielding a purified Defect-of-Interest (DoI) list for further analysis on slower metrology tools, such as SEM, AFM or HIM, that provide more detailed review data and further classification. Purifying the DoI list via optical metrology with RN3.9 will make inspection time on slower review tools more efficient.

We report the etching of and electronic transport in nanoribbons of graphene sandwiched between atomically flat hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The etching of ribbons of varying width was achieved with a focused beam of 30 keV He⁺ ions. Using in-situ electrical measurements, we established a critical dose of 7000 ions nm⁻² for creating a 10 nm wide insulating barrier between a nanoribbon and the rest of the encapsulated graphene. Subsequently, we measured the transport properties of the ion-beam etched graphene nanoribbons. Conductance measurements at 4 K show an energy gap, that increases with decreasing ribbon width. The narrowest ribbons show a weak dependence of the conductance on the Fermi energy. Furthermore, we observed power-law scaling in the measured current-voltage (I-V) curves, indicating that the conductance in the helium-ion-beam etched encapsulated graphene nanoribbons is governed by Coulomb blockade.

To qualify tools of semiconductor manufacturing, particles unintentionally deposited in these tools are character-ized using blank wafers. With fast optical inspection tools one can quickly localize these particle defects. An ex-ample is TNO's Rapid Nano, which operates in optical darkfield. The next step is defect review for further defectcharacterization. When the blank wafers are transferred to another tool, e.g. a SEM or an AFM the absolute defectposition information is lost. Therefore, the re-detection of the defects in the review tool is time consuming. Toenhance the re-detection speed, afiducial marker system can be used that couples the coordinates of the fastinspection tool to the coordinates of the characterization (review) tool.In this work such afiducial marker system was designed and validated. The influences of the height and the com-position of thefiducial markers on the performance of the marker system were investigated usingfinite elementanalysis (by COMSOL) and experiments. The optimizedfiducial markers are very visible in opticalbrightfield andin SEM, while almost invisible (“stealth”) in optical darkfield. These properties make the markers both easily vis-ible and accurately localizable in the characterization tools. The stealthfiducialmarker system was fabricatedandvalidated by re-detecting programmed test defects on a blank wafer. The experimental results are compared to aMonte Carlo simulation that takes into account the uncertainties in the coordinate transformation and localiza-tion of the test defects.Our results show that afiducial marker system greatly enhances the re-detection efficacy of defects on blank wa-fers. Using thefiducial marker system, 100% of the test defects were re-detected in SEM and AFM. A single7×7μm2SEM image suffices to meet the ITRS requirement for particles as small as 70 nm in diameter.

Helium ion beam lithography (HIL) has been demonstrated as a promising alternative to electron beam lithography (EBL) for R&D purposes, offering high-resolution lithography at high pattern densities. This chapter reviews focused He ion beam lithography, providing a detailed discussion on the ion beam-resist interaction mechanisms and latest experimental results in this field. In addition, impact of ion shot noise is examined, a comparison to He-ion beam milling is made, and future directions are mentioned.

We have experimentally studied the polarization-dependent transmission properties of a nanoslit in a gold film as a function of its width. The slit exhibits strong birefringence and dichroism. We find, surprisingly, that the transmission of the polarization parallel to the slit only disappears when the slit is much narrower than half a wavelength, while the transmission of the perpendicular component is reduced by the excitation of surface plasmons. We exploit the slit¿s dichroism and birefringence to realize a quarter-wave retarder.