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Alain Diebold
Dr. Alain Diebold
Empire Innovation Professor of Nanoscale Science; Executive Director, Center for Nanoscale Metrology; Executive Director, NC3


CNSE Empire Innovation Professor of
Nanoscale Science Dr. Alain Diebold

Watch Professor Diebold's "Inside CNSE" video interview on metrology.

Read Professor Diebold's Nanotechnology Now Web site article: Nano-Science and Technology in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors.

Read Professor Diebold's Nanotechnology Now column: Materials Characterization and Nanoscale Materials

Degrees:
  • Ph.D., Statistical Mechanics of Gas-Solid Surface Scattering, Purdue University, 1979
  • B.S., Chemistry, Indiana University-Purdue University, 1975
Areas of research:
  • Nanoscale metrology and materials science
  • Materials characterization at the nanoscale
  • Semiconductor metrology and characterization
Research website: http://www.albany.edu/OpticalPhysics/

Awards:
  • SPIE Fellow
  • AVS Fellow
Description of research:

The main focus of Professor Diebold's research will be in the area of nanoscale metrology and materials science. Measurement of nanoscale films and structures requires a thorough understanding of the role of uniquely nanoscale phenomena on the properties of nanoscale semiconductors and metals. The initial emphasis in this groups research will be on optical properties such as the complex refractive index (dielectric function). Previous studies showed a blue shift in one of the direct gap optical transitions of crystalline silicon quantum wells (c-Si QW) as the Si QW thickness was decreased. New research has shown that the energy and linewidth of this same direct gap transition has a slight red shift with decreasing thickness is observed when a stiff dielectric layer is deposited on top of the c-Si QW. Although this effect was observed at room temperature using ellipsometry, temperature dependent measurements down to a few Kelvin provide addition evidence that these phenomena can be attributed to the impact of electron-phonon interactions. One part of this research will be extending these concepts to other materials and structures. The group is also investigating the impact of substrate interactions on the complex refractive index of graphene.

Another research area is the imaging and characterization of nano-scale structures using electron microscopy. Simulation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning TEM (STEM) imaging is more important than ever as aberration corrected microscopes are introduced. This work will be done in collaboration with other faculty and research institutions.

In the area of semiconductor metrology and characterization, Professor Diebold's industry coordination and collaborative development of new methods and technology will continue. Research in this area will include critical dimension measurement and process control.

Editorial Activity:
  • Associate Editor IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing
  • Metrology Section of Future FAB International

Conferences of Interest:

6th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (ICSE-VI), May 26-31, 2013

Co-Chair of 2013 Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics

Co-Chair 2011 33rd Symposium on Applied Surface Analysis
Conference Web Link

Chair 2010 International Conference of Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

Chair 2009 Technical Sessions of American Vacuum Society's Manufacturing Science and Technology Group

Co-Chair of 2009 Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics

Recent Invited Presentations:

Optical Properties of Nanoscale Materials, A.C. Diebold, AVS National Symposium, Long Beach, CA, October 27 - November 1, 2013.

The 2012 ITRS Metrology Roadmap, A.C. Diebold and C. Hacker, 2013 Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics, Gaithersburg, MD, March 26 -28, 2013. 

Beyond Graduate School: Academic and Industrial Science, Center for Nanohybrid Function Materials NSF-EPSCoR Symposium, University of Nebraska, Oct. 15, 2012.

Metrology for Advanced Gate Dielectric Materials, Synchrotron Techniques in Microelectronics Research at the 2012 NSLS/CFN Joint Users' Meeting, Brookhaven National Laboratory, May 23, 2012. 

The Effect of Electron Phonon Interactions on Optical Properties of Nanoscale Films, European Materials Research Society (E-MRS), Strasbourg, May 14-18, 2012. 

Characterization and Metrology Roadmap for Future CMOS, Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics 2011, May 23 - 27, 2011.

Semiconductor Metrology from New Transistor and Interconnect Materials to Future Nano-Structures; Keynote talk as a part of the “opening ceremonies” for Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXV, at SPIE Advanced Lithography, San Jose, 27 February - 4 March 2011.

Topic Optical Characterization of Graphene, Physical Chemistry Seminar, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, March 2, 2011.

Optical Characterization of CVD Graphene using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, University of Delaware, Materials Science seminar, Oct. 13, 2010.

3D Integration: Processes, Materials and Analysis (with Ehrenfried Zschech, Fraunhofer IZFP Dresden), at the 3D Interconnect Process Control and Quality Engineering Tutorial at the Electronics System Integration Technology Conferences 2010, September 13, 2010. Berlin, Germany

Optical spectroscopy for bonded wafer inspection: IR, Raman at the 3D Interconnect Process Control and Quality Engineering Tutorial at the Electronics System Integration Technology Conferences 2010, September 13, 2010. Berlin, Germany

Graphene Characterization and Metrology and its Standardization, Fourth International Workshop on Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality of Nanotubes (MSIN10), Montreal, 27 June 2010.

From the Lab to the FAB: the Progression of Laboratory to FAB based Measurements, 10th European Advanced Equipment Control/Advanced Process Control (AEC/APC) Conference, Catania, Sicily - Italy, April 21 - 23, 2010.

Metrology of Advanced Materials with Emphasis on High K - Metal Gate and Graphene, KLA-Tencor's CTO Seminar Series, July 16, 2009.

Process integration and process characterization of high-k/metal gate stacks, 18th Material for Advanced Metallization Workshop, Grenoble, France, March 8 to 11, 2009.

Overview of Optical Measurements for Advanced Transistor Processes, Columbia University, Dec. 9, 2008.

Impact of Quantum Confinement on the characterization of thin semiconductor films, AVS - Surface Analysis 2008, State College, PA, June 2008

Metrology requirements for double patterning - Approaching the Optical Limit: Practical Methods for Patterning 22nm HP and Beyond, Lake George, NY, May 15, 2008

Are Optical Measurements Sensitive to Quantum Confinement?, DPG 2008 Annual Meeting of the German Society of Physics (DPG), Berlin, Feb 25-29, 2008

Optical Characterization of Thin Semiconductor and Metal Films, FENA ONAMI Workshop on Nanoelectronics for High Performance Computing and Information Processing, UCLA, Nov. 20, 2007

Optical Observation of Quantum Confinement and Quantum Size Effects, Rutgers Surface Science Seminar Series, Sept. 13, 2007

Ellipsometry and NanoMetrology, 4th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Stockholm, June 11-15, 2007

Metrology for Nanoelectronics: Metrology Roadmap, AEC-APC Europe, Dresden, April 17-19, 2007

Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics, Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics, Gaithersburg, March 27-29, 2007

Metrology for Nanoelectronics: the Impact of Nanoscale Dimensions, Workshop on Metrology for Beyond CMOS, FENA, San Francisco, Dec. 14, 2006

Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics, Albany NanoTech, Oct. 31, 2006

Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics, NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering Seminar Series, Oct. 16, 2006

Metrology at the Leading Edge, IEEE Engineering Management Conference, University of Texas, Aug. 10, 2006

Impact of Nanosized Dimensions on Characterization and Metrology, IBM Yorktown Heights, May 5, 2006

Metrology for Nanoelectronics: Future Needs and the Transition of Lab Methods into the FAB, Fraunhofer Center for Nanoelectronics, Dresden, April 5, 2006

Metrology (including Materials Characterization) for Nanoelectronics, SPIE Conference on Testing, Reliability, and Application of Micro- and Nano-Materials Systems IV, San Diego, 26 Feb - Mar. 2, 2006

The importance of aberration corrected SEM and TEM to the Semiconductor Industry, November, 2005, 52nd National Symposium of the AVS, Boston, MA

Characterization for Next Generation Semiconductor Process Development by Analytical Electron Microscopy, Brendan Foran, Mark Clark, Guoda Lian, Michael Campin, & Alain Diebold, ECASIA, September, 2005

Interface Sensitive Measurement of High k Film Stacks using Optical Second Harmonic Generation, American Physical Society Meeting, March 2005

Metrology for Nanoelectronics, Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology, March 2005

Significant Books:

Handbook of Silicon Semiconductor Metrology (Dekker, 2001)

Co-editor of:

  • Frontiers of Metrology and Characterization for Nanoelectronics (2007 & 2009), AIP Press.
  • Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology (1998, 2000, 2003, and 2005), AIP Press.
  • Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Needs (1996).
  • Analytical and Diagnostic Techniques for Semiconductor Materials, Devices, and Processes 7, ECS Transactions Vol. II No. 3 2007.

