CAREER: Plasma and Surface Chemistry in Depositing and Etching Metal Oxides

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Understanding of complex plasma-chemical processes has enabled many technological breakthroughs for thin-film deposition, etching, surface cleaning, and surface modification in silicon-based microelectronic systems. The objective of this CAREER effort is to extend plasma processing technology to metal oxides, a nonsilicon class of dielectric materials, by elucidating the gas-phase and surface reaction mechanisms and the origins of electronic defects in metal-oxide thin films and their effects on the conduction mechanisms of these films. Plasma diagnostic and surface analytical techniques are used to obtain quantitative information on plasma chemistry, identify reaction intermediates, and determine surface reaction-rate coefficients needed to model and control deposition and etching processes under real processing conditions. Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to determine local surface electronic structure and point defects during initial growth of the ultrathin dielectrics.An undergraduate semiconductor manufacturing option is to be established featuring a Semiconductor Manufacturing and Micro-Fabrication Laboratory to give chemical engineering students hands-on experience in fabricating and testing miniature electronic devices and micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS).