CAREER: Process Engineering of Chemical Bath Deposition: A Soft Solution Route to Flexible Electronics

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This CAREER grant combines research and educational initiatives in the area of microelectronics processing.Research:The research program focuses on fabrication of compound semiconductor devices on flexible polymeric substrates by low temperature processing technology. Most compound semiconductors have the advantage of higher intrinsic carrier mobility over amorphous silicon and organic semiconductors. Chemical bath deposition (CBD) is an aqueous solution-based film deposition technique with the capability to deposit epitaxial compound semiconductor layers at low temperatures. Fundamental understanding of the CBD process is limited. This project involves the development of experimental techniques for fundamental investigation of particle nucleation, growth, deposition and molecular level heterogeneous thin film growth mechanisms, and development of a n impinging flow CBD reactor to tailor thin film micro- and nanostructures. The impinging flow reactor takes advantage of the microreation technology to control nanoparticle size and distribution in the impinging fluxes. Successful implementation of this project will not only advance basic understanding of the CBD process for the fabrication of flexible semiconductor devices, it will also establish a new research tool for the fundamental investigation of particle formation and deposition characteristics of many solution-based processes. In addition, the impinging flow CBD reactor could lead to a new thin film deposition technique for nanofabrication.Broad Impact:Complementing the research plan is the PI's plan to develop laboratory modules based on the synthesis of the research literature and the his own research activities. He plans to use modern technical applications as example in learning the fundamentals - to this end he plans to develop a low cost transistor lab based on CBD and microcontact printing; develop chemical engineering educational modules based on microreaction technology; and continue developing and disseminating unit operations modules on microelectronics processing.