Saturday, October 31, 2015

Open Source Review on Flash-Enhanced ALD from ALD Lab Dresden

Here is a fantastic Open Source review from ALD Lab Dresden (IHM, TU Dresden) on Flash Enhanced ALD coming from one of the probably coolest ALD tools today - The FHR.Star.100-ALD-PECVD-FLA (see below). Not all capabilities are reviled in this paper so you should stay tuned for more from Thomas Henke.

Flash-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition: Basics, Opportunities, Review, and Principal Studies on the Flash-Enhanced Growth of Thin Films

Thomas Henke, Martin Knaut, Christoph Hossbach, Marion Geidel, Lars Rebohle, Matthias Albert, Wolfgang Skorupa, Johann W. Bartha
doi: 10.1149/2.0301507jss ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. volume 4, issue 7, P277-P287 
 


Within this work, flash lamp annealing (FLA) is utilized to thermally enhance the film growth in atomic layer deposition (ALD). First, the basic principles of this flash-enhanced ALD (FEALD) are presented in detail, the technology is reviewed and classified. Thereafter, results of our studies on the FEALD of aluminum-based and ruthenium thin films are presented. These depositions were realized by periodically flashing on a substrate during the precursor exposure. In both cases, the film growth is induced by the flash heating and the processes exhibit typical ALD characteristics such as layer-by-layer growth and growth rates smaller than one Å/cycle. The obtained relations between process parameters and film growth parameters are discussed with the main focus on the impact of the FLA-caused temperature profile on the film growth. Similar, substrate-dependent growth rates are attributed to the different optical characteristics of the applied substrates. Regarding the ruthenium deposition, a single-source process was realized. It was also successfully applied to significantly enhance the nucleation behavior in order to overcome substrate-inhibited film growth. Besides, this work addresses technical challenges for the practical realization of this film deposition method and demonstrates the potential of this technology to extend the capabilities of thermal ALD.

Configuration of the FEALD process station comprising the flash lamp unit and the cross-flow deposition reactor. The small arrows illustrate the gas flow directions. 


The FHR.Star.100-ALD-PECVD-FLA - a comboned processing tool for ALD, PECVD and Rapid Thermal Annealing of 100 mm Wafers


ALD of Pd Nanoparticles on TiO2 Nanotubes for Ethanol Electrooxidation

Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells DEFCs are considered one of the promising renewable energy sources, as they can produce electrical energy directly from the ethanol electrooxidation reaction. The efficiency of ethanol electrooxidation is a big question from research point of view. Here French and Canadian researchers show how ALD Pd nano particles grown in anodic titanium oxide nanotubes can be used for Ethanol Electrooxidation.

Atomic Layer Deposition of Pd Nanoparticles on TiO2 Nanotubes for Ethanol Electrooxidation: Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties

Loïc Assaud, Nicolas Brazeau, Maïssa K. S. Barr, Margrit Hanbücken, Spyridon Ntais, Elena A. Baranova, and Lionel Santinacc

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b06056

 
 
Palladium nanoparticles are grown on TiO2 nanotubes by atomic layer deposition (ALD), and the resulting three-dimensional nanostructured catalysts are studied for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline media. The morphology, the crystal structure, and the chemical composition of the Pd particles are fully characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopies, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The characterization revealed that the deposition proceeds onto the entire surface of the TiO2 nanotubes leading to the formation of well-defined and highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles. The electrooxidation of ethanol on Pd clusters deposited on TiO2 nanotubes shows not only a direct correlation between the catalytic activity and the particle size but also a steep increase of the response due to the enhancement of the metal–support interaction when the crystal structure of the TiO2 nanotubes is modified by annealing at 450 °C in air.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Zr of ZnO films deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition

Here is an interesting open access paper by researchers at University of Liverpool for all of us zirconium lovers from a special issue Atomic Layer Deposition of Functional Materials, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/special_issues/atomic-layer-deposition edited by Peter J. King. It is  fantastic to see how even low amounts of Zr can improve sort of any material including even ZnO.

The effects of Zr doping on the optical, electrical and microstructural properties of thin ZnO films deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition

Stephania Herodotou, Robert E. Treharne , Ken Durose , Gordon J. Tatlock , Richard J. Potter 
Received: 16 September 2015

This paper has been published in Materials at the following website: http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/8/10/5369

Zr doping dependence of resistivity, carrier concentration and mobility for ZnO films ~85 nm thick.


Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), with high optical transparency (≥85%) and low electrical resistivity (10−4 Ω·cm) are used in a wide variety of commercial devices. There is growing interest in replacing conventional TCOs such as indium tin oxide with lower cost, earth abundant materials. In the current study, we dope Zr into thin ZnO films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) to target properties of an efficient TCO. The effects of doping (0–10 at.% Zr) were investigated for ~100 nm thick films and the effect of thickness on the properties was investigated for 50–250 nm thick films. The addition of Zr4+ ions acting as electron donors showed reduced resistivity (1.44 × 10−3 Ω·cm), increased carrier density (3.81 × 1020 cm−3), and increased optical gap (3.5 eV) with 4.8 at.% doping. The increase of film thickness to 250 nm reduced the electron carrier/photon scattering leading to a further reduction of resistivity to 7.5 × 10−4 Ω·cm and an average optical transparency in the visible/near infrared (IR) range up to 91%. The improved n-type properties of ZnO: Zr films are promising for TCO applications after reaching the targets for high carrier density (>1020 cm−3), low resistivity in the order of 10−4 Ω·cm and high optical transparency (≥85%).

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

VPHA ALD history blog: VPHA ALD blog goes public

VPHA ALD history blog: VPHA ALD blog goes public: Three days after its initiation, the VPHA ALD blog at  http://aldhistory.blogspot.fi is sufficiently ready to be released for search engine...

Imec FinFET to Vertical Nanowire FET Movie

Here is a cool video from Imec showing the transition from FinFET via horizontal Nanowires to ultimately vertical Nanowire channel transistors. The movie and the whole article is available in the Imec monthly magazine on page 6 (http://magazine.imec.be/data/69/reader/reader.html?t=1445986965356#!preferred/1/package/69/pub/75/page/6)

 
Screendump showing the ultimate goal of integration III/V vertical nanowire transistors.
"Driven by the growing demand for increased communication and increased mobile and server data traffic, CMOS technologies will require continuous innovations in the field of ultra-low power operation, performance and density scaling. And this at an affordable cost. In this movie, we visualize the evolution of a FinFET architecture into the next technology generations: from tall Si fins and source/drain stressors over "

Nanocrystalline Ferroelectric BiFeO3 Thin Films by Low-Temperature ALD

Here is a new interesting paper on ferroelectric BFO deposited in an Ultratech Cambridge Nanotech Savannah reactor Institut de Ciencia de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC). The thermal ALD process at 250 °C by alternate pulsing of bismuth tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) (Bi(thd)3) and ferrocene (Fe(Cp)2) combined with ozone (O3)

Nanocrystalline Ferroelectric BiFeO3 Thin Films by Low-Temperature ALD





Mariona Coll*, Jaume Gazquez, Ignasi Fina, Zakariya Khayat, Andy Quindeau, Marin Alexe, Maria Varela, Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Xavier Obradors, and Teresa Puig;
Chem. Mater., 2015, 27 (18), pp 6322–6328

DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b02093

In this work, ferroelectricity is identified in nanocrystalline BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films prepared by low-temperature atomic layer deposition. A combination of X-ray diffraction, reflection high energy electron diffraction, and scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis indicates that the as-deposited films (250 °C) consist of BFO nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous matrix. Postannealing at 650 °C for 60 min converts the sample to a crystalline film on a SrTiO3substrate. Piezoelectric force microscopy demonstrates the existence of ferroelectricity in both as-deposited and postannealed films. The ferroelectric behavior in the as-deposited stage is attributed to the presence of nanocrystals. Finally, a band gap of 2.7 eV was measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry. This study opens broad possibilities toward ferroelectric oxides on 3D substrates and also for the development of new ferroelectric perovskites prepared at low temperature.
 

Monday, October 26, 2015

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) in Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) in Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

Figure
Figure. Schematic diagram of an ideal surface coating layer on active materials. Image provided by Xueliang Sun.

Guest Editors

Hongjin FanNanyang Technological University, Singapore
Yongfeng MeiFudan University, China
Mato KnezCIC nanoGUNE Research Center, Spain

Scope

The essential characteristics of an atomic layer deposition (ALD) reaction are the sequential self-limiting surface reactions to achieve conformal thin films with sub-monolayer thickness control. This advantage over other deposition processes renders a wide range of applications. While ALD was conventionally applied mainly in semiconductor electronic industry, recently, it is receiving increasing attention for wider applications in energy, environment, and sustainability research, with the advance in recipe development.
This focus collection will centre on the increasing importance of ALD techniques in developing innovative nanoscale materials, processes, devices, and systems relating to energy and environmental applications. Original and Review work detailing the development of energy nanomaterials and devices, including photovoltaics, batteries and supercapacitors, fuel cells, photocatalysts, and photoelectrochemical cells are solicited. Additionally developments in nanophotonics, including applications of ALD in new plasmonics, nanoscale laser, and metamaterials research are included. Interest of this collection also extends to innovations in chemical and biosensing using ALD, for example, organic pollution degradation, surface plasmon sensors, and quantum dot biomarkers.
The scope of this collection includes:
  • Fabrication and synthesis
  • Energy storage and conversion
  • Micro and nano-photonics
  • Sensor for environment and healthcare
  • Devices integration and reliability
We hope this issue provides a broad overview of the current state and guidance to the future.

