Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 3, 2008) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: B, page: 0975. Adviser: Jeffrey S. Moore. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: B, page: 7610. Adviser: Jennifer A. Lewis. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2010. / Advisers: Andrew Klein; Mohamed S. El-Aasser.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2010. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-194).

Neutron reflectivity offers the opportunity for non-destructive characterisation of buried polymer interfaces. Specular neutron reflectivity is commonly used to characterise the structure of conjugated polymer interfaces found in organic electronic devices. However, detecting specularly reflected neutrons only allows the measurement of the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of the interface averaged over a macroscopic lateral distance. There are two contributions to the RMS roughness of a polymer/polymer interface; i) the so-called 'intrinsic interfacial width' due to mixing of the polymers at a molecular level and ii) lateral roughness due to deviations of the interface position from the plane of the substrate. In this work a numerical model is developed to analyse experimental off specular reflectivity. The model is based on the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA). Specular and off specular neutron reflectivity data is collected from a model conjugated polymer/amorphous polymer interface (poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (F8) on deuterated PMMA) and a conjugated poly- mer/fullerene interface (poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) polymer on [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methylester (PCBM)). This allows probing of the structure in the plane of the interfaces to distinguish the intrinsic interfacial width from the lateral roughness. The structure of the F8/dPMMA interface is studied by systematically varying the film thickness, which strongly impacts on the amplitude of the lateral interface roughness, and allows more complete analysis of the relative contributions of intrinsic mixing and lateral roughness. For comparison off specular measurements on amorphous/amorphous polymer (PMMA/polystyrene) interfaces are performed, which have been studied previously using specular neutron reflectivity and self consistent held theory. Fitting specular reflectivity using standard techniques and off specular reflectivity data using the model developed allow intrinsic and lateral roughness contributions for the F8/dPMMA system to be separated by direct measurement. The P3HT/PCBM interface exhibits no lateral roughness as the materials are found to be miscible.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

<p> A laboratory scale plating cell was built that provided reproducible bottom-up fill results for the electrochemical deposition of copper in damascene features. Several techniques used in the full wafer plating tool were incorporated into the setup to accurately control the process conditions. These techniques included but were not limited to a voltage controlled `hot-entry' step, a custom coupon holder to allow sample rotation, a secondary thief electrode and an automatic entry system. The results of qualification experiments are presented to demonstrate that precise control was realized along with repeatable partial fill plating results. The qualified setup was then used to perform time-evolved partial fill plating experiments using several different structural configurations of open-source suppressors to investigate their affect on the gap-fill characteristics. </p><p> Common open-source suppressors used for copper filling of damascene interconnects include polyethylene glycol (PEG), polypropylene glycol (PPG), or a copolymer structure of both. Differences in the configuration and structure of these suppressors generate variations in polarization strength, surface adsorption rate, and SPS displacement rate. These properties were measured by electrochemical transient analysis and coupled with the results of time-evolved partial fill plating experiments to determine the effect of electrochemical property variations on the gap-fill characteristics. The high polarization strength of PPG, along with its greater dependence on concentration was found to greatly increase the bottom-up growth rate during copper filling, while the improved resistance to accelerator displacement of PEG resulted in better sidewall protection. Both these gap-fill characteristics were evident when PEG and PPG were combined together as a mixture of separate homopolymers or in copolymer structures, although the overall influence was dependent on the size and configuration of each component. These data sets provided a more fundamental understanding of PEG, PPG and their different configurations role in the metallization of damascene interconnects. These data can also be used to infer the relative gap-fill performance to screen new suppressor candidates and reduce the quantity of plating experiments by comparison of the electrochemical properties.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Chemical Engineering, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 30, 2009). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: B, page: 7602. Adviser: John A. Rogers. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.