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Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), dedicated to breakthroughs in nuclear materials, have made an unexpected discovery of significant importance to the microelectronics field: they found that X-ray beams can not only observe material failure in real-time but also precisely control the internal strain of materials during experiments. This new discovery is expected to open new methods for enhancing the electrical and optical properties of semiconductor chips, providing engineers with practical tools for manufacturing advanced microelectronic devices.

This research, detailed by senior author Ericmoore Jossou and his colleagues in Scripta Materialia, was initially aimed at understanding how key reactor materials degrade under intense radiation.

The team’s device includes firing highly focused, high-intensity X-rays at nickel samples prepared using a solid-state dehydration method—this method involves heating films at high temperatures to form single crystals. Their goal was to replicate the harsh conditions typical of nuclear reactors and study the corrosion and cracking that occurs under such conditions.

As the experiments progressed, the research team discovered that by adjusting the duration and focus of the X-rays, they could manipulate the crystal structure by weakening or enhancing the internal strain. The effect was most pronounced when a layer of silicon dioxide was added as a buffer between the nickel and silicon substrates.

This advancement goes beyond academic curiosity, providing a scalable technology for the semiconductor industry.

Strain engineering refers to the intentional distortion of a material’s lattice to enhance performance, a key step in building faster and more efficient chips. Traditionally, this involves mechanical methods or introducing specific layers during manufacturing.

MIT’s discovery suggests that X-ray beams can become a precise tool for adjusting strain during chip manufacturing, which means a dual benefit for materials science: a deeper understanding of failures in nuclear environments and a new technology for electronics manufacturing.

These unexpected results emerged while researchers attempted to stabilize imaging of nickel crystals under stress conditions. Preparing usable samples required overcoming several potential chemical reactions that could disrupt the experiment, such as the formation of unwanted compounds between nickel and silicon.

The introduction of a thin silicon dioxide buffer layer not only stabilized the crystal but also allowed the team to fully relax the strain, enabling phase retrieval algorithms to reconstruct the 3D shape of the samples in real-time.

This ability to observe crystal failure in three dimensions under simulated reactor conditions provides critical data for designing more robust materials for reactors, naval propulsion systems, and other harsh environments.

This work was completed by team members Ericmoore Jossou, David Simonne, Riley Hultquist, Jiangtao Zhao, and Andrea Resta, and was funded by the MIT Faculty Startup Fund and the U.S. Department of Energy. The researchers currently plan to extend their study to more complex alloys and further fine-tune the impact of buffer layer thickness on strain control.

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