There is provided a determination method comprising: a post-embedding measurement step for performing spectroscopic measurement on a substrate in which a pattern including a recess is formed, the recess having an embedding material embedded therein, and measuring an absorbance spectrum of the substrate having the embedding material embedded therein; and a determination step for determining an embedded state of the recess based on an integrated value of an intensity of the measured absorbance spectrum of the substrate at a plurality of wavenumbers.

A machining tool comprising at least one diamond-coated functional region having a substrate surface composed of a hard metal or a ceramic material arranged beneath the diamond layer. The substrate surface contains hard material particles on the basis of carbide and/or nitride and/or oxide, which are embedded in a cobalt-containing binding matrix. The diamond layer is directly arranged on the substrate surface without cobalt having been removed by chemical or physical methods in substantial amounts out of the binding matrix of the substrate surface. Such a tool is produced by pre-treating a hard metal substrate surface with a positively charged ion beam, followed by conventional CVD-diamond coating directly onto the ion beam-pre-treated cobalt-containing substrate surface. The ion-underlying atoms thereby largely remain in the substrate. The tools according to the invention have good diamond layer bonding to the substrate and a high wear resistance.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for precision fabrication of nanoscale materials and devices. In one aspect, a method to manufacture a nanoscale structure include a process to dissociate a feedstock substance including a gas or a vapor into constituents, in which the constituents include individual atoms and/or molecules. The method includes a process to deposit the constituents on a surface at a particular location. The method includes a process to grow layers layer by layer using two or more particle and/or energy beams to form a material structure, in which the energy beams include at least one of a laser beam or an atomic particle beam.

A surface treatment process includes laser ablation to remove surface contamination and coatings from a surface of a substrate, optionally treating the surface to improve uniformity, and applying a graphene-enhanced coating or a diamond-like carbon coating to the surface.

Methods for reducing metal oxide layers on semiconductor devices to pure metal layers using microwave radiation are described. The method includes exposing a semiconductor substrate surface to microwave radiation to reduce a metal oxide layer on a metal material. The semiconductor substrate surface may have at least one feature extending a depth from the substrate surface to a bottom and having two sidewalls, where the bottom includes the metal oxide layer and the two sidewalls include a dielectric material.

A laser-enhanced chemical vapor deposition transport system includes a resistive heated crucible and, projecting from the crucible at a first end, a plurality of spokes. The spokes are configured to deliver, substantially simultaneously, vaporized and/or sublimated media powder from the crucible to a plurality of deposition sites, deliver precursor gasses to the deposition sites and propagate beams emitted from one or more laser sources to the deposition sites.