Recent Publications:

Multi-technique characterization of crystalline phase, texture and electronic structure of atomic layer deposited HfxZr1-xO2 gate dielectrics deposited by a cyclical deposition and annealing scheme, R. Vasić, S. Consiglio, R.D. Clark, K. Tapily, M. Medikonda, G.R. Muthinti, E. Bersch, J.J. Sweet, C. Lavoie, G. J. Leusink, and A.C. Diebold, submitted.

Characterization of E-beam patterned grating structures using Mueller Matrix based Scatterometry, G.R. Muthintia, B. Peterson, R.K. Bonama and A. C. Diebold, Journal of Micro/Nano Lithography, MEMS & MOEMS, submitted.

Effects of stress on the dielectric function of strained pseudomorphic Si1-xGex alloys from 0 to 75 % Ge grown on Si (001) G.R. Muthinti, M. Medikonda, T.N. Adam, A. Reznicek, and A.C. Diebold, J. Appl. Phys. 112, (2012), 053519.

Optical and structural characterization of epitaxial graphene on vicinal 6H-SiC(0001)–Si by spectroscopic ellipsometry, Auger spectroscopy, and STM, F. Nelson, A. Sandin, D.B. Dougherty, D.E. Aspnes, J.E. Rowe, and A.C. Diebold, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 30, (2012), 04E106.

Cross characterization of ultra thin interlayers in HfO2 high-k stacks by ARXPS, MEIS and GIXUVR, M. Banyay, L. Juschkin, D. França, E. J. Bersch 3, A.C. Diebold, M. Liehr J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, (2012), 041506.

Crystallinity of Electrically Scaled Atomic Layer Deposited HfO2 from a Cyclical Deposition and Annealing Scheme, S. Consiglio, R. D. Clark, E. Bersch, J. D. LaRose, I. Wells, K. Tapily, G. J. Leusink, and A. C. Diebold, J. Electro. Chem. Soc., 159, (2012), G80-G88.

Optical and structural characterization of thermal oxidation effects of erbium thin films deposited by electron beam on silicon, H.S. Kamineni, V.K. Kamineni, R.L. Moore II, S. Gallis, A.C. Diebold, M. Huang, and A.E. Kaloyeros, J. Appl. Phys. 111, (2012), 013104.

Electron-phonon interaction effects on the direct gap transitions of nanoscale Si films, V.K. Kamineni and A.C. Diebold, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, (2011), 151903. http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v99/i15/p151903_s1

Formation of optical barriers with excellent thermal stability in single-crystal sapphire by hydrogen ion implantation and thermal annealing, W. Spratt, M. Huang, C. Jia, L. Wang, V.K. Kamineni, A.C. Diebold, and H. Xia, 99, (2011), 111909. http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v99/i11/p111909_s1

Applying X-ray Microscopy and Finite Element Modeling to Identify The Mechanism of Stress-Assisted Void Growth In Through Silicon Via (TSV), L.W. Kong, J. Lloyd, K. B Yeap, E. Zschech, A. Rudack, and A.C. Diebold, J. Appl. Phys. 110, (2011), 053502 1-7. http://jap.aip.org/resource/1/japiau/v110/i5/p053502_s1

Structural Characteristics of Electrically Scaled ALD HfO2 from Cyclical Deposition and Annealing Scheme, S. Consiglio, R. D. Clark, E. Bersch, J. D. LaRose, I. Wells, K. Tapily, G. J. Leusink, and A. C. Diebold, ECS Transactions 41 (2), (2011) pp. 89-108. http://www.ecsdl.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=ECSTF8000041000002000089000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no

Effect of the interfacial SiO2 layer on the flatband voltage of TiN/HfO2/SiO2/p-Si stacks with and without La2O3 Vt-shift layers, E. Bersch, M. Di, S. Consiglio, R.D. Clark, G.J. Leusink, and A.C. Diebold, submitted.

Determination of the band gaps of ultrathin HfO2 films using spectroscopic ellipsometry, M. Di, E. Bersch, S. Consiglio, R.D. Clark, and G.J. Leusink, T. Kaack, and A.C. Diebold, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 29, (2011), 041001-1 to 8.

