HERALD events in 2015

HERALD (COST action MP1402) aims to structure and integrate European research activity in atomic layer deposition (ALD), bringing together existing groups, promoting young scientists and reaching out to industry and the public.

So far, over a 100 researchers from academia and industry are taking part in HERALD and we welcome new members.  If your country is participating already, you can simply join our LinkedIn group. Please visit the current web page for the latest information. Below is a summar table of the activities and events in 2015. 

Chair of the HERALD action: Dr Simon Elliott, Tyndall National Institute, email: simon.elliott -at- tyndall.ie 

 

 

HERALD events in 2015
Co-organised workshop	Novel High k Application Workshop	9-10 Mar 2015	Dresden, DE
WG1 workshop	Workshop on ALD fundamentals and reaction mechanisms	8-9 Jun 2015	Eindhoven, NL
Training school	Atomic Layer Deposition: method and applications	6-7 Jul 2015	Brescia, IT
Co-organised conference	20th Biannual European Conference on Chemical Vapour Deposition (EUROCVD20)	13-17 Jul 2015	Sempach, CH
WG4 workshop	Workshop on ALD applications for battery materials	15-16 Sep 2015	Gent, BE
Co-organised conference	Baltic ALD conference	28-29 Sep 2015	Tartu, ES
Action meeting	Annual HERALD Day	30 Sep 2015	Tartu, ES
Co-organised workshop and training school	ALD Symposium at SEMICON Europa	6-8 Oct 2015	Dresden, DE
Co-organised workshop	Simulation of chemistry-driven growth phenomena for metastable materials	8-11 Nov 2015	Marburg, DE

Amorphous ALD iron phosphate buffers high capacities at high current densities in Litthium Ion Batteries

Researchers at University of Western Ontario, Canada, shows that by coating LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ cathode material powders with ultrathin amorphous FePO₄ by ALD it is possible to dramatically increase the capacity retention of LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄. The researchers believe that the amorphous FePO₄ layer acts as a lithium-ions reservoir and electrochemically active buffer layer during the charge/discharge cycling, helping achieve high capacities in LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄, especially at high current densities. 

The ALD amorphous FePO₄ was deposited using ferrocene (FeCp₂), ozone, trimethyl phosphate (TMPO), and water (H₂O) in an Ultratech/Cambridge Nanotech Savannah 100 ALD system. 

Please check out all the details in the Open Access article below:

Unravelling the Role of Electrochemically Active FePO4 Coating by Atomic Layer Deposition for Increased High-Voltage Stability of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 Cathode Material [OPEN ACCESS] 
Biwei Xiao1, Jian Liu1, Qian Sun1, Biqiong Wang1,2, Mohammad Norouzi Banis1, Dong Zhao2, Zhiqiang Wang2, Ruying Li1, Xiaoyu Cui3, Tsun-Kong Sham2 and Xueliang Sun1,*
Article first published online: 25 MAR 2015, DOI: 10.1002/advs.201500022

Ultrathin amorphous FePO4 coating derived by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to coat the 5 V LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material powders, which dramatically increases the capacity retention of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4. It is believed that the amorphous FePO4 layer could act as a lithium-ions reservoir and electrochemically active buffer layer during the charge/discharge cycling, helping achieve high capacities in LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4, especially at high current densities.

Schematic illustrations of a) LNMO-n upon cycling; b) illustration of the electrolyte highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and work functions of FePO₄ and LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄.

FESEM images of a) LNMO-0 and b) LNMO-20; c) HRTEM images of LNMO-20 (inset: Electron diffraction patterns of the LNMO-20 along the [110] zone axis).

ALD opens up for all-spin logic architectures

Researchers from France (CNRS/Thales), UK (University of Cambridge) and South Korea (University of Suwon) report on integration of low-cost, conformal, and versatile ALD Al2O3 dielectric in Ni–Al2O3–Co magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). According to the publication (below) in ACS Nano the spin-filtering effect of graphene is enhanced and shows the potential of ALD for spintronics with conformal, layer-by-layer control of tunnel barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions toward low-cost fabrication and down-scaling of tunnel resistances.

The research unveil the potential of ALD tunnel barriers for spintronics and MJTs. They conlude that "ALD has a high potential and may open new avenues for the development of scaled-up spin circuits, such as MRAMs and envisioned all-spin logic architectures, offering closer integration with conventional processes of the microelectronics industry."

The full version of the article below is also made available here by Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.

Sub-nanometer Atomic Layer Deposition for Spintronics in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions Based on Graphene Spin-Filtering Membranes

Marie-Blandine Martin †, Bruno Dlubak †‡, Robert S. Weatherup ‡, Heejun Yang †§∥, Cyrile Deranlot †, Karim Bouzehouane †, Frédéric Petroff †, Abdelmadjid Anane †, Stephan Hofmann ‡, John Robertson ‡, Albert Fert †, and Pierre Seneor †*

† Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales, 91767 Palaiseau, France and University of Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France
‡ Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB21PZ, United Kingdom
§ IBS Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics (CINAP), Institute of Basic Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, South Korea
∥ Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, South Korea
ACS Nano, 2014, 8 (8), pp 7890–7895

 

 

 

We report on the successful integration of low-cost, conformal, and versatile atomic layer deposited (ALD) dielectric in Ni–Al2O3–Co magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) where the Ni is coated with a spin-filtering graphene membrane. The ALD tunnel barriers, as thin as 0.6 nm, are grown layer-by-layer in a simple, low-vacuum, ozone-based process, which yields high-quality electron-transport barriers as revealed by tunneling characterization. Even under these relaxed conditions, including air exposure of the interfaces, a significant tunnel magnetoresistance is measured highlighting the robustness of the process. The spin-filtering effect of graphene is enhanced, leading to an almost fully inversed spin polarization for the Ni electrode of −42%. This unlocks the potential of ALD for spintronics with conformal, layer-by-layer control of tunnel barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions toward low-cost fabrication and down-scaling of tunnel resistances.

VIDEO - How does a transitor work?

Here is a great video for education or just for fun on how a transitor works by Veritasium

Screendump from the video involving Swiss cheese...

 

Here the video link to Youtube:

Picosun’s ALD technology protects pumps

Picosun Oy, introduces a novel, patented method to extend the service life of pumps and compressors.

"Mechanical wear and corrosion of the moving pump and compressor parts is the main factor leading to vibration, malfunction, and the need to replace the damaged components over time. These maintenance breaks lead to downtime of the systems connected to these equipment, interrupted production and financial losses at worst. Picosun’s ALD technology now provides a simple and cost-efficient method to extend the time between the maintenance breaks and to lengthen the operational lifetime of pumps and compressors."

“Protecting pumps and compressors against wear and corrosion by ALD is a new branching for us and a very important one as a supportive service to our already existing production ALD solutions. In our key market segments, IC- and other semiconductor industries, the most of the manufacturing steps happen under vacuum and involve the use of potentially corroding chemicals and gases which drift to the abatement system after the actual process. Eliminating the detrimental effect of these substances on the abatement system parts not only increases the total yield of the factory but also saves costs in a form of reduced number of service breaks,” states Mr. Timo Malinen, Chief Operating Officer of Picosun.