La miniaturisation et l’augmentation de la complexité des circuits intégrés avancés est l’un des axes d’évolution de l’industrie microélectronique. Pour assurer les performances du transistor, une maitrise précise des épaisseurs, de la structure cristalline et de la composition, notamment de la dose d’azote, est indispensable pour chacune des couches des empilements qui constituent les transistors. Or, cette architecture complexe présente de nombreux challenges pour la métrologie. En effet, avec l’alternance de films très minces, les techniques de métrologie usuelles, basées sur des mesures en volume, sont difficiles à mettre en œuvre. Ainsi, une émergence de l’utilisation des techniques à rayons X s’observe, telle que la spectroscopie de photoélectrons à rayons X (XPS) ; méthode adaptée pour l’étude quantitative en épaisseur et en composition chimique sur des films de moins de 10nm. L’objectif principal de cette thèse est d’explorer de nouvelles approches de mise en œuvre de la technique XPS tant dans la méthodologie d’utilisation que dans les structures de tests étudiées. Dans un premier temps, ce travail porte sur l’analyse de la composition et de l’épaisseur de couches minces homogènes de l’empilement de grille des technologies 14nmFDSOI et 28nmFDSOI, composé d’un canal de SiGe et d’un empilement high-k/interfacial layer HfON/SiON. La mesure d’épaisseur par XPS appliquée à l’empilement HKMG HfON/SiON/Si est tout d’abord étudiée afin de valider son utilisation pour un suivi en ligne tout en analysant les effets de diffusion élastique sur cette mesure. Afin de déterminer la composition et l’épaisseur de couches de SiGe sur substrat de silicium, l’étude d’une métrologie hybride entre l’XPS avec la technique de réflectivité des rayons X (XRR) est menée pour en déterminer la faisabilité et la sensibilité. Dans un second temps, ce travail s’intéresse à l’étude d’empilements présentant des compositions hétérogènes avec la profondeur grâce au pARXPS (parallel Angle Resolved XPS), utilisé afin d’obtenir des reconstructions de profils chimiques. Après avoir validé la technique sur des couches HfON, SiON et SiGe, celle-ci est appliquée à des empilements industriels. La prise en compte des profils présents dans le réel empilement de grille a permis d’étudier l’effet de l’oxydation du SiGe sur le profil du germanium ainsi que d’améliorer la justesse et la sensibilité de la mesure des espèces et des épaisseurs des couches HfON et SiON sur un XPS en ligne. Enfin, l’exploration d’utilisations moins conventionnelles de l’XPS (e.g. structures 3D, étude de cristallinité) ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour la caractérisation des couches minces. / The downscaling and the increasing complexity of integrated circuits is one of the microelectronics industry development axes. To insure the transistor performances, a precise mastering of thickness, crystalline structure and composition, notably the nitrogen dose, is mandatory for each stack layer. Yet, this complex architecture arises new challenges for metrology. Indeed, with the alternation of very thin films, conventional metrology techniques, based on volume measurements, are difficult to implement. This is why, an increasing use of X-rays techniques can be noticed, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); a well-established method for the quantitative thickness and chemical composition study of ultrathin films (<10nm). Thus, the major aim of this thesis is to explore new ways to implement XPS technique, in both the usage methodology and the test structures studied. First, this work focuses on a composition and thickness analysis of homogeneous thin films of the 14nmFDSOI and 28nmFDSOI technologies gate stack composed of an SiGe channel and a High-k/interfacial layer (HK/IL) HfON/SiON stack. The XPS thickness measurement applied to the HK/IL is firstly studied for purposes of validating its application for in-line monitoring, as well as analyzing the inelastic diffusion effects on this measurement. In order to determine the composition and thickness of SiGe layers on silicon substrate, the study of an hybrid metrology, between XPS and the X-ray reflectivity (XRR) technique, is carried out to determine the feasibility and the sensibility of this method. Secondly, this work focuses on the study of heterogeneous stack along the depth thanks to pARXPS (parallel Angle Resolved XPS), used to obtain chemical profile reconstructions. After a validation step of this technique on HfON, SiON and SiGe layers, it is used on industrial stacks. Taking into account the profiles into the real industrial gate stack allows us to study the SiGe oxidation effects on the germanium profile and to improve the accuracy and the sensibility of the composition and the thickness measurements of HfON and SiON layers with the industrial in-line XPS. Finally, the exploration of less conventional ways to use XPS (e.g. 3D structures, crystallinity study…) opens new perspectives for the characterization of thin films.

