INFICON xParts ALD Coatings using Picosun P1000

Inficon's xParts coating service for coating on 3D parts for use in extreme harsh applications such as semiconductor production processes.

In the todays high-tech industries such as the Semi Conductor production, the complexity of the processes and the equipment exposure to harsh chemistry is intense. The desire for tool up-time, high yield and good wafers by lowering the cost of ownership is eminent. Through INFICON xParts ALD coatings one can address exactly these challenges.

1. High conformity allows to coat highly complex 3D geometries with large aspect ratios

2. Outstanding chemical resistance against harsh chemistries (Fluorine, Chlorine etc.)

3. Sealing pores, cracks and voids in thick but porous coatings (E.g Plasma spray)

4. Reduces AlF3 formation and delimitation

Check out the Picosun P1000 in action in the video below.

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By Abhishek Thakur

Webinar - Enhancing Yield by Minimizing Contamination with Beneq ALD coating solutions

Yet another Webinar with Beneq, this time about ALD coating solution for your equipment.

Regsitration: LINK

Semiconductor manufacturing involves corrosive gases in multiple processes. As we transition to each new technology node, e.g. from 10nm to 7nm and to 5nm, there are even more stringent fab requirements against metal and particle contamination. This poses challenges for existing coating methods such as anodization or plasma spray, which may not provide complete protection especially on critical chamber components with complex geometry. 

This webinar is particularly helpful for process engineers, equipment engineers and others, who are responsible for contamination control and equipment yield. 

Learn more about :

• Common issues of metal or particle contamination on critical chamber components 
• Common coating methods against corrosion, and how they compare 
• What properties to look for e.g. purity, uniformity, when evaluating the optimal protective coating solution 
• Unique benefits of ALD coatings with Al2O3 and Y2O3 
• Working with your OEM partner to design, test and implement an ALD coating solution for your equipment

New Picosun video of ALD batch processing for coin protection

The coin and watch industries are two traditional technology branches which can  benefit from ALD. technology. Picosun has shared a new video on Youtube for their ALD coin protection production tool. More information can be found here : http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=11424

A batch of coins that is loaded into a Picosun ALD reactor by an industrial robot.

 

A youtube video showing the loading procedure for batch processing of coins.

Protecting silver cultural heritage objects with atomic layer deposited corrosion barriers [Open Acess]

Many ALD reactors out there are standing idle over the Christmas holidays and maybe this is a good opportunity to sneak into the lab and run some ALD protective coating on your silver silver objects you have at home. Here is an Open Source article from University of Maryland, E-squared Art Conservation Science and The Walters Art Museum on how to protect silver objects by Al2O3 ALD using a Beneq TFS500 reactor.

Protecting silver cultural heritage objects with atomic layer deposited corrosion barriers

Amy E. Marquardt, Eric M. Breitung, Terry Drayman-Weisser, Glenn Gates and R. J. Phaneuf

Heritage Science 2015, 3:37  doi:10.1186/s40494-015-0066-x

ALD coatings on silver knives: silver knives a bare, without an ALD coating, b with a 100 nm Al₂O₃ ALD coating deposited with a 0.5 s TMA pulse/1 s N ₂ purge (fast deposition), and c 140 nm Al₂O₃ ALD coating deposited with a 1 s TMA pulse/4 s N ₂ purge (slow deposition). (Heritage Science 2015, 3:37  doi:10.1186/s40494-015-0066-x)

Abstract:

Introduction

Silver, prized throughout history for its luster and shine, develops a black Ag 2 S tarnish layer that is aesthetically displeasing when exposed to atmospheric pollutants. Tarnishing, and subsequent polishing, leads to irreversible material loss and object damage. Currently, nitrocellulose coatings are often used to prevent silver from tarnishing, however non-uniform coatings and degradation over time limit their effectiveness. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been explored as a new method for creating dense, uniform, and conformal coatings on 3-dimensional (3D) objects that are more effective than nitrocellulose in preventing silver from tarnishing.

