Development of a System for Time-resolved Studies of Film Growth and Processing and Student Training

该奖项支持佛蒙特大学的仪器开发和学生培训。教师和学生们正在开发一种系统，该系统将能够研究表面在被高能粒子轰击时的松弛现象，这一系列过程统称为“高能束流沉积”。使用来自同步加速器的非常强的X射线束，当这些重要的技术过程正在发生时，表面的原子结构将被研究。正在开发的新系统将首次能够在进行晶体生长和蚀刻的同时原位研究材料的表面结构，实现微秒级的时间分辨率。该系统将利用脉冲激光沉积和表面刻蚀的方法，脉冲持续时间为1微秒，以研究该时间尺度上的表面弛豫效应。该系统将允许广泛的同步加速器X射线访问样品，并结合标准表征工具(例如RHEED)，以更好地将同步加速器结果与内部研究相关联。初步研究将集中在对未来电子和信息存储技术至关重要的工艺基础上。第一种是脉冲激光沉积，它允许通过一次一个原子层的高度可控的薄膜生长。第二种是高能离子对表面的侵蚀，这是一种可以用来产生纳米级表面图案的过程。从这些实验中获得的基本认识最终可能导致培育新的高质量光电子学材料和信息存储技术材料的方法，如磁盘和光盘驱动器以及量子自旋设备。这一新仪器将为佛蒙特大学的本科生和研究生提供晶体生长、表面处理和表面分析领域的研究和教育机会。学生还将获得一个基于同步加速器的材料研究计划。

This award supports instrument development and student training at the University of Vermont. Faculty and students are developing a system that will enable study of the relaxation of surfaces as they are being bombarded by energetic particles in a set of processes known collectively as "energetic beam deposition." Using a very intense beam of x-rays from a synchrotron source, the atomic structure of surfaces will be investigated as these technologically important processes are occurring. The new system under development will enable, for the first time, microsecond time resolution during the in-situ study of materials' surface structures while undergoing crystal growth and etching. The system will make use of pulsed laser deposition and surface etching methods with pulse durations of 1 microsecond in order to study surface relaxation effects on this time scale. The system will permit extensive synchrotron x-ray access to the sample and incorporate standard characterization tools (e.g. RHEED) to better correlate the synchrotron results with in-house studies. Initial studies will concentrate on the fundamentals of processes that are vital for future electronics and information storage technologies. The first is pulsed laser deposition, which allows highly controlled growth of thin films by a single atomic layer at a time. The second is the erosion of surfaces with energetic ions, a process that can be used to produce nanoscale surface patterns. The basic understanding gained from these experiments could eventually lead to methods for growing new high quality materials for optoelectronics and to materials for information storage technologies such as magnetic and optical disk drives and quantum spin devices. This new instrument will provide research and educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Vermont in the areas of crystal growth, surface processing and surface analysis. Students will also gain access to a synchrotron-based materials research program.