A caracterização do strain (deformação) em estruturas cristalinas em filmes finos semicondutores apresenta importantes aplicações tecnológicas, como por exemplo: a formação de defeitos, modificação da estrutura das bandas de condução e valência, e consequentemente modificando a mobilidade de portadores no material. Técnicas de espalhamento com íons de H e He têm sido amplamente empregadas para determinar a deformação, visto que mudanças na canalização ou nas direções de bloqueio podem ser facilmente relacionadas com as deformações no parâmetro de rede. Um novo método, chamado de cartografia-MEIS, é utilizado para determinar a intensidade da deformação estrutural em uma rede cristalográfica. A partir desta técnica, a projeção estereográfica de um único cristal pode ser medida com uma técnica MEIS padrão para um determinado elemento atômico e determinada profundidade. Aqui demonstramos que esta técnica pode ser expandida para caracterizar heteroestruturas SiGe tensas com alta precisão. Em nosso método, não só as principais direções cristalinas são analisados, mas também os índices mais elevados. O método também proporciona sensibilidade elementar com resolução de profundidade e pode ser utilizado em materiais nanoestruturados. A determinação da deformação baseia-se na posição das muitas linhas de bloqueio, ao contrário dos métodos tradicionais, onde duas direções são utilizados. Nós também fornecemos um método para determinar o melhor ajuste nos dados para a deformação na rede, verificando estes resultados a partir de simulações de Monte-Carlo. / The characterization of the strain in the crystal structures of thin semiconductor films has important technological applications such as, for example, the formation of defects, changes in the structure of the conduction and valence bands, and therefore modifying the mobility of carriers in the material. Scattering techniques with H and He ions have been widely used to determine the deformation, as changes in drains or the blocking directions can be easily related to the deformation of the lattice parameter. A new method, called cartography-MEIS, is used to determine the intensity of the structural deformation in a crystallographic structure. From this technique, the stereographic projection of a single crystal can be measured with a standard MEIS technique for a particular atomic element and given depth. Here we demonstrate that this technique can be expanded to characterize strained SiGe heterostructures with high accuracy. In our method, not only the main crystalline directions are analyzed but also the higher index ones. The method also provides elemental sensitivity with depth resolution and can be used in nano-structured materials. The determination of the strain is based on the position of the many blocking lines contrary to the traditional methods where two directions are used. We also provide a method to determine the lattice deformation fitting the data best and checked it against full Monte-Carlo simulations.

A caracterização do strain (deformação) em estruturas cristalinas em filmes finos semicondutores apresenta importantes aplicações tecnológicas, como por exemplo: a formação de defeitos, modificação da estrutura das bandas de condução e valência, e consequentemente modificando a mobilidade de portadores no material. Técnicas de espalhamento com íons de H e He têm sido amplamente empregadas para determinar a deformação, visto que mudanças na canalização ou nas direções de bloqueio podem ser facilmente relacionadas com as deformações no parâmetro de rede. Um novo método, chamado de cartografia-MEIS, é utilizado para determinar a intensidade da deformação estrutural em uma rede cristalográfica. A partir desta técnica, a projeção estereográfica de um único cristal pode ser medida com uma técnica MEIS padrão para um determinado elemento atômico e determinada profundidade. Aqui demonstramos que esta técnica pode ser expandida para caracterizar heteroestruturas SiGe tensas com alta precisão. Em nosso método, não só as principais direções cristalinas são analisados, mas também os índices mais elevados. O método também proporciona sensibilidade elementar com resolução de profundidade e pode ser utilizado em materiais nanoestruturados. A determinação da deformação baseia-se na posição das muitas linhas de bloqueio, ao contrário dos métodos tradicionais, onde duas direções são utilizados. Nós também fornecemos um método para determinar o melhor ajuste nos dados para a deformação na rede, verificando estes resultados a partir de simulações de Monte-Carlo. / The characterization of the strain in the crystal structures of thin semiconductor films has important technological applications such as, for example, the formation of defects, changes in the structure of the conduction and valence bands, and therefore modifying the mobility of carriers in the material. Scattering techniques with H and He ions have been widely used to determine the deformation, as changes in drains or the blocking directions can be easily related to the deformation of the lattice parameter. A new method, called cartography-MEIS, is used to determine the intensity of the structural deformation in a crystallographic structure. From this technique, the stereographic projection of a single crystal can be measured with a standard MEIS technique for a particular atomic element and given depth. Here we demonstrate that this technique can be expanded to characterize strained SiGe heterostructures with high accuracy. In our method, not only the main crystalline directions are analyzed but also the higher index ones. The method also provides elemental sensitivity with depth resolution and can be used in nano-structured materials. The determination of the strain is based on the position of the many blocking lines contrary to the traditional methods where two directions are used. We also provide a method to determine the lattice deformation fitting the data best and checked it against full Monte-Carlo simulations.

