Bio-Rad (United Kingdom)

As innovators who made non-animal-derived antibodies available to researchers starting 20 years ago, we have generated more than 60,000 antibodies during this time span. Here, we review and highlight the key challenges that hampered the adoption of research antibodies generated by phage display. We describe the advantages of this method over traditional immunisation-based methods, and provide examples of specific projects. As active participants in attesting the scientific validity of non-animal-derived antibodies, we have contributed and supported key advancements in phage display for the generation of research antibodies. Such advancements have paved the way for the scientific community to switch to animal-free antibodies at a faster pace, as a goal for the near future.

Abstract Bio-Rad is committed to improving multicolor flow cytometry and is excited to announce a novel series of StarBright Dyes, exceptionally bright fluorescent nanoparticles developed for use with flow cytometry antibodies. These bright dyes have the additional benefits of narrow excitation and emission, high stability, minimal lot-to-lot variation, no requirement for a special buffer and can be fixed making them ideal for inclusion in multicolor immunophenotyping panels containing multiple antibodies conjugated to StarBright Dyes and traditional fluorescent dyes. Here we show how new blue (488 nm) and yellow/green (561 nm) laser excitable StarBright Dyes can be incorporated into multicolor panels in both conventional and full spectrum flow cytometry to give unrivalled resolution, flexibility and choice. Available by the end of 2022 these new dyes will be available conjugated to our highly cited, validated antibodies.

Abstract In this paper we show that dopant decoration of process-induced defects is responsible for a failure mechanism of memory devices. From the electrical point-of-view, the defect-related failure consists in a source-to-drain resistive path formed by junction piping. This mechanism is made active by the very close spacing which is typical of present device structures. A device-like test structure is used for defect detection. This structure proves to be a very effective tool for studying the impact of various process steps on defect generation, in that it allowes statistical data about the formation of these defects to be collected. TEM analyses are extensively used for studying the evolution of end-of-range defects during subsequent thermal treatments and for measuring the amorphous layer width under various implantation conditions.The role of high dose implantations in the generation of this sort of defects is discussed. Even if the amorphous layer is completely recovered by a suitable recristallization annealing, residual defects grow and become dopant-decorated during post-implantation thermal treatments. Defect density is increased by oxidizing treatments. In this case point defect injection is active both in enhancing dopant diffusion and in growing defects.Defect formation is suppressed if the amorphous layer is made very shallow (≤ 50 nm) by suitable choices of the screen oxide and of the implantation energy. A binary collision code is used in order to estimate the dependence on energy of the self-interstitial excess outside the amorphous region. The results of these calculations indicate that defect suppression can be tentatively explained by point defect annihilation at the silicon surface.

This paper is a continuation of our earlier work which investigated means of reducing Tool Induced Shift (TIS) in overlay tools. In this paper we show that there can be significant errors in the measurements from a tool that shows zero TIS. These errors arise from proximity effects within the measurement target. Improving the resolution of the instrument reduces these errors, although this is counter to the current trend of the industry. We present the results of detailed comparisons of two measurement objectives. These have the same magnification but different numerical aperture so that they differ in resolution and depth of field. We will show that the lowest measurement error are achieved by acquiring all images from a common focal plane, even when the target marks are displaced vertically by more than 2 micrometers . Both objectives perform equally well, although we had expected that increasing the depth of field would provide benefits. The data shows that increasing the resolution of the microscope will allow the high accuracy and precision required for the future to be achieved without sacrificing an ability to measure the deepest structures likely to be met in these processes.

The measurement of overlay error by optical instruments is subject to systematic error, sometimes known as tool induced shift, or TIS. Some investigations into the relationship between the mark structure and the properties of the instrument have been conducted, but the effects are still poorly understood. In this paper we report on experiments designed to investigate further the relationship between the mark structure, the alignment of the instrument and the resultant TIS error in the measurements. The optical images of wafers manufactured with overlay marks of known offsets and step heights look the same and enable us to distinguish between geometrical and optical effects. By varying the alignment of various optical elements in the tool, the resultant TIS data allows determination of the most critical instrument parameters which must be controlled before accurate measurements can be made.