Tuesday, November 10, 2015

ALD employed in nanographene charge trapping memory with a large memory window

A leading research centre for grapehene devices is Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Science. They have recently published a paper on Nanographene charge trapping memory. Here they use a 15 nm thick Al2O3, deposited by ALD, to act as a tunnelling layer and blocking layer, respectively (see abstract below).


According to the website: The research groups led by Prof. ZHANG Guangyu is recently focusing on graphene nanostructure fabrications and the related electrical transport studies and has:

Schematic of the graphene edge lithography. The process includes selectively ALD of Al2O3/HfO2 on graphene edges, dry etching of the unprotected graphene and KOH etching of the metal oxides.(Image by ZHANG Guangyu et al )

Nanographene charge trapping memory with a large memory window

Jianling Meng, Rong Yang, Jing Zhao, Congli He, Guole Wang, Dongxia Shi and Guangyu Zhang


 Left, AFM images of nanographen films showing a high density of nanographen islands. Right, the stack and structure of the nanographene charge tarpping memory cell (PhysOrg: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-nanographene-memory-miniaturize.html)


(Left) Atomic force microscope image of the nanographene film with a high density of nanographene islands, which provide more charge-trapping sites to increase store capacity. (Right) Structure of the nanographene-based charge trapping memory. Credit: Meng, et al. ©2015 IOP Publishing

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-nanographene-memory-miniaturize.html#jCp
(Left) Atomic force microscope image of the nanographene film with a high density of nanographene islands, which provide more charge-trapping sites to increase store capacity. (Right) Structure of the nanographene-based charge trapping memory. Credit: Meng, et al. ©2015 IOP Publishing

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-nanographene-memory-miniaturize.html#jCp
Nanographene is a promising alternative to metal nanoparticles or semiconductor nanocrystals for charge trapping memory. In general, a high density of nanographene is required in order to achieve high charge trapping capacity. Here, we demonstrate a strategy of fabrication for a high density of nanographene for charge trapping memory with a large memory window. The fabrication includes two steps: (1) direct growth of continuous nanographene film; and (2) isolation of the as-grown film into high-density nanographene by plasma etching. Compared with directly grown isolated nanographene islands, abundant defects and edges are formed in nanographene under argon or oxygen plasma etching, i.e. more isolated nanographene islands are obtained, which provides more charge trapping sites. As-fabricated nanographene charge trapping memory shows outstanding memory properties with a memory window as wide as ~9 V at a relative low sweep voltage of ±8 V, program/erase speed of ~1 ms and robust endurance of >1000 cycles. The high-density nanographene charge trapping memory provides an outstanding alternative for downscaling technology beyond the current flash memory.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Open Source Review : Nanoscale Structuring of Surfaces by Using Atomic Layer Deposition


To get a good overview on the most recent developments in ALD enabled patterning you should take a look at this open source review from Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt.

Download PDF here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201503680/pdf

The most intriguin example give is probably this one doing molecule templated ALD producing lateral CDs in the order of 2 nm - Cool!


Nanoscale Structuring of Surfaces by Using Atomic Layer Deposition

Nicolas Sobel and Christian Hess
, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201503680
 
Controlled structuring of surfaces is interesting for a wide variety of areas, including microelectronic device fabrication, optical devices, bio(sensing), (electro-, photo)catalysis, batteries, solar cells, fuel cells, and sorption. A unique feature of atomic layer deposition (ALD) is the possibility to form conformal uniform coatings on arbitrarily shaped materials with controlled atomic-scale thickness. In this Minireview, we discuss the potential of ALD for the nanoscale structuring of surfaces, highlighting its versatile application to structuring both planar substrates and powder materials. Recent progress in the application of ALD to porous substrates has even made the nanoscale structuring of high-surface-area materials now feasible, thereby enabling novel applications, such as those in the fields of catalysis and alternative energy.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Tuomo Suntola - Overview on Atomic Layer Deposition & Thin Film Devices

Riikka Puurunen has pointed to this new updated web page by Dr. Tuomo Suntola, the Finnish inventor of ALD: Suntola - ALD Technology

So why should you spend time studying this page and the material collected there you may wonder. It contains an fantastic overview of important publications and recent presentations that Dr. Suntola has made and the most important reference articles on ALD from the Finnish ALD companies, engineers and researchers. I think it is very much to learn here for people new in the field but also for all you experts like me that has entered this field of exiting ALD at the beginning om the millennium when ALD was introduced in the semiconductor business. For those of the more curious nature - please join us in the VPHA Project to learn more about the intriguing history of ALD (VPHA Blog)?


Dr. Suntola [ALD Inventor] first industrial work was “Humicap®” thin film humidity sensor for Vaisala Oy (1973) which still, almost 40 years later holds the world market leader’s position in humidity sensing (http://www.sci.fi/~suntola/biography.html) [screen dump from video]

I think that we all today have to thank Suntola and his co-workers like Sven Lindfors (below) and others for making all this possible. Just think about it - would we all today enjoy living and working in a fast growing technological field of ALD without this work  that started in the 70´s and persisted through until it went global in the 90´s and beyond until today? Today Dr. Tuomo Suntola is Member Board of Directors and Sven Lindfors is Chief Technology Officer at Picosun Oy one of Finlands successful ALD Exporting companies.


