MRI: Acquisition of a Sputtering-Evaporation System for Thin Film Deposition

该项目由主要研究仪器计划和促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项支持阿肯色大学费耶特维尔校区（UAF）购买混合溅射-蒸发器系统，为校园增加变换器薄膜材料合成能力。该仪器将有助于制造各种最先进的复杂层状材料，用于广泛应用的研究，这些研究依赖于对薄膜界面的化学、结构和成分特性的精确控制。这些材料涵盖了打算使用该仪器的研究人员的广泛范围。该仪器对于高用户吞吐量也很强大，并补充了已经在校园运行的尖端材料表征设施。该仪器为研究生和博士后提供了最先进的研究和教育经验，他们将成为其主要用户群。它通过提供更具竞争力的研究经验和提供令人兴奋的、用户友好的高水平科学研究途径，帮助阿肯色大学招募和培训多样化的研究生群体。预计它将影响相关材料研究转化为技术，刺激阿肯色州西北部的创业活动。它将通过大规模的校园合作和对年轻研究人员的投资来提高材料科学和工程的地位。在UAF校园中出现了许多研究主题，突出了对通用薄膜合成仪器的需求。其中一个主题是电化学界面的能量转换，研究人员的目标是制造和表征纳米复合材料、合金和异质结构，用于电催化和电池应用。另一个主题是研究用薄膜和二维材料制造最先进的量子器件。第三个主题旨在通过表面工程和增材制造开发复杂的功能界面和三维材料。第四个主题强调与生物传感和有机化学反应相关的化学、光化学和电化学反应。薄膜合成在这些新兴主题中具有广泛的应用。这个奖项为学校提供了一个显著提高相关研究能力的工具。该仪器通过射频等离子体溅射和电子束蒸发促进了各种复杂层状材料（半导体，金属和绝缘体）的制造。它还包括一个加热阶段和气体管道，可以实现材料合成的原位化学控制，涵盖了广泛的预期研究人员的兴趣。该仪器将被安置在UAF校园内的纳米科学与工程研究所，并可供用户使用。在该设施中已经运行的尖端材料表征设备补充了即将获得的薄膜仪器的科学影响。该仪器的用户主要包括研究生、博士后和来自UAF校园的教师，尽管本科生、校园附近和整个地区的研发和创业活动也可以使用该仪器。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Instrumentation program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).The award supports the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (UAF) campus with the acquisition of a hybrid sputterer-evaporator system to add transformative thin-film materials synthesis capabilities to the campus. The instrument will facilitate the fabrication of a wide range of state-of-the-art complex layered materials for research in a broad range of applications that rely on precise control of the chemical, structural, and compositional properties of thin film interfaces. This range of materials covers the broad scope of researchers intending to use the instrument. The instrumentation is also robust for high user throughput and complements the cutting-edge materials characterization facilities already operating on campus. The instrument provides a state-of-the-art research and educational experience for the graduate students and postdocs that will serve as its primary user base. It aides in the recruitment and training of a diverse graduate student population at the University of Arkansas by enabling a more competitive research experience and by providing an exciting, user-friendly route to high-level scientific research. It is anticipated that it will impact translation of related materials research into technologies, stimulating entrepreneurial activity in Northwest Arkansas. It will enhance the standing in materials science and engineering through the efforts of large-scale collaborations on campus and investment in young researchers.A number of research themes have emerged on the UAF campus that highlight the need for a general thin-film synthesis instrument. One theme focuses on energy conversion at electrochemical interfaces, where researchers aim to fabricate and characterize nanocomposites, alloys, and heterostructures for electrocatalysis and battery applications. Another theme studies the fabrication of state-of-the-art quantum devices from thin films and 2D materials. A third theme aims to develop complex functional interfaces and three-dimensional materials by surface engineering and additive manufacturing. A fourth theme emphasizes chemical, photochemical, and electrochemical reactions relevant to biological sensing and organic chemical reactions. Thin- film synthesis has broad application across these emergent themes. This award provides the campus with an instrument that significantly improve the relevant research capabilities. The instrument facilitates the fabrication of a wide range of complex layered materials (semiconductors, metals, and insulators) by RF plasma sputtering and electron-beam evaporation. It also includes a heating stage and gas plumbing that enables in situ chemical control of materials synthesis that covers the broad scope of intended researchers’ interests. The instrument will be housed in and available to users of the Institute of Nanoscience and Engineering on the UAF campus. The cutting-edge materials characterization facilities already operating in that facility complement the scientific impact of the thin-film instrument to be acquired. Users of the instrument include primarily graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from the UAF campus, though it is also accessible to undergraduate students and R&D and startup activity adjacent to the campus and throughout the regionThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.