A caracterização do strain (deformação) em estruturas cristalinas em filmes finos semicondutores apresenta importantes aplicações tecnológicas, como por exemplo: a formação de defeitos, modificação da estrutura das bandas de condução e valência, e consequentemente modificando a mobilidade de portadores no material. Técnicas de espalhamento com íons de H e He têm sido amplamente empregadas para determinar a deformação, visto que mudanças na canalização ou nas direções de bloqueio podem ser facilmente relacionadas com as deformações no parâmetro de rede. Um novo método, chamado de cartografia-MEIS, é utilizado para determinar a intensidade da deformação estrutural em uma rede cristalográfica. A partir desta técnica, a projeção estereográfica de um único cristal pode ser medida com uma técnica MEIS padrão para um determinado elemento atômico e determinada profundidade. Aqui demonstramos que esta técnica pode ser expandida para caracterizar heteroestruturas SiGe tensas com alta precisão. Em nosso método, não só as principais direções cristalinas são analisados, mas também os índices mais elevados. O método também proporciona sensibilidade elementar com resolução de profundidade e pode ser utilizado em materiais nanoestruturados. A determinação da deformação baseia-se na posição das muitas linhas de bloqueio, ao contrário dos métodos tradicionais, onde duas direções são utilizados. Nós também fornecemos um método para determinar o melhor ajuste nos dados para a deformação na rede, verificando estes resultados a partir de simulações de Monte-Carlo. / The characterization of the strain in the crystal structures of thin semiconductor films has important technological applications such as, for example, the formation of defects, changes in the structure of the conduction and valence bands, and therefore modifying the mobility of carriers in the material. Scattering techniques with H and He ions have been widely used to determine the deformation, as changes in drains or the blocking directions can be easily related to the deformation of the lattice parameter. A new method, called cartography-MEIS, is used to determine the intensity of the structural deformation in a crystallographic structure. From this technique, the stereographic projection of a single crystal can be measured with a standard MEIS technique for a particular atomic element and given depth. Here we demonstrate that this technique can be expanded to characterize strained SiGe heterostructures with high accuracy. In our method, not only the main crystalline directions are analyzed but also the higher index ones. The method also provides elemental sensitivity with depth resolution and can be used in nano-structured materials. The determination of the strain is based on the position of the many blocking lines contrary to the traditional methods where two directions are used. We also provide a method to determine the lattice deformation fitting the data best and checked it against full Monte-Carlo simulations.

In this project self-supporting foils with focus on the element yttriumhave been fabricated by means of evaporation and magnetron sputtering.The goal was to see if it was possible to make photochromic selfsupportingyttrium foils. Multiple self-supporting foils were made andsome had suitable properties to be further investigated. The first foilof interest was a plain carbon foil, the second was yttrium layered ontop of a carbon foil, the third was a yttrium-only foil and the fourthwas a yttrium oxyhydride foil. The foils were then subsequentlycharacterized with a newly developed Medium Energy Ion Scattering -Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (MEIS - ERDA) technique. Thistechnique measures energy loss and recoils (kicked out atoms) of heavyions passing through the self-supporting foils. The measurements weremade with three ion projectile energies, 250, 300 and 320keV. Theprojectiles sent were argon ions. It was noted that the yttriumoxyhydride foil had more hydrogen and oxygen than the yttrium foil. Withoptical measurements it was also possible to confirm that the yttriumoxyhydride foil had photochromic properties. With the knowledge of theparameters used to fabricate these foils, the conclusion is that furtherresearch on self-supporting yttrium oxyhydride is encouraged.