Investigation of optical properties of BCB wafer bonding layer used for 3D-Interconnects via Infrared Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, V. K. Kamineni, P. Singh, L.-W. Kong, J. Hudnall, J. Qureshi, C. Taylor, A. Rudack, S. Arkalgud, and A. C. Diebold, Thin Solid Films, 519 (2011) 2924–2928.

Dielectric properties and thickness metrology of strain engineered GaN/AlN/Si(111) thin films grown by MOCVD, M. Tungare, V. K. Kamineni, A. C. Diebold, F. Shahedipour-Sandvik, Thin Solid Films, 519 (2011) 2929–2932.

Extension of Far UV spectroscopic ellipsometry studies of High-k dielectric films to 130 nm, V. K. Kamineni, J. Hilfiker, J. Freeouf, J. Fielden, S. Consiglio, R. Clark, G.J. Leusink, and A. C. Diebold, Thin Solid Films, 519 (2011) 2894–2898.

Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Characterization of High-k Metal Gate Stacks with Vt Shift Layers, M. Di, E. Bersch, S. Consiglio R. Clark, T. Zhang, P. Tyagi, Gert Leusink, T. Kaack and A. C. Diebold, Thin Solid Films, 519 (2011) 2889–2893.

Optical Properties of Large-Area Polycrystalline Chemical Vapor Deposited Graphene by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, F. J. Nelson, V.K. Kamineni, T. Zhang, E. S. Comfort, J-U Lee, A. C. Diebold, Appl. Phys. Lett., 97, (2010), 253110 1-3.. Selected for the January 3, 2011 issue of Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology.

Systematic study of the effect of La2O3 incorporation on the flatband voltage and Si band bending in the TiN/HfO2/SiO2/p-Si stack, M. Di, E. Bersch, S. Consiglio, R.D. Clark, G.J. Leusink, and A.C. Diebold, J. Appl. Phys., 108, (2010), 114107 1-7.

Optical Metrology of Ni and NiSi thin films used in the self-aligned silicidation process, V. K. Kamineni, M. Raymond, E. J. Bersch, B. B. Doris, A. C. Diebold, J. Appl. Phys., 107, (2010), pp 093525 1-8.

Complete Band Offset Characterization of HfO2/SiO2/Si stacks, E. Bersch, M. Di, S. Consiglio, R. Clark, G. Leusink, and A.C. Diebold, J. Appl. Phys. 107, (2010) pp 043702 :1 – 13.

Simulation Study Of Aberration-Corrected High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) Imaging Of Few-Layer-Graphene (FLG)
Stacking, F. Nelson, A.C. Diebold, and R. Hull, Microscop. & Microanal., 16, (2010), pp 194-199.

Graphene Metrology and Devices (review article), A.C. Diebold and F. Nelson, Int. Jour. Mat. Res., 101, (2010), pp 175 - 181.

Advanced Metrology for Next Generation Transistors, A.C. Diebold, Advances in Solid State Physics Vol. 48, (Springer, Berlin, 2009), pp 371-383.

Optical Properties of Semiconductors, D.G. Seiler, S. Zollner, and A.C. Diebold, and P.M. Amirtharaj In Handbook of Optics Volume IV, 3nd edition, (McGraw Hill, New York, 2009), Chapter 5.

Observation of quantum confinement and quantum size effects, A.C. Diebold and J.Price, Phys. Stat. Sol. (a) 205, No. 4, (2008), pp 896–900.

Quantum Level Metrology, Semiconductor International, August, 2009.

Identification of Sub-Bandgap Absorption Features at the High-κ / Silicon interface and Their Relation to Charge Trapping States, J. Price, H-J Li, P. Lysaght, and A.C. Diebold, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, (2007), pp 61925-1 - 61925-3

X-Ray Reflectometry Determination of Structural Information from Atomic Layer Deposition Nanometer-scale Hafnium Oxide Thin Films D. Windover, D. L. Gil, J. P. Cline, A. Henins, N. Armstrong, P. Y. Hung, S. C. Song, R. Jammy, and A.C. Diebold, to appear in Proceedings of MRS

Application of Aberration Corrected TEM and Image Simulation to Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, B. Korgel, D.C. Lee, T. Hanrath, M.J. Yacamann, A. Thesen, M. Matijevic, R. Kilaas, C. Kisielowski, and A.C. Diebold, IEEE Trans. Semicon. Manufact. 19, (2006), pp 391-396

Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Characterization of Ultra-Thin Silicon-on-Insulator Films, J. Price and A.C. Diebold, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B24, (2006), pp 2156-2159

Optical characterization of process-dependent charging in hafnium oxide structures, R. Carriles, J. Kwon, Y. Q. An, S. Stanley, J. G. Ekerdt, M. C. Downer, J. Price, and A.C. Diebold, J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B24, (2006), pp 2160-2168

Second-Harmonic Characterization of Si/Hf(1-x)SixO2 Structures, R. Carriles, J. Kwon, J. C. Miller, Y. Q. An, M. C. Downer, J. Price, and A.C. Diebold, Appl. Phys.Lett. 88, (2006), p 161120

Spatial distributions of trapping centers in HfO2/SiO2 gate stacks, D. Heh, C.D. Young, G.A. Brown, P.Y. Hung, A.C. Diebold, G. Bersuker, E.M. Vogel, and J.B. Bernstein, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 152907 (2006)

Optical band gaps and composition dependence of hafnium-aluminate thin films grown by atomic layer chemical vapor deposition, N. V. Nguyen, S. Sayan, I. Levin, J. R. Ehrstein, I. J. R. Baumvol and C. Driemeier, C. Krug, L. Wielunski, P. Y. Hung and Alain Diebold, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A23, 2005, pp 1706-1713

Study of Two-Dimensional B Doping Profile in Si FinFET Structures by HAADF, D. Garcia-Gutierrez, A.A. Khajetoorians, X.D. Wang, D. Pham, H. Celio, A. Diebold, C.K. Shih and M. Jose-Yacaman, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B24, 2006, pp 730-738

X-ray reflectometry and x-ray fluorescence monitoring of the atomic layer deposition process for high-k gate dielectrics, P. Y. Hung, C. Gondran, A. Ghatak-Roy, S.Terada, B. Bunday, H. Yeung, A.C. Diebold, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B23, (2005), pp 2244-2248

Electrical Characterization of Spatial Distributions of Trapping Centers in HfO2/SiO2 Stacked Dielectrics, D. Heh, E.M. Vogel, J.B. Bernstein, C.D. Young, G.A. Brown, G. Bersuker, P.Y. Hung, and A.C. Diebold, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 2005 still under review

Second Harmonic Characterization of Si/Hf(1-x)SixO2 Interfaces, R. Carriles, J. Kwon, Y.Q. An, J.C. Miller, M.C. Downer, J. Price, and A.C. Diebold, Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics, Baltimore, May 22-27, 2005

Complimentary Optical Metrology Techniques used for Characterization of High-K Gate Dielectrics, J. Price, A.C. Diebold, R. Carriles, Y. An, J. Kwon, and M.C. Downer, Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology 2005, Eds. D.G. Seiler, A.C. Diebold, R. McDonald, C. Ayre, R. Khosla, S. Zollner, AIP Conference Proceedings 788, pp 129-135, 2005

Optical and X-ray Metrology of Porous Low-k Materials, H. Celio and A.C. Diebold, Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology 2005, Eds. D.G. Seiler, A.C. Diebold, R. McDonald, C. Ayre, R. Khosla, S. Zollner, AIP Conference Proceedings 788, pp 522-532, 2005

Characterization of Atomic Layer Deposition using X-Ray Reflectometry, D. Windover, P.Y. Hung, P. Kirsch, N. Armstrong, J.P. Cline, A.C. Diebold, Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology 2005, Eds. D.G. Seiler, A.C. Diebold, R. McDonald, C. Ayre, R. Khosla, S. Zollner, AIP Conference Proceedings 788, pp 161-165, 2005

Metrology (including Materials Characterization) for Nanoelectronics, A.C. Diebold, Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology 2005, Eds. D.G. Seiler, A.C. Diebold, R. McDonald, C. Ayre, R. Khosla, S. Zofllner, AIP Conference Proceedings 788, pp 11-20, 2005

A Comparison of Thickness Values for Very Thin SiO2 Films by Using Ellipsometric, Capacitance-Voltage and HRTEM Measurements, J. Ehrstein, C. Richter, D. Chandler-Horowitz, E. Vogel, C. Young, S. Shah, D. Maher, B. Foran, P.Y. Hung, A.C. Diebold, J. Electrochem. Soc. 153(1), F12-F19 (2005)