Invited reviews

Applications of atomic layer deposition in solar cellsOPEN ACCESSWenbin Niu, Xianglin Li, Siva Krishna Karuturi, Derrick Wenhui Fam, Hongjin Fan, Santosh Shrestha, Lydia Helena Wong and Alfred Iing Yoong Tok2015 Nanotechnology 26 064001

Viewpoints

Papers

The effect of ALD-grown Al2O3 on the refractive index sensitivity of CVD gold-coated optical fiber sensorsDavid J Mandia, Wenjun Zhou, Matthew J Ward, Howie Joress, Jeffrey J Sims, Javier B Giorgi, Jacques Albert and Seán T Barry2015 Nanotechnology 26 434002
Extremely high efficient nanoreactor with Au@ZnO catalyst for photocatalysisChung-Yi Su, Tung-Han Yang, Vitaly Gurylev, Sheng-Hsin Huang, Jenn-Ming Wu and Tsong-Pyng Perng2015 Nanotechnology 26 394001
Highly photocatalytic TiO2 interconnected porous powder fabricated by sponge-templated atomic layer depositionShengqiang Pan, Yuting Zhao, Gaoshan Huang, Jiao Wang, Stefan Baunack, Thomas Gemming, Menglin Li, Lirong Zheng, Oliver G Schmidt and Yongfeng Mei2015 Nanotechnology 26 364001
Control of the initial growth in atomic layer deposition of Pt films by surface pretreatmentJung Joon Pyeon, Cheol Jin Cho, Seung-Hyub Baek, Chong-Yun Kang, Jin-Sang Kim, Doo Seok Jeong and Seong Keun Kim2015 Nanotechnology 26 304003
Deposition of uniform Pt nanoparticles with controllable size on TiO2-based nanowires by atomic layer deposition and their photocatalytic propertiesChih-Chieh Wang, Yang-Chih Hsueh, Chung-Yi Su, Chi-Chung Kei and Tsong-Pyng Perng2015 Nanotechnology 26 254002
In-situ atomic layer deposition of tri-methylaluminum and water on pristine single-crystal (In)GaAs surfaces: electronic and electric structuresT W Pi, Y H Lin, Y T Fanchiang, T H Chiang, C H Wei, Y C Lin, G K Wertheim, J Kwo and M Hong2015 Nanotechnology 26 164001
Pd nanoparticles on ZnO-passivated porous carbon by atomic layer deposition: an effective electrochemical catalyst for Li-O2 batteryXiangyi Luo, Mar Piernavieja-Hermida, Jun Lu, Tianpin Wu, Jianguo Wen, Yang Ren, Dean Miller, Zhigang Zak Fang, Yu Lei and Khalil Amine2015 Nanotechnology 26 164003
Inert ambient annealing effect on MANOS capacitor memory characteristicsNikolaos Nikolaou, Panagiotis Dimitrakis, Pascal Normand, Dimitrios Skarlatos, Konstantinos Giannakopoulos, Konstantina Mergia, Vassilios Ioannou-Sougleridis, Kaupo Kukli, Jaakko Niinistö, Kenichiro Mizohata, Mikko Ritala and Markku Leskelä2015 Nanotechnology 26 134004
Impact of the atomic layer deposition precursors diffusion on solid-state carbon nanotube based supercapacitors performancesGiuseppe Fiorentino, Sten Vollebregt, F D Tichelaar, Ryoichi Ishihara and Pasqualina M Sarro2015 Nanotechnology 26 064002
Deposition of ultra thin CuInS2 absorber layers by ALD for thin film solar cells at low temperature (down to 150 °C)Nathanaelle Schneider, Muriel Bouttemy, Pascal Genevée, Daniel Lincot and Frédérique Donsanti2015 Nanotechnology 26 054001
Photocatalytic activity and photocorrosion of atomic layer deposited ZnO ultrathin films for the degradation of methylene blueYan-Qiang Cao, Jun Chen, Hang Zhou, Lin Zhu, Xin Li, Zheng-Yi Cao, Di Wu and Ai-Dong Li2015 Nanotechnology 26 024002
Influence of the oxygen plasma parameters on the atomic layer deposition of titanium dioxideStephan Ratzsch, Ernst-Bernhard Kley, Andreas Tünnermann and Adriana Szeghalmi2015 Nanotechnology 26 024003
Gas sensing properties and p-type response of ALD TiO2 coated carbon nanotubesCatherine Marichy, Nicola Donato, Mariangela Latino, Marc Georg Willinger, Jean-Philippe Tessonnier, Giovanni Neri and Nicola Pinna2015 Nanotechnology 26 024004
Air-Stable flexible organic light-emitting diodes enabled by atomic layer depositionYuan-Yu Lin, Yi-Neng Chang, Ming-Hung Tseng, Ching-Chiun Wang and Feng-Yu Tsai2015 Nanotechnology 26 024005
Uniform GaN thin films grown on (100) silicon by remote plasma atomic layer depositionHuan-Yu Shih, Ming-Chih Lin, Liang-Yih Chen and Miin-Jang Chen2015 Nanotechnology 26 014002
NiO/nanoporous graphene composites with excellent supercapacitive performance produced by atomic layer depositionCaiying Chen, Chaoqiu Chen, Peipei Huang, Feifei Duan, Shichao Zhao, Ping Li, Jinchuan Fan, Weiguo Song and Yong Qin2014 Nanotechnology 25 504001
Electrochemical synthesis of highly ordered nanowires with a rectangular cross section using an in-plane nanochannel arrayPhilip Sergelius, Josep M Montero Moreno, Wehid Rahimi, Martin Waleczek, Robert Zierold, Detlef Görlitz and Kornelius Nielsch2014 Nanotechnology 25 504002
Highly ordered and vertically oriented TiO2/Al2O3 nanotube electrodes for application in dye-sensitized solar cellsJae-Yup Kim, Kyeong-Hwan Lee, Junyoung Shin, Sun Ha Park, Jin Soo Kang, Kyu Seok Han, Myung Mo Sung, Nicola Pinna and Yung-Eun Sung2014 Nanotechnology 25 504003
Distinguishing plasmonic absorption modes by virtue of inversed architectures with tunable atomic-layer-deposited spacer layerYun Zhang, Kenan Zhang, Tianning Zhang, Yan Sun, Xin Chen and Ning Dai2014 Nanotechnology 25 504004
Cellulose nanofiber-templated three-dimension TiO2 hierarchical nanowire network for photoelectrochemical photoanodeZhaodong Li, Chunhua Yao, Fei Wang, Zhiyong Cai and Xudong Wang2014 Nanotechnology 25 504005
Atomic layer deposition of lithium phosphates as solid-state electrolytes for all-solid-state microbatteriesBiqiong Wang, Jian Liu, Qian Sun, Ruying Li, Tsun-Kong Sham and Xueliang Sun2014 Nanotechnology 25 504007
Nanostructured TiO2/carbon nanosheet hybrid electrode for high-rate thin-film lithium-ion batteriesS Moitzheim, C S Nimisha, Shaoren Deng, Daire J Cott, C Detavernier and P M Vereecken2014 Nanotechnology 25 504008