Afin d'optimiser les performances des circuits intégrés, l’industrie de la micro et nanotechnologie mène d'intenses recherches sur la miniaturisation à l'échelle sub-22nm de leurs principaux constituants que sont les transistors MOS. La réduction de la taille de grille atteint néanmoins des limites qui rendent problématique le contrôle du canal. L'une des approches les plus prometteuses pour contourner ce dilemme et ainsi poursuivre la miniaturisation des futurs nœuds technologiques, consiste au développement des transistors d’architectures 3D (Trigate ou FinFET). La mise au point de telles structures requiert une caractérisation de plus en plus fine, surtout à une étape clé de leur élaboration, qui est celle du dopage par implantation ionique. Du fait des faibles profondeurs implantées, l'analyse par diffusion d'ions de moyenne énergie (MEIS) est tout à fait adaptée pour quantifier les implants et évaluer la conformité du dopage grâce à sa bonne résolution en profondeur (0.25 nm). Néanmoins, les dimensions de la sonde (0.5 × 1 mm2) étant très supérieures à celles des motifs, il nous a fallu développer un protocole d’analyse propre à de telles architectures. Les échantillons étudiés dans le cadre de cette thèse sont des systèmes modèles. Ils sont constitués de réseaux de lignes de silicium (Si) 3D, formées par gravure lithographique par faisceaux d’électrons (e-beam) sur des plaques 300 mm de types silicium sur isolant (SOI). Le dopage a été réalisé à une énergie de 3 keV par implantions conventionnelle (ou beam line) et immersion plasma (PIII).L’analyse des spectres MEIS des implants insérés dans chaque facette des motifs a été possible grâce aux simulations 3D types Monte-Carlo effectuées avec le logiciel PowerMEIS. Nous avons ainsi développé une nouvelle méthode adaptée à la caractérisation du dopage 3D. Les mesures ont montré que, contrairement à la méthode PIII, la dose implantée par la méthode conventionnelle correspond à celle visée. Cependant la distribution des dopants introduits au sein des nanostructures par les deux méthodes de dopage n’est pas uniforme. Dans les échantillons implantés par PIII, on a observé une importante concentration des dopants aux sommets des motifs et un faible dopage des flancs. Ceci étant moins marqué dans celui implanté par la méthode conventionnelle. En corrélant les techniques de Microscopie Electronique en Transmission (MET), d’analyses par rayons x synchrotron et MEIS, nous avons également pu déterminer les dimensions des zones implantées ainsi que celles des zones cristallines dans les réseaux de lignes gravées.L'exploitation de la technique MEIS en mode canalisation a permis une évaluation complète des couches non gravées. L’investigation des endommagements post – dopage dans les régions cristallines non implantées ont été menées toujours avec la même technique MEIS. Les résultats ont révélé une importante influence de la méthode d’implantation et la température sur les défauts et les déformations dans le cristal. L’origine des anomalies au sein des échantillons a ainsi été identifiée en corrélant les mesures MEIS et celles par spectrométrie de masse des ions secondaires en temps de vol (ToF-SIMS). / With the aim of optimizing the performances of integrated circuits (ICs), the nanotechnology industry is carrying out intense research activities on the miniaturization at the sub-22 nm scale of their main constituents: the MOS transistors. Nevertheless, the shrinking of the gate size has reached the limits that make the control of the channel problematic. One of the most promising approaches to circumvent this dilemma and thus further the miniaturization of the future technological nodes, is the development of transistors of 3D architecture (Trigate or FinFET). The elaboration of such nanostructures requires increasingly fine characterization tools precisely at a key stage of their fabrication, namely the ion implantation doping. Given the ultra-shallow implantation depths, the medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) analysis technique is suitable for quantifying the implants and evaluating the doping conformity thanks to its good depth resolution (0.25 nm). However, the dimensions of the beam (0.5×1 mm2) being by far larger than those of the patterns, we had to develop an analysis protocol dedicated to such architectures. The samples studied in the framework of this thesis are considered as model systems. They are constituted of 3D silicon (Si) Fin – shaped line gratings, etched on the 300 mm wafers of silicon on insulator (SOI) types by using the electron beam (e-beam) lithography. The doping has been carried out at an energy of 3 keV by using the conventional (or beam line) and plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) methods.The analyses s of the MEIS spectra of the dopants implanted into each part of the patterns were possible thanks to the 3D Monte-Carlo simulations performed with the PowerMEIS software. We have thus developed a new method suitable for the characterization of the 3D doping. The measurements have shown that, contrarily to the PIII method, the dose implanted by the conventional method is as targeted. However, the distribution of the dopants inserted within the nanostructures by using the two doping methods is not uniform. In the PIII implanted samples, a large dopants' focusing at the tops of the patterns and low sidewalls' doping have been observed. This is less marked in the one implanted by the conventional method. By correlating the Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), synchrotron x – ray analyses and MEIS, we have also determined the dimensions of the implanted and crystal areas of the line gratings.The exploitation of the MEIS technique in channeling mode has permitted the full assessment of the impacts of the implantation in the non-etched layers. The investigations of the crystal qualities in the non-implanted areas were carried out with the same technique. The results show that the temperature conditions have a considerable influence on the defects and lattice deformations. The origin of the anomalies in the samples has thus been identified by correlating the MEIS and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) measurements.

