MeV Ion Beam Facilities
The Melbourne Node is home to the NEC 5U Pelletron Accelerator in the Microanalytical Research Laboratory located in the basement of the Physics South Building. Commissioned in 1975, this machine has a high brightness source of light ions operating at charging potentials up to 5 MV. It is routinely used to perform ion beam analysis (IBA), nuclear microprobe analysis, ion beam modification of materials, high-energy ion beam lithography and high-energy ion implantation. The IBA applications with and without micro-beam options include Rutherford Backscattering (RBS), Proton Induced X-ray emission (PIXE), Ion Beam Induced Charge (IBIC) and Channeling Contrast Microscopy (CCM) measurements on a variety of materials. This system provides high precision analysis of the on-chip detector devices developed for the deterministic ion implantation system and analysis of the in-house silicon enrichment process.
Nanometre-Depth Ion Implanter
The University of Melbourne has a unique low energy (0.01-15keV) Colutron ion implanter, located in the cleanroom complex. Single ion implantation technology for deterministic ion implantation has been established within this facility. Phosphorus ions are predominantly accelerated to place single donors in sub-20 nm depths in silicon quantum devices. Nitrogen implants for the formation of shallow N-V centres in diamond samples is also possible as is a range of other species for specialized quantum devices. In 2017 the system received a substantial upgrade for the production of a wider range of ions, including molecular PFx ions used for shallow P doping. In 2019 this facility underwent a second major upgrade with the installation of a specially designed Atomic Force Microscope equipped with a nanostencil for high spatial precision directed ion implantation. This unique facility will be used for building large-scale donor arrays in silicon.