The use of micro- and nanotechnologies is necessary in the development of advanced sensor systems. In this thesis few selected technologies were studied and tested on fabrication of creating two different systems for bioelectrical and electrochemical applications. For biolelectrical applications a chip with a pair of gold nanoelectrodes was designed and implemented. For electrochemical analysis a novel two electrode system was designed and realized, which should contribute by greater sensitivity and accuracy in amperometric detection compared with three-electrode systems in voltammetric analysis. The fabricated systems were tested and the results were discussed.

Skyrmion is a topologically protected nanometer-sized spin configuration, which makes it a promising candidate for future memory devices. All skyrmion applications are based on the formation and manipulation of spin textures in nanostructured elements. Therefore, fabrication of geometrically confined skyrmion-based nanodevices is an essential step in the investigation of skyrmion properties. In this study, my research mainly focuses on the fabrication of high-quality Fe3Sn2 nanostripes with different geometric parameters for Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM) by a focused ion beam (FIB) system. The observation of the skyrmions using LTEM was mainly performed by Dr. Qiang Zhang, although I have deeply involved the discussion on new samples to be fabricated based on the results obtained from LTEM and also performed some LTEM experiments. To investigate the formation process and thermal stability of skyrmions in a geometrically confined environment, I have fabricated more than fifty high-quality nanostripes with a width of 265-4,000 nm. Studying with LTEM, a distinct evolutionary path of stripe-skyrmion transformation is observed after gradually increasing the magnetic field (out-of-plane direction) and the critical magnetic field of skyrmion is found to decrease with an increasing strength of confinements. Moreover, a series of racetrack devices with controlled thicknesses (125-404 nm) is fabricated to study the effect of thickness in skyrmion formation. Overall, in order to obtain less damaged, flat skyrmion-based devices by FIB system, experimental parameters are optimized and fabrication skills are improved. This method develops the possible application of centrosymmetric frustrated magnet Fe3Sn2 in skyrmion-based racetrack devices.

A nuclear microprobe, typically consisting of 2 - 4 quadrupole magnetic lenses and apertures serving as objective and a collimating divergence slits, focuses MeV ions to approximately 1 x 1 μm for modification and analysis of materials. Although far less utilized, electrostatic quadrupole fields similarly afford strong focusing of ions and have the added benefit of doing so independent of ion mass. Instead, electrostatic quadrupole focusing exhibits energy dependence on focusing ions. A heavy ion microprobe could extend the spatial resolution of conventional microprobe techniques to masses untenable by quadrupole magnetic fields. An electrostatic quadrupole doublet focusing system has been designed and constructed using several non-conventional methods and materials for a wide range of microprobe applications. The system was modeled using the software package "Propagate Rays and Aberrations by Matrices" which quantifies system specific parameters such as demagnification and intrinsic aberrations. Direct experimental verification was obtained for several of the parameters associated with the system. Details of the project and with specific applications of the system are presented.

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Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technology is a versatile tool that can be applied in many fields to great effect, including semiconductor device prototyping, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) sample preparation, and nanoscale tomography. Developments in FIB technology, including the availability of alternative ion sources and improvements in automation capacity, make FIB an increasingly attractive option for many tasks. In this thesis, FIB systems are applied to photonic device fabrication and modification, semiconductor reverse engineering, and the production of structures for the study of nanoscale radiative heat transfer. Optical facets on silicon nitride waveguides were produced with plasma FIB (PFIB) and showed an improvement of 3 ± 0.9 dB over reactive ion etched (RIE) facets. This process was then automated and is capable of producing a facet every 30 seconds with minimal oversight. PFIB was then employed to develop a method for achieving local backside circuit access for circuit editing, creating local trenches with flat bases of 200 x 200 μm. Gas assisted etching using xenon difluoride was then used in order to accelerate the etch process. Finally, several varieties of nanogap structure were fabricated on devices capable of sustaining temperature gradients, achieving a minimum gap size with PFIB of 60 nm. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

