Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition: Materials Synthesis and Plasms-Surface Chemistry

微电子、光电子、光子学和化学传感器等各种技术先进领域非常需要纳米厚度的新型电子材料来提高性能。在原子尺度上控制薄膜质量和成分的飞跃需要新颖的工艺和对表面反应化学的基本了解。 该提案的重点是开发使用部分电离气体化学的原子层沉积工艺，实施最先进的表面分析技术来表征表面反应，并将这些材料集成到微电子器件中以测试电子性能。 这项研究的成功将为沉积超薄电子材料提供优化的工艺，并为未来几代更快的微电子器件奠定基础。 研究成果将整合到加州大学洛杉矶分校首席研究员开发的三门课程中，以最大限度地发挥研究的影响，即本科生课程“半导体制造实验室”、研究生/本科生课程“表面与界面工程”以及研究生课程“等离子体处理原理”。 该计划将支持化学工程系的两名女研究生攻读博士学位。研究。 加州大学洛杉矶分校的本科生（尤其是女性）将获得高级研究项目和暑期职位，从事拟议研究中概述的光谱数据收集和分析，并帮助她们在学术界或工业界的长期职业发展。 还将通过首席研究员开展的外展活动向高中女生提供暑期实习机会，以提高女学生进入大学后追求科学和工程的兴趣。

Novel electronic materials of nanometer thicknesses are greatly needed for improved performance in a variety of technologically advanced fields including microelectronics, optoelectronics, photonics, and chemical sensors. The leap into controlling thin film quality and composition at an atomic scale requires a novel process and a fundamental understanding of the surface reaction chemistry. This proposal focuses on developing an atomic layer deposition process using a partially ionized gas chemistry, implementing state-of-the-art surface analytical techniques to characterize the surface reactions, and integrating these materials into microelectronic devices to test the electronic performance. The success of this research will provide optimized processing of depositing ultra-thin electronic materials, and lay the foundation of future generations of faster microelectronic devices. Research outcome will be integrated into three courses developed by the principle investigator at UCLA to maximize the impact of the research, i.e., an undergraduate course entitled Semiconductor Manufacturing Laboratory, a graduate/undergraduate course on Surface and Interface Engineering, and a graduate course on Principles of Plasma Processing. Two female graduate students in the Department of Chemical Engineering will be supported under this program to pursue their Ph.D. studies. Senior research projects and summer positions will be offered to undergraduate students at UCLA, especially women, to work on spectroscopic data collection and analysis outlined in the proposed research and to help their long term career development in academia or industry. Summer internships will also be offered to high school girls through the outreach activities established by the principle investigator to promote the interest of female students in pursuing Science and Engineering when they enter colleges.