One of the major goals of developmental biology is to understand how specialized groups of cells arise from an initially unspecified cell population. The vertebrate hindbrain is transiently segmented along its anterior-posterior axis into lineage-restricted compartments called rhombomeres, making it an excellent model in which to study the genetic mechanisms of axial patterning. Hox homeodomain transcription factors (TF), in close partnership with the Pbx and Meis families of TALE-class homeodomain proteins, impart unique molecular identities to the hindbrain rhombomeres, thereby specifying functionally specialized neurons within each segment. The broad goals of this thesis are to clarify the roles of Meis1 and Tshz3b TFs in Hox-dependent hindbrain patterning, and to examine the Hox-independent roles of Pbx and Meis proteins in axial patterning of the visual system. While it is clear that Hox-Pbx-Meis complexes regulate hindbrain segmentation, the contributions of individual Meis proteins are not well understood. I have shown that Meis1-depleted embryos exhibit neuronal patterning defects, even though the hindbrain retains its segmental organization. This suggests that Meis1 is making important contributions to neuronal development downstream of rhombomeric specification. A zinc-finger TF called Teashirt (Tsh) cooperates with Hox-Pbx-Meis complexes to establish segmental identity in Drosophila, but this role not been tested in vertebrates. I found that overexpression of tshz3b produces segmentation defects reminiscent of Hox-Pbx-Meis loss of function phenotype, likely by acting as a transcriptional repressor. Thus, Tshz3b may be a negative regulator of Hox- dependent hindbrain patterning. Like the hindbrain, visual system function requires that positional information be correctly specified in the retina and midbrain. I found that zebrafish Pbx and Engrailed homeodomain TFs are biochemical DNA binding partners, and that this interaction is required to maintain the midbrain as a lineage- restricted compartment. Additionally, I show that Meis1 specifies positional information in both the retina and midbrain, thereby helping to organize the axonal connections between the eye and brain. Taken together, this thesis clarifies our understanding of Hox-dependent hindbrain patterning, and makes the claim that Pbx and Meis perform a general axial patterning function in anterior neural tissues such as the hindbrain, midbrain and retina. / Molecular Biology and Genetics

No description available.

Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM) was utilised together with the high resolution depth-profiling capabilities of Medium Energy Ion Scattering (MEIS), a technique traditionally associated with single crystal substrates, to probe the mean size and depth dependent composition profile of bimetallic PdAu nanoparticles on planar oxide surfaces as functions of the starting composition and annealing temperature. In order to fit composition profiles to experimental MEIS data, a new analysis tool has been designed that models the particles as flat-topped structures with a hexagonal base which can be divided into a number of shells, each shell corresponding to a particular ion pathlength inside the material. The reliability of this method will be discussed in detail. Fitting results show that the surface layers are always significantly enriched in Au compared to the bulk alloy composition. By comparing MEIS data for clean surfaces data for modified surfaces it was found that Pd generally segregates towards the particle surface on adsorption of acetic acid. The interaction of potassium acetate with Au/Pd{111} alloy surfaces of varying composition has been investigated using Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) and Reflection Absorption Infra Red Spectroscopy (RAIRS). At lower coverage, potassium acetate reacts reversibly with the surface to form CO and carbonate. Formation of surface acetate is observed on Pd-rich surfaces only. At higher coverage, acetate is the major surface species formed on all samples examined.

We studied patterning mechanisms and cell fates during limb regeneration in the axolotl. 1) It is crucial to understand the earliest events of patterning. Since it is technically challenging to study early events, we established single cell PCR. This new tool will allow us to obtain novel insight into the initial steps of limb patterning. 2)We have examined the roles of different tissues regarding their fates and features of proximo- distal patterning. Our strategy was to transplant GFP+ skin, skeleton, muscle and Schwann cells from transgenic donors to limbs of wild type hosts, amputate through the graft and analyze fluorescent progeny combined with the use of molecular markers. Our results revealed that different subpopulations of blastema cells exist regarding two aspects. First, we found that progeny of skin and skeleton have some tissue specific memory since they did not give rise to muscle lineages. However, cells of the skin contributed to other mesenchymal tissues like cartilage or tendons, while the majority of skeleton- derived cells undergoes self- renewal. Second, we performed one cellular and two molecular assays to investigate what tissues generate cells that exhibit features of proximo- distal patterning. Both assays revealed that Schwann cell- derived progeny do not display such features while progeny of skin, skeleton and muscle did. Therefore, we conclude that the blastema is a heterogeneous mix of cells regarding tissue lineages and features of proximo- distal patterning.