CVD Equipment Corp. and Penn State Partner on 2D ALD Research

As reported: CVD Equipment Corporation today announced that it will be entering into an industrial partnership with Penn State University.

 

Through the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program, Penn State University (PSU) has been awarded $1.96M for Two-dimensional Atomic-layer Research and Engineering (2-DARE). This PSU project, headed by Professor Joan Redwing, will leverage CVD Equipment Corporation’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities to advance the deposition technologies and processes for producing novel 2D materials beyond graphene. The main focus will be on developing and optimizing the techniques for producing crystalline 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten diselenide (WSe2). This work will pave the way for the future production of 2D materials, as they find their place in widespread industrial applications.

Prof. Joan Redwing, holds appointments in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Penn State and is a member of the Materials Research Institute. Dr. Redwing’s research interests are in the general area of electronic materials synthesis and characterization with a specific emphasis on semiconductor thin film, nanowire and 2D materials fabrication by chemical vapor deposition.

 

Over recent years, the demonstration of graphene’s remarkable physical properties has led to the emerging application of graphene in many next generation products and devices. Although there is still much work to be done to fully understand graphene, many researchers have turned their attention to other 2D materials with equally promising and often unique properties. As such, a whole host of 2D materials are under vibrant interdisciplinary scientific study with an exciting outlook for disruptive technological advancements in big businesses such as semiconductor, optoelectronics, structural, and environmental applications, amongst others. Chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition techniques are proving to be powerful for producing these atomically thin materials, but the often home-built university lab deposition equipment is limited in the process capabilities.