IMR: Acquisition of a Biased Target Ion Beam Deposition System for Materials Research & Integrated Education Activities

该项目将采用一种新型的脉冲偏置多目标沉积仪器，以支持德克萨斯州立大学日益增长的先进材料研究和综合教育活动。偏压靶离子束沉积(BTIBD)设备将允许制造各种人工结构的层状薄膜和合金，具有精确控制的亚纳米层特征和可调节的表面/界面特征。该仪器采用脉冲偏置靶标方法，克服了传统离子束和(脉冲)磁控溅射技术的许多局限性，是德克萨斯州开创性的径向原子辅助离子束溅射工具的重大进步。该项目的主要目标将是：(1)展示这一新工具的组合能力，以制造定制的人工工程纳米层材料和合金；(2)展示BTIBD作为原子层沉积技术的更简单的溅射对应物的实施能力；以及(3)展示BTIBD方法在先进设备制造中工业化实施的可行性。这个拟议的项目将导致BTIBD多目标原型系统的开发，该系统是与这种偏置沉积概念的先驱4 Wave，Inc.密切合作开发的。BTIBD系统将用于制备复杂的薄膜材料，包括磁性光子石榴石波导材料；氧化锌和氮化镓基宽禁带半导体材料；用于MOS和磁隧道结应用的稀土/过渡金属氧化物；用于磁各向异性和磁致伸缩研究的多晶和外延铁磁合金薄膜；以及过渡金属-硅化物(用于ULSI栅极堆叠应用)。这些材料对基础研究和应用研究都很有意义，可能会对磁存储、微电子、电信和微电子机械系统等应用产生影响。本项目将探索一种新的薄膜沉积系统。该系统将能够快速地制作具有许多不同组成原子的新的薄膜材料的原型，并提供调节薄膜中界面处的原子轮廓的手段，这对于控制这些系统中的材料性质非常重要。该系统将用于生产各种在电子、光学和磁性应用中有用的薄膜。这一系统的开发是与一家私营公司联合进行的，该系统的交付将提供一个原型沉积，以后可能会在其他机构复制。

This project will adapt a novel pulse-biased multi-target deposition instrument for supporting Texas State University's growing advanced materials research and integrated education activities. The Biased Target Ion Beam Deposition (BTIBD) instrument will permit the fabrication of a wide variety of artificially-structured layered films and alloys with precisely-controlled sub-nanolayer features and adjustable surface/interface characteristics. The instrument implements a pulsed biased target approach that overcomes many of the limitations of traditional ion beam and (pulsed) magnetron sputtering techniques, and is a major evolutionary advancement of Texas State's pioneering radical atom assist ion beam sputtering tool. Major goals of this project will be: (1) the demonstration of the combinatorial capabilities of this new tool for fabricating tailored artificially-engineered nanolayered materials and alloys, (2) the demonstration that BTIBD is capable of implementation as a simpler sputtering counterpart to the atomic layer deposition technique, and (3) the demonstration of the feasibility of the BTIBD approach for industrial implementation in advanced device manufacturing. This proposed project will result in a BTIBD multi-target prototype system developed in close collaborative interaction with 4 Wave, Inc, the pioneers of this biased deposition concept. The BTIBD system will be used to fabricate complex film materials including magnetic photonic garnet waveguide materials; ZnO-based and GaN-based wide-bandgap semiconductor materials; rare-earth/transition metal oxides for MOS and magnetic tunnel junction applications; polycrystalline and epitaxial ferromagnetic alloy films for magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction investigations; and transition metal-silicides (for ULSI gate stack applications). These are materials of interest for both fundamental and applied (device-related) investigations, with potential impact towards applications including magnetic storage, microelectronics, telecommunications and microelectromechanical systems.This project will explore a new thin-film deposition system. The system will be able to rapidly prototype new thin-film materials with many different constituent atoms, and provide the means for tuning the atomic profiles at interfaces in the films, which is very important for controlling material properties in these systems. The system will be used to produce a variety of films that are useful in electronic, optical and magnetic applications. Development of this system is being done in conjunction with a private company and delivery of this system will provide a prototype deposition which may be duplicated later at other institutions.