Acquisition of Instrumentation to Support of Interdisciplinary Research in Plasma Manufacturing of Thin Film Coatings and Electronic Materials

9413727 Asmussen 等离子辅助薄膜加工已被认为是一种重要的新兴制造技术，用于生产耐磨、耐热和耐腐蚀的表面以及电子和光子材料的制造。 为了实现这些等离子体工艺的商业化，必须开发智能控制、用户友好的等离子体制造技术。 微波等离子体反应器系统是一类在解决许多等离子体辅助制造问题方面表现出巨大潜力的等离子体机器。 它们的无电极性质以及产生高密度激发和带电物质的能力使得高压和低压放电成为许多等离子体处理应用的有吸引力的技术。 研究人员和其他人过去和正在进行的研究证明了这些微波等离子体机器在硬薄膜涂层以及电子和光子材料的商业制造中的潜力。 特别值得注意的是与金刚石薄膜沉积以及硅和 III-V 电子和光子材料加工相关的微波加工应用。 基于过去的成功，他们在本提案中描述的研究活动涉及这一重要制造技术的持续开发、优化和智能控制。 拟议的工作将在密歇根州立大学的电子和材料表面特性（ESPM）中心实验室进行。 在该中心，微波等离子机和相关的等离子工艺正在由工程学院的跨学科小组开发。 因此，所需的仪器将增强已经非常活跃的研究实验室，并使 ESPM 中心的研究活动能够更快地扩展到新材料表征技术、工艺优化和等离子体过程控制，并将加强等离子体机器开发、建模和诊断方面正在进行的研究。 特别是，所要求的设备将提供新的、特定的等离子体工艺开发和优化活动所需的仪器，将为等离子体机建模和反应器控制工作提供额外的计算机资源，将支持新的和加强正在进行的材料和微观结构表征工作，并将为最近启动的等离子体过程控制活动提供所需的仪器。 最后，所需的仪器将使等离子机的开发进入新的创意方向。 所请求的设备资金的很大一部分用于新 ESPM 中心工作的仪器，并将帮助新中心教员满足仪器需求。 因此，预计这一要求将大大提高中心在智能过程控制、等离子体工艺开发和材料表征技术方面的研究能力。 所需的实验室仪器代表了 ESPM 实验室能力的重要补充，将使该中心能够更有效地执行其跨学科研究和教育任务。

9413727 Asmussen Plasma assisted processing of thin films has been identifed as an important, emerging manufacturing technology for producing wear, heat, and corrosion resistant surfaces and for the fabrications of electronic and photonic materials. In order to achieve the commercialization of these plasma processes, intelligently controlled, user-friendly plasma manufacturing technology must be developed. One class of plasma machines that have exhibited great potential to address many plasma assisted manufacturing problems are microwave plasma reactor systems. Their electrodeless nature together with their ability to create high densities of excited and charged species have made both high-pressure and low-pressure discharges an attractive technology for many plasma processing applications. Past and ongoing research by the investigators and others has demostrated the potential of these microwave plasma machines in the commercial manufacturing of hard thin film coatings and electronic and photonic materials. Of particular note, are the microwave processing applications related to diamond thin film deposition and the processing of silicon and III-V electronic and photonic materials. Building upon these past successes, their research activities described in this proposal are concerned with the continued development, optimization, and intelligent control of this important manufacturing technology. The proposed work will be carried out in the Electronics and Surface Properties of Materials (ESPM) Center Laboratories at Michigan State University. In the Center, microwave plasma machines and associated plasma processes are being developed by an interdisciplinary group of engineering faculty. Thus, the requested instrumentation will augment an already very active research laboratory and will allow ESPM Center research activities to more rapidlly expand into new materials characterization technologies, process optimizations, and plasma process control, and will enhance ongoing research in plasm a machine development, modeling, and diagnosis. In particular, the requested equipment will provide the instrumentation needed for new, specific plasma process development and optimization activities, will provide additional computer resources for plasma machine modeling and reactor control efforts, will enable new and strengthen ongoing materials and microstructure characterization efforts, and will provide instrumentation required for the recently initiated plasma process control activities. Finally, requested instrumentation will allow plasma machine development to proceed into new creative direction. A substantial fraction of the requested equipment funding is for instrumentation for new ESPM Center efforts and will aid new Center faculty members with their instrumentation needs. Thus, it is expected that this request will greatly improve the Center's research capability on intelligent process control, plasma process development, and materials characterization techniques. The requested laboratory instruments represent and important addition to the capabilities of the ESPM Laboratories and it will allow the Center to more effectively perform its interdisciplinary research and education missions.