Research Group:
X-ray Topography
Contact:
| Kentaro Kajiwara |
| 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198 Japan |
| Telephone: +81-791-58-0802 |
| kajiwara (at) spring8.or.jp |
Research Area:
Measurements
Beamline:
BL08B2、BL19B2、BL20B2、BL24XU、BL28B2
Overview of Research Group, Goals and Purposes:
X-ray topography is a nondestructive characterization technique of defects in crystals by means of X-ray diffraction and scattering, providing us with the distribution of defects in real space. The aim of the group is the further development and improvement of X-ray topography and its application to the field of materials science and engineering.
In the development of the advanced techniques in X-ray topography we utilize high flux, brilliance, energy, and coherence in synchrotron radiation (SR) of SPring-8, and aim for high spatial and time resolution, and improvement of image quality. We, then, expand the range of the application to what were difficult to observe and characterize.
By using these advanced techniques we characterize the defects in a variety of inorganic and organic materials, artificial crystals, multilayer structures, and artificial nonuniform structures. We also apply to the nondestructive characterization of lattice defects and strain inside electric devices and contribute to the optimization and the improvement of the device performance by the interrelationships with industrial researchers. We hold several meetings in a year in order to exchange of information related with the techniques and materials and foster of new idea of X-ray topography.
We are also going to make proposals for the developments of x-ray topography to SPring-8 and Photon Factory (PF), where SPring-8-II and KEK SR are planning to upgrade SR rings, together with users of PF and other SR facilities in Japan.
In the 6th term, we propose to install a high-throughput X-ray topography measurement system to the public beamline. SPring-8 has achieved great results in various fields as the world's highest performance synchrotron radiation facility. Furthermore, it aims to contribute to the future development of Japan by strongly supporting the research and development activities of industry, government, academia users toward the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 2050 carbon neutrality.
On August 23, 2021, the Green Facility Declaration was made with the aim of further supporting industry, government, academia users in all 14 fields indicated in the green growth strategy formulated by the relevant ministries and agencies in the goverment [1].
[1] http://www.spring8.or.jp/ja/news_publications/press_release/2021/210823/
Based on this background, the beamlines are being upgraded prior to the SPring-8-II accelerator update, where the three categories of ‘Production’, ‘Specific’, and ‘Development’ are set as portfolios in order to improve overall performance. In particular, approximately 60% of the beamlines will belong to ‘Production’, which has the features of automation and high throughput, that is expected to play a further role in supporting industry, government, academia users.
We proposes to install a high-throughput X-ray topography measurement system into the public beamline in order to promote activities toward the realization of these goals. X-ray topography is a technology for non-destructively visualizing the real-space distribution of crystal defects in a single crystal, and has been widely used in recent years for crystal evaluation of wide bandgap semiconductors such as SiC, GaN, Ga2O3, and diamond, that is expected to become even more important in the future. These semiconductors are used as power devices responsible for power conversion and control, and their performance improvement realizes a significant improvement in energy utilization efficiency. They are devices that contribute to almost all 14 fields shown in the green growth strategy, and thier utilization accelerates the promotion of the green growth strategy.
We consider X-ray topography measurement system based on the laboratory-based one that has a proven track record as a high-throughput device. It has an automatic switching mechanism for two X-ray cameras with a wide field of view and high resolution, and can handle wafers of various sizes, chip shapes of millimeter sizes, and indefinite shapes, and even curved crystals can be automatically handled by the automatic bending correction mechanism. It also has crystal defect automatic analysis software. In addition, the transmission and reflection arrangement can be switched automatically, and it also has a three-dimensional section topograph measurement mechanism. Maintaining these characteristics, we will consider realizing further performance improvement by using synchrotron radiation.