by Nicole Herbots
This article was written by a reporter for the Research Corporation Bulletin in 1999 after he interviewed me following a Research Opportunity Award in the amount of $25 k from the Research Corp. ASU and ARBOR matched the award with another $25k.
Dr. Herbots, Belgian-born, Ph.D. graduate in applied physics of Catholic University of Louvain and a microelectronics... more
Dr. Herbots, Belgian-born, Ph.D. graduate in applied physics of Catholic University of Louvain and a microelectronics specialist, made progress in the course of three years as an Oak Ridge Re- search Associate and four years as an MIT professor (1987-1991). At MIT she developed new methods for synthesizing thin film layers on chips at low temperatures, and for creating films that can’t be grown using thermal processes.
She joined Arizona State University in 1991, to further develop a novel invention she had made at MIT. Called Combined Ion and Molecular Beam Deposition or CIMD, it is a tech- nique for depositing materials on semiconductors that combines a so- phisticated evaporation system (molecular beam deposition) with an easily controlled ion beam.
But a life-threatening accident curtailed her research
After building a CIMD clean room at Arizona State University and getting research off to a good start, Nicole Herbot’s work, almost her life, came to an abrupt end in May 1994. This is where the history of her research in ordered nanophases of SiO2 on Si(100) began. She had to rebuild her scientific understanding of matter, interfaces, phase structures and nanophases after losing her short memory and developing "petit mal" (a milder form of epilepsy characterized by short or longer "absences" where the patient loses awareness of surroundings without loss of consciousness). The episodes increase with fatigue, mild illnesses and colds, to several a day. They result in post-"absences" exhaustion, typical of epilepsy, where the patient needs to sleep for a period of time concomittant with the duration of the absences to recover. The condition precludes driving.
The long hours spent on bed rest recovering from the petit mal absences gave her the time to reflect on the continuing mystery of SiO2/Si(100) extraordinary properties in microelectronics. This is how her "Tsunami" model of structural collapse as Si(100) crystals oxidizes into an amorphous film came to be, and a new concept to prevent structure loss and thus grow heteroepitaxial SiO2 on Si(100) was conceived, and led to several patents (2003, 2010), PhD theses and papers.
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