In the present investigation, a comprehensive photonic characterization and analysis of low energy Ar⁺ ion beam processed GaAs surfaces is presented. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the damage and amorphization introduced at the surface and sub-surface regions by ion bombardment. Ar⁺ ion beam etching was selected in order to rule out the possibility of producing any additional effects at the interface due to chemical reactions in the case of reactive ion etching. After a brief review of the concepts and underlying physics, several photonic structures are introduced. The basic theory governing the photovoltaic devices and photoconductive samples is discussed. The preparation and characterization techniques of ion beam processed GaAs samples are described. An automated photovoltaic materials and devices (PVMD) system was developed. Asyst, a Forth based scientific software was selected to write the source codes for data acquisition and reduction. The inherent fast execution times of the software allows data acquisition in real time, ensuring the quasi-steady state condition. The electrical and optical evaluation procedures developed and employed for the present investigation are discussed. One of the striking features of the ion beam bombardment on semi-insulating (SI) GaAs samples was the observation of persistent photoconductivity. A phenomenological model for optically generated ion beam induced metastable defect state formation was proposed to explain the persistent photoconductivity. Presence of two or more exponential curves in the relaxation mode indicates the distributed nature of the traps within the band gap. A conjectural flat-band energy diagram was introduced to elucidate the proposed model. The observed dark and photoconductivity response model was based on the distributed lumped electrical components analysis. Fundamental transport equations were employed in the analysis of the lumped electrical components model. Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS) type Schottky barrier diodes and photodiodes were fabricated employing both thermal and anodic oxides. Diode parameters were evaluated as a function of ion-beam energy. An increase in reverse saturation current density accompanied by an increase in the ideality factor was observed, indicating the presence of trap-assisted tunneling and a region of high recombination. The effective barrier height was generally lowered; however, no monotonic correlation with the ion energy was observed. It is proposed that the mechanisms described in previous studies (e.g. tunneling, stoichiometry effects, ion penetration depth) were dominated by the effect of Fermi level pinning at the electronic states of process-induced defects. Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) indicated the presence of at least two distinct deep trap levels, at 0.32 eV and at 0.52 eV below the conduction band edge, as a consequence of ion beam etching. The EL2 peak was evident in the virgin sample and vanished in the ion beam etched samples and such observation is in agreement with our proposed model. The photovoltaic response was characterized using illuminated current-voltage (I-V) and spectral response measurements. The ratio of external quantum efficiencies of IBE devices to unetched device indicates the regions and relative extent of the damage. Since the damage has a impact on the band-bending due to excess carrier generation, the sub-bandgap photon absorption response reveals the degree of disorder. XPS results indicated an increased surface sensitivity and change in Ga/As ratio as a function of ion beam energy. The modelling of ion-beam-processed samples was considered and several computer programs which simulate their operation are described. The depth of amorphization was calculated using the Lindhard-Scharff-SchiΦtt (LSS) theory and the standard projected range and straggle parameters, and experimental parameters. A large difference was observed in the values calculated using LSS theory and experimentally measured values, using optical probes. The difference was explained in light of the Collision-Cascade model. / Ph. D.

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanopores are excellent templates to fabricate different nanostructures. However, the pores are limited to a hexagonal arrangement with a domain size of a few micrometers.  In this dissertation, focused ion beam (FIB) is used to create pre-patterned concaves to guide the anodization. Due to the advantage of FIB lithography, highly ordered AAO arrays with different arrangements, alternating diameters, and periodic pore densities are successfully achieved. Anodization window to fabricate ordered AAO is enlarged due to the FIB pre-pattern guidance. AAO has also been successfully used as a template to nanoimprint prepolymer to synthesize vertically aligned and high aspect ratio h-PDMS nanorod arrays with Moiré pattern arrangements. The formation mechanism of anodic TiO2 nanotubes is proposed in this dissertation. Moreover, FIB pre-pattern guided anodization is introduced to synthesize highly ordered TiO₂ nanotubes with different morphologies. The effects of inter-tube distance and arrangement to the structure of TiO₂ nanotubes are investigated. TiO2 nanotubes with branched and bamboo-type structures are achieved by adjusting anodization voltage. The influence of patterned concave depth and surface curvature on the growth of TiO₂ nanotubes and AAO are studied. The efficiency of TiO₂ nanotubes in supercapacitors and photoelectrochemical water splitting are optimized by enlarging surface area and increasing electrical conductivity. Focused ion beam can not only create concave arrays to guide the electrochemical anodization, but also be used for nanoscale sculpting and 3D analysis. When the TiO₂ nanotube surface is bombarded by FIB, there is a mass transfers due to ion-induced viscous flow and sputter milling, thus the TiO₂ nanotubes are selectively closed and opened. By combining FIB cutting and SEM imaging to create a series of 2D cross section SEM images, 3D reconstruction can be obtained by stacking SEM images together. This 3D reconstruction offers an opportunity to directly and quantitatively observe the pore evolution to understand the sintering process. / Ph. D.