Imaging ripples on phononic crystals reveals acoustic band structure and Bloch harmonics.

Broadband surface phonon wave packets on a phononic crystal made up of a microstructured line pattern are tracked in two dimensions and in real time with an ultrafast optical technique. The eigenmode distribution and the 2D acoustic band structure are obtained from spatiotemporal Fourier transforms of the data up to 1 GHz. We find stop bands at the zone boundaries for both leaky-longitudinal and Rayleigh waves, and show how the structure of individual acoustic eigenmodes in k space depends on Bloch harmonics and on mode coupling.

Elastodynamic wave propagation in graded materials: simulations, experiments, phenomena, and applications.

A two-dimensional numerical simulation model for the elastodynamic wave propagation in two linear elastic, isotropic, joint half-spaces is presented. The border between the two half-spaced is graded in a way, that the values of the elastic properties and the densities vary smoothly (sinusoidally) from the values of one continuum to the values of the other continuum within a transition zone of a defined thickness. It is demonstrated, that a graded layer leads to a frequency and wavelength dependent refraction and reflection behavior of elastodynamic waves. Numerical results show that wavelengths which are long compared with the transition layer thickness are dominantly reflected whereas short waves are dominantly transmitted, a phenomena which does not occur in the case of an infinitely thin transition layer. Furthermore the frequency dependent reflection and transmission behavior of elastodynamic waves is verified experimentally. There the interface between two vapor deposited films is graded due to intermetallic diffusion effects. These graded microstructures are analyzed with a short-pulse-laser-acoustic set-up. The corresponding frequencies of the elastodynamic waves which are filtered with these functionally graded microstructures are in the range of 0.5 THz.

Characterization of Ta and TaN diffusion barriers beneath Cu layers using picosecond ultrasonics.

In computer chips, aluminum is being replaced with copper in order to produce smaller, faster and more efficient electronic devices. The usage of copper allows higher current densities and thus higher packaging densities than aluminum. However, copper leads to new challenges and problems. It has different mechanical properties and a tendency to migrate into the surrounding dielectric and/or semiconducting layers. These diffusion processes can be prevented by so called diffusion barriers. A diffusion barrier is a very thin layer consisting of tantalum and tantalum nitride or titanium and titanium nitride, deposited between the copper and the substrate. A pump-probe setup is used to determine the mechanical properties of the barrier layers and of the copper layer. This short-pulse-laser-acoustic method is contact-free and non-destructive. Mechanical waves are excited and detected thermoelastically using laser pulses of 70 fs duration. Thin film measurements of buried diffusion layers are provided and compared with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy measurements (RBS). Results of a thermo-elasto-mechanical simulation are presented and a short overview of the simulation procedure is given. Current limits of the presented method are discussed and future directions of the on-going research project are presented.

Pulse laser acoustics for the characterization of inhomogeneities at interfaces of microstructures.

Interfaces between neighbouring materials are often subjected to diffusion processes which cause layers having gradually varying mechanical properties--like densities, Young's moduli or shear moduli--perpendicular to the surface or interface. In this investigation particular interest is drawn on the question how the propagation characteristics of bulk acoustic waves are affected by diffusion layers. The reflection and transmission behavior of bulk acoustic waves encountering a continuum having a spatially dependent sound velocity is discussed based on numerical simulations as well as on experimental verifications. The simulated results are part of an on-going project in which material properties of MEMS devices are investigated by short pulse laser acoustic methods. Mechanical waves are excited and detected thermoelastically using laser pulses of 70 fs duration. For metals this leads to wavelengths of 10-20 nm and the corresponding frequencies amount to 0.3-0.6 THz. In contrast to previous work done in this field in which diffusion effects are generally considered as undesirable phenomena, the deliberate realization of microstructures having well defined gradually varying material properties in one or more dimensions represents a goal of this investigation. For metallic thin film multilayers thermally induced diffusion processes have shown to be an easy and reliable technique for the realization of layered structures having continuously varying mechanical properties within several 10 nm. Among the experimental methods suitable for the in-depth profiling of submicron metallic thin films providing resolutions of several nanometers, are short pulse laser acoustic methods, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). Short pulse laser acoustic methods and RBS have the advantage to be nondestructive. The short pulse laser acoustic method is described in detail and RBS measurements are presented for verification purposes. Finally potential engineering applications like micro-machined spectrum analyzers, acoustic isolation layers, and band pass filters, operating at very high frequencies are presented.

Sensitivity improvement of a pump-probe set-up for thin film and microstructure metrology.

This investigation deals with various new aspects of the sensitivity improvement of a pump-probe laser based acoustic method. A short laser pulse is used to excite a mechanical pulse thermo-elastically. Echoes of these mechanical pulses reaching the surface are causing a slight change of the optical reflectivity. The surface reflectivity is scanned versus time with a probe pulse. Thus the time of flight of the acoustic pulse is measured. The quantity to be measured i.e. the optical reflectivity change deltaR caused by acoustic pulses, is rather small. A set-up having an estimated sensitivity deltaR/R of about 10(-5) has shown to be sufficient to detect up to the fifth echo in a 50 nm aluminum film on sapphire substrate. A key challenge is the reduction of optical and electrical cross-talk between the excitation and the detection. Therefore the concepts of double-frequency modulation, cross-polarization, and balanced photodetection are implemented. Practical aspects like beam guiding, modulation techniques, beam focus minimization, and beam focus matching are discussed. Measurements for single- and multi-layer metallic films demanding higher sensitivity are presented.