Andrew Kortyna

Application of Vacuum Ultraviolet Lasers in Semiconductor Fabrication

A graduate of Juniata College in Pennsylvania with a BS in physics, Andrew Kortyna formerly served as an associate professor of physics at Lafayette College. Andrew Kortyna, PhD, has co-authored numerous scientific papers and developed electronics devices.

Today, semiconductors are present in a wide variety of electronics ranging from simple LED flashlights to computers. An important technique for fabricating semiconductors is creating patterns on layers of semiconductor (called wafers) to enable each layer to act as a microgrid or map for electric current. Deposition, a crucial step in semiconductor fabrication, entails adding a layer of an insulating material to create a gap between wafers. The more uniform the layer is, the better.

It is important for the insulating layer to remain in good condition, both during the manufacturing process and when the semiconductor is working in an electronic device. One major factor that can lead to the degradation of a semiconductor and result in a decrease in its speed and efficiency is high temperatures. One way to prevent this is to find a way to carry out deposition at a lower temperature (such as room temperature) while also ensuring that the method generates a uniform insulating layer. This can be achieved through vacuum ultraviolet chemical vapor deposition (VUV – CVD), which uses vacuum ultraviolet lasers to deposit silica film (silicon dioxide) on the wafers by triggering decomposition of silicon-containing substrates.

Bose-Einstein Condensate

Andrew Kortyna works at the Joint Institute of Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. There, he serves as a research associate. Previously, Andrew Kortyna worked at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. During his tenure at Colby College, he built and used a laser-based trap to study ultracold atoms.

Atoms can be in one of five states – solid, liquid, gas, plasma, and Bose-Einstein condensate. While the first four states are thoroughly researched, the fifth was observed only in the last decade of the 20th century.

Matter can enter the Bose-Einstein condensate state when atoms reach near absolute zero temperature, at a small fraction of one degree Kelvin. At this point atoms can barely move, having virtually no energy. That results in them bundling together and beginning to act collectively as a single particle.

Scientists use diffuse gas to create Bose-Einstein condensate, often rubidium. They use lasers to cool it down and drain the atoms of most of their energy. Finally, evaporative cooling — similar to how your cup of morning coffee cools off — trap takes away most of the atoms’ remaining kinetic energy.

Published: Cesium Second and Atomic Clocks

I published “Cesium Second and Atomic Clocks” on @Medium https://ift.tt/3et7wPe

What Is a Mass Spectrometer?

Andrew Kortyna, a research associate at the Joint Institute of Laboratory Astrophysics, has published numerous research articles in peer-reviewed journals. As a physicist, Andrew Kortyna is familiar with the design, maintenance, and use of a wide range of lab equipment, including mass spectrometers.

Mass spectrometry is a fairly common procedure in physics laboratories, but it has gained some notoriety from its frequent mention in some forensic procedural dramas. Still, the average person isn’t all that aware of what a mass spectrometer does.

In essence, mass spectrometry identifies matter based on its mass. In the spectrometer, atoms or molecules are ionized to make them susceptible to electromagnetic fields.

For one type of mass spectrometer, the magnetic sector mass spectrometer, the ions are accelerated by an electric field and deflected by a magnetic field. The amount of deflection is calculated to determine the ions’ mass, and thereby, their chemical composition. Think of it as someone throwing a baseball and a ping pong ball while you try to change their course by blowing on them. The course of the baseball will change much less, so you can deduce that the baseball has greater mass. A similar principle applies to the magnetic sector mass spectrometer.

Other mass spectrometers use various techniques to mass analyze a sample. For instance, a time-of-flight mass spectrometers accelerates ions with an electric field separates masses based on flight times..