Results

To create high quality ALD coatings on 3D objects, slowing down the ALD process is critical to ensure proper precursor exposure. Non-ideal deposition of organo-oxy-metallic compounds can occur with fast deposition rates that do not allow sufficient flow around 3D objects. The coatings can be removed by dissolving the Al2O3 ALD films in aqueous NaOH. Thicker ALD films prevent defects from occurring on non-ideal surfaces and effectively prevent silver objects from tarnishing under ambient aging conditions

Conclusion

Thick ALD films, deposited with sufficiently long precursor pulse and purge times, may be effective in preventing complex, 3D non-mixed media silver cultural heritage objects from tarnishing. 

Amy, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Maryland, created this video for a Thinkable competition. In it, she explains in a non-technical way how she is is creating and applying ceramic films to silver artifacts to protect them from tarnish. The virtually invisible films are applied using atomic later deposition (ALD) and are only nanometers thick. Amy's technique protects (www.youtube.com)

Thin Film System TFS 500 for ALD research and batch production (www.beneq.com)

Previous posts on Silver protection:

BALD Engineering - Born in Finland, Born to ALD: BENEQ nSILVER ...

Feb 1, 2014 ... More information on the BENEQ nSILVER coating you can find here and below you can watch a Video on development of silver saving ...

BALD Engineering - Born in Finland, Born to ALD: 3 min pitch ... Oct 16, 2014 ... Novel protective coatings for silv

University of Cincinnati and Industry Partners Develop Low-Cost Tunable Window Tintings

As reported by University of Cincinnati - Technology developed by the University of Cincinnati and industry partners can do something that neither blinds nor existing smart windows can do. This patent-pending research, supported by the National Science Foundation, will lead to low-cost window tintings which dynamically adapt for brightness, color temperatures and opacity (to provide for privacy while allowing light in). 

Top view and side-view diagrams of the device construction.

Technology developed by the University of Cincinnati and industry partners can do something that neither blinds nor existing smart windows can do. This patent-pending research, supported by the National Science Foundation, will lead to low-cost window tintings which dynamically adapt for brightness, color temperatures and opacity (to provide for privacy while allowing light in). 

Full story here : http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=21741

Hydrophobic graphene coating could make power plants more efficient

Product Design & Development reports that a team of researchers at MIT has developed a way of coating condenser surfaces with a layer of graphene, just one atom thick, and found that this can improve the rate of heat transfer by a factor of four — and potentially even more than that, with further work. And unlike polymer coatings, the graphene coatings have proven to be highly durable in laboratory tests.

An uncoated copper condenser tube (top left) is shown next to a similar tube coated with graphene (top right). When exposed to water vapor at 100 degrees Celsius, the uncoated tube produces an inefficient water film (bottom left), while the coated shows the more desirable dropwise condensation (bottom right). Picture from www.pddnet.com - Courtesy of the researchers

The findings are reported in the journal Nano Letters by MIT graduate student Daniel Preston, professors Evelyn Wang and Jing Kong, and two others. The improvement in condenser heat transfer, which is just one step in the power-production cycle, could lead to an overall improvement in power plant efficiency of 2 to 3 percent based on figures from the Electric Power Research Institute, Preston says — enough to make a significant dent in global carbon emissions, since such plants represent the vast majority of the world’s electricity generation. “That translates into millions of dollars per power plant per year,” he explains.

Extremely thin hydrophobic coating is also obviously an open field for clever ALD solutions. Here is a recent report on conventional hydrophobic coating technologies from Vanderbilt University taking a    closer look at the US market.

The history of hydrophobic coating technologies

NCSU show conductive Kevlar by Tungsten ALD coating

As reported by Laboratory Equipment: A group of North Carolina State Univ. researchers is exploring novel ways to apply semiconductor industry processes to unique substrates, such as textiles and fabrics, to "weave together" multifunctional materials with distinct capabilities.

During the AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition, being held November 9-14, 2014, in Baltimore, Maryland, the researchers will describe how they were able to weave high-strength, highly conductive yarns made of tungsten metal on Kevlar — body armor material — by using atomic layer deposition (ALD), a process commonly used for producing memory and logic devices.

Tungsten-coated Kevlar with a Kevlar (uncoated) background. Image: S. Atanasov, NCSU

The group's tungsten-on-Kevlar yarns are expected to find applications in multifunctional protective electronics materials for electromagnetic shielding and communications, as well as erosion-resistant antistatic fabrics for space and automated technologies