Sven Lindfors in 1978 next to the flow-type ALD reactor in which the successful H2S/ZnCl2 process was demonstrated.

Here is the situation today in the Semiconductor ALD Equipment market:

  • In total, the ALD tool market for semiconductor applications is projected to reach $1.2 billion over the next three to four years, up from $600 million in 2014, according to ASM International (September 2015).

  • In 2014, ASMI was the leader in the ALD tool market with a 53% share, followed in order by TEL (27%), Jusung (6%), Lam Research (5%), Wonik IPS (5%) and Aixtron (2%), [...] According to Gartner (September, 2015)
[Please observe that Gartner here do not report Kokusai revenue, who can probably claim a top position for their Large Batch ALD business, Information from : http://semiengineering.com/ald-market-heats-up/]

How big the other markets (R&D, Barrier, MEMS, Cleantech, Bio, ...) are is unknown to me ut you just have to add the revenue of he other ALD companies and ALD business units to figure that out (Picosun, BENEQ, Ultratech/CNT, Oxford Instruments, ...). However it doen´t stop there, adding to this the ALD precursor market is also growing at a steady pace for each node when more an more ALD process steps are being added and also transferred from being typical CVD and PVD layers. It is smaller than the equipment market but it is in the same order of magnitude - maybe half the size.

Here is a selsction of presentations - please visit the page for the complete collection!





T. Suntola, "ALD - Material Buildup by Atomic Layers", 5th International Workshop on Applications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IWANN-5), Bilkent University - UNAM, Ankara 15-26 June 2015 Presentation, ppsx



T. Suntola, "From ideas to global industry", BALTIC ALD, May 12-13, 2014, University of Helsinki Presentation, ppsx 



T. Suntola, "Invention of ALD and protection of knowledge", ENHANCE - Winter-School 9-12 January 2012, University of Helsinki Presentation, ppsx

HERALD COST action news: More volunteers invited to contribute to VPHA

VPHA ALD history blog: HERALD COST action news: More volunteers invited t...:

"Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA), started in July 2013, is looking fore more voluntary participants, to help find answers to questions related to early days of ALD. Many will know that ALD has been invented twice under different names, Atomic Layer Epitaxy and Molecular Layering. Especially the works made under the name Molecular Layering have remained poorly known (and cited).



The core activity of VPHA is to list and read early ALD publications, and collect together personal summaries of ALD scientists of the contents of the individual publications. All VPHA activities are done in an atmosphere of openness, respect, and trust. A central information hub of VPHA is the dedicated webpage http://vph-ald.com, where one finds a link to the "ALD-history-evolving-file". An accompanying blog was recently created: http://aldhistory.blogspot.fi. Discussion related to VPHA is also carried out in the LinkedIn "ALD History" group. 

VPHA has already booked significant advances in understanding of the history of ALD, see the Publication Plan http://vph-ald.com/Publication%20Plan.html. However, the work is far from completed. As of 4.11.2015, a total of 347 ALD publications has been listed in VPHA for up to 1986, and 38 people from 11 countries and over 20 institutions have written 363 personal summaries of them. If each publication is to be read at least three times, about 30% of the reading & commenting work is still to be done. If we would have 100 volunteers each reading ten papers, completing the work should be easy.  

The next scientific joint publication from VPHA will be a poster at the ALD 2016 conference. All HERALD participants warmly welcome to join VPHA, to share the work in this unique and important effort and to enjoy its fruits.

Information on how to join and start contributing can be found in 
Best regards,
Riikka Puurunen (Dr., Senior Scientist), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Yury Koshtyal (Dr., Research Fellow), Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia
Henrik Pedersen (Assoc. Prof.), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
J. Ruud Van Ommen (Assoc. Prof.), Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands;
Jonas Sundqvist (Dr., Senior Scientist), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Lund University, Lund, Sweden
"
*********** 
Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) - in atmosphere of Openness, Respect, and Trust

Friday, November 6, 2015

EU COST Network HERALD is opening a new call for research visits (STSMs)

HERALD is opening a new call for research visits (STSMs) between now and the end of March 2016.  This is a rolling call - first come, first served.  Visits may last from 5-90 days and the usual level of funding is €2500.  Full information is available at http://www.european-ald.net/about-short-term-scientific-missions


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Warm welcome to VaporPulse Technologies one of our new sponors!

A warm welcome to VaporPulse Technologies and Founder and Presiden Christopher Oldham - one of the new sponsors of the BALD Engeneering ALD News Blog! You will hear much more about VaporPulse and their ALD technology in the near future. Until then please do not hesitate to visit their web page : http://www.vaporpulse.com/


 
"VaporPulse we have commercialized a proprietary technology for improving materials used in everyday applications through our nanoscale coatings. The nanoscale coatings are delivered through a novel low temperature, solvent free process that offers extraordinary performance on well known but hard to process materials. VaporPulse’s coatings are highly functional and can be applied on a range of materials from paper to plastics to metals. Our coatings are conformal and uniform whether the part is flat or complex in shape, dense or porous, and the coatings can be applied on features down to the nano-scale."

