Silicon device miniaturisation at the nanoscale presents several challenges due to emerging quantum and material effects. For instance, as electron tunnelling and unusual ratio between the number of surface/interface to bulk atoms as compared to macroscopic structures greatly affect the manufacturing processes and operational characteristics of such devices. Material analysis techniques are also stressed by the new technology requirements, including ion beam analysis techniques (IBA). These techniques played a key role in the development of silicon technology. However, ion beam analysis is not of widespread use for nanostructure characterization due to limitation on the spatial resolution and also the damage caused by the energetic impinging ions at the target nanostructures. This thesis present state of the art applications of ion beam analysis for nanotechnology, describing advances extending their suitability to nano sciences. Detailed description of resonant nuclear reaction analysis (RNRA) medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) are presented, followed by the development of advanced ion energy loss models for high resolution depth profiling using MEIS. The evaluation of RNRA e MEIS are presented based on recent applications for metal gates and high-k gate dielectrics of latest generation Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) devices.

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