JUST RELEASED: TECHCET 2015-16 Dielectric Precursors Report

JUST RELEASED: 2015-16 Dielectric Precursors Report
The 2015 market for dielectric precursors is expected to total $230M, of which over 25% is attributed to low-k dielectrics, according to the new 2015-16 TECHCET Critical Materials Report on Dielectric Precursors. New players are getting into this growing market, where SOD still represents ~50% of total revenues. Multi-patterning schemes and high aspect ratio features in both logic and memory devices are driving the adoption of novel low κ dielectrics, innovative gap fill processes and sacrificial layers to support integration of FinFET's and advanced Flash and DRAM capacitor stacks. Click here for details on how to get the Dielectric's Report. 
Dielectric Precursor Market Size Forecast ($USD)
Precursor revenue by type, see report for details.
What is included in the report?
TECHCET's 2015 Dielectric Precursors Report provides strategic information on the dielectrics market, including revenue by precursor type/application, and market share ranking. It also includes critical information used to ensure business continuity and support category management of the CVD, ALD, and SOD dielectric markets and their supply chains. In addition to business and technology trends, supply chain, and geopolitical issues that impact dielectric precursors are also discussed in this year's report.
TECHCET Celebrates 15 Years of Critical Materials!
In celebration of fifteen years of Critical Materials Reports, TECHCET is offering a special price on Report Advisories. Report Advisories on Gases, CMP, Wet Chem, Targets, Dielectric, and Si Wafers are discounted 30%. Advisories include the TECHCET Critical Materials report, Quarterly Forecast Updates, Supply Alerts, Updates on China raw materials, Supplier Profiles, Technical Trends, and more. The promo code 15CMRA2015 is good until November 27, 2015.


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