"In 2010 VaporPulse Technologies, Inc. was launched out of NC State University. The VaporPulse technology is based on over ten years of research in the College of Engineering at NC State University and one year of business development in the Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) program in the Poole College of Management at NC State University. "

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

ALD Special issue for Novel Nanomaterials and Emerging Applications

Here is a new ALD Special issue for Novel Nanomaterials and Emerging Applications http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/si/289520/cfp/

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has been recognized as a very powerful and elegant tool for nanostructured materials, greatly widening its applications into more and more research areas, ranging from semiconductors to catalysis, optoelectronics, biomedical, gas sensing, resistant coating, clean energies (batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, solar cells, etc.), and nano- and microelectromechanical systems (N/MEMS). These are mainly ascribed to the ALD’s unique growth mechanism based on sequentially surface-controlled saturation reactions, consequentially enabling atomic-scale layer-by-layer material growth. As a result, ALD is exclusively capable of constructing both large-scale uniform planar nanofilms and conformal complex nanocoatings at low temperature. ALD’s distinguished characteristics also include superior controllability over material composition and crystallinity.



All the merits make ALD an important technique in seeking new technical solutions and conducting fundamental frontier research. In searching for new energies, for example, ALD enables us to dramatically improve the batteries’ stability, safety, and sustainable high energy by applying subnanoprotective coatings on battery electrodes. ALD has also been reported for cost-effective catalysts, biocompatible devices, superblack light-absorbing materials, solar cell passivation layers, ultralight but ultrastiff mechanical metamaterials, and so on. These new advances witness ever-growing applications of ALD and foresee a new era of ALD. With the increasing importance of ALD as a new nanotechnology route, more research efforts are urgently needed, including new ALD processes based on novel precursors, advanced characterization, novel nanostructures, emerging applications in various areas, and innovations on ALD systems.

The purpose of this special issue is to provide a research forum to exchange the latest outcomes with ALD for nanostructured materials and exploring potentials of ALD-resultant nanomaterials for future applications. This special issue is soliciting original high-quality research work that has not been published or that is not currently under review by other journals or peer-reviewed conferences. The special issue will publish communications, full articles, and review papers.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Novel nanostructured materials by ALD
  • Nanofilms, nanoparticles, and nanotubes
  • 3D nanostructures
  • Nanocomposites
Emerging applications of ALD-induced nanomaterials
  • Biomedical and biocompatible coatings
  • Clean energies (batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, supercapacitors, etc.)
  • Catalysis
  • N/MEMS
  • Optoelectronics
  • Resistant coatings
Authors can submit their manuscripts via the Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/jnm/ald/.

Manuscript Due Friday, 29 April 2016
First Round of Reviews Friday, 22 July 2016
Publication Date Friday, 16 September 2016

Lead Guest Editor

Xiangbo Meng, Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA

Guest Editors

Xinwei Wang, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
Dongsheng Geng, Western University, London, Canada
Cagla Ozgit-Akgun, ASELSAN Inc., Ankara, Turkey
Nathanaelle Schneider, IRDEP (EDF/CNRS/Chimie ParisTech), Chatou, France

Sunday, November 1, 2015

High Throughput ALD Process at High Pressure Operations used to coat a VW Karman Ghia window

Here is a very, very, very interesting PhD thesis in ALD - woah! It is full of ground breaking and innovative ALD hardware solutions including a mobile ALD machine that you can dock to any flat surface anywhere and apply an ALD coating. Also includes ALD coatings on textile, synthetic fiber, and paper that may very well become future ALD business.

I promise you it is really worth spending time with this thesis - enjoy!

"High Throughput Atomic Layer Deposition Processes: High Pressure Operations, New Reactor Designs, and Novel Metal Processing"

Moatazbellah Mahmoud Mousa, North Carolina Stat University
http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/10637/1/etd.pdf

 

Docking an ALD machine to the back window of a Volkswagen Karman Ghia and performing a characteristic LAD linearity test.

The motivation


"The overall motive of this work is to demonstrate that controllable nanoscale thin film coatings can be achieved on macroscale objects, without the constraint of a reactor chamber in a well controlled laboratory environment. Therefore, as a proof of concept demonstration, we transported the system shown in Figure 5.1 [inserted below] outside the lab and attached the ALD delivery head to the window of an auto mobile in a parking area adjacent to our laboratory building. This same system was used to deposit the films shown and analyzed in Figure 5.2. Figure 5.4a [inserted above] shows a photograph of the system on a lab cart, where the delivery head is attached to the automobile window as shown in Figure 5.4b [inserted above]. In this demonstration, we chose to deposit a film on the window of an older Volkswagen because the window could be readily removed and carried to the lab for ellipsometry analysis [results below, linearity check]." 
 ALD delivery head and apparatus for the mobile ALD machine.

Resulting Al2O3 coating deposited in the car window and the Thickness vs. cycles plot showing a perfect linear relationship.

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