Index Introduction The Research at Rijnhuizen Results in 2008 Education, Training, Outreach and Public Information Output Appendix website Rijnhuizen 2.7 | Surface ion- and photochemistry (SIPC) Division: nanolayer Surface and Interface physics Group leader: F. Bijkerk (a.i.) Scientific advisors: P.C. Zalm, K.N. Koshelev, A.W. Kleyn Senior scientist: M. Gleeson Postdocs: M. Wu, M. Grecea, F. Gou, M. Sturm Graduate students: H. Ueta, A. Kuznetsov Funding: FP-I10, FP-75, FP-55, Carl Zeiss SMT, ASML, M2I, SenterNovem Research programme The Surface Ion- and Photochemistry group (SIPC) in the nSI department addresses the surface science component of a number of research projects, collectively executed within the department. Central themes are the physical and chemical phenomena at (predominantly) optical surfaces, induced either by photons or plasma beams. These photons and plasmas are incident at the surfaces at high photon energies or particle fluxes, creating new, challenging research questions. One example concerns the interaction of Ar or H plasmas, created by very bright Extreme UV light sources, with the surface of EUV optics. Such plasmas may cause surface atom sputtering, a phenomenon which is only partially understood under these conditions, and which is very detrimental for the application in lithography. In this case, the goal of the research is to both model and experimentally isolate the various processes.  Figure: 2.7: Collected surface effects taking place at multilayered, reflective mirrors when exposed to high intensity, short-wavelength photons, as foreseen in Extreme UV lithographic conditions. This particular example is part of the ACHieVE project (‘Advanced multilayer coatings for high volume EUV lithography’) which is executed jointly with ASML, the major manufacturer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. For the in-house experiments, Surface-PSI is employed, a unique UHV system allowing advanced studies of ion and plasma beams with surfaces. Plasma environments are typically very complex, as illustrated pictorially in Figure 2.7, and hence are not generally compatible with the standard surface science approach (UHV and a highly controlled system). However, the issues involved are surmounted by the combination of a cascaded arc source with the differentially pumped beamline of Surface-PSI, allowing the use of plasma beams for “traditional” surface science investigations. The research is also linked to other research activities on plasma-surface interactions at Rijnhuizen, notably those taking place at Pilot-PSI and, in the near future, at Magnum-PSI.  The SIPC group also carries out pilot experiments on the new lab-wide research theme ‘physics for energy’. Alternative sources of energy are highly sought after and solar energy is expected to be an important future energy source. One goal is to develop model systems for and investigate the fundamental aspects of photo-electrochemical cells for the production of hydrogen from sunlight and water. This follows the path of using oxide semiconductors in photo-electrochemical cells. Such cells, with aqueous electrolytes, can be used for photo-induced splitting of water in hydrogen and oxygen, thereby providing a clean chemical fuel. The goal is to study the basics of photoconversion on simple, flat metal oxide films (Figure 2.8). Figure: 2.8: The figure on the left shows a photo-electrochemical cell, the figure on the right a model of photo-chemistry on model surfaces. The list of other research topics carried out within the group includes “Photolytic salt formation at lens surfaces”, “Dissociation of H2 at Ru surfaces”, “Hyper-thermal nitrogen interaction with Ag(111)”, “Hydrogen interactions with optically relevant materials”, and “Plasma etching of silicon surfaces”. These topics are part of the FOM Industrial Partnership Programme XMO, FOM Programme 75 (‘PSI Lab’), and the M2i/ASML project mentioned earlier. These topics are described in the research reports listed in chapter 3.6 and 3.7.