MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of an Atomic-Layer Deposition System with Remote Plasma Activation of Surface Processes

该主要研究仪器（MRI）奖支持购买定制的等离子体增强原子层沉积（PE-ALD）系统，该系统将被安置在伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校（UIUC）的共享设施中。该仪器将为区域和国家提供其独特的能力，即在低温下沉积具有原子精确厚度的各种高质量薄膜材料。它将被调查人员用于开发对美国经济发展和国家安全至关重要的多种技术，包括微电子、5G/6G无线通信、量子信息科学、生物技术和能源存储。此外，该PE-ALD系统将用于UIUC电子材料和加工的四个本科课程，为下一代科学家和工程师提供实践培训，成为美国半导体制造业的未来劳动力。它还将为UIUC的工程开放日为K-12学生开发一个关于ALD技术的学习模块，并为当地少数民族高中生开发PE-ALD相关的暑期研究项目。这些外展活动将有助于维持多样化的STEM人才管道。推动下一代半导体和纳米技术制造的国家重要创新的核心能力是先进的纳米级薄膜沉积能力。ALD是一种独特而强大的气相沉积技术，在这种技术中，超薄（即通常是纳米级）薄膜通过在衬底表面重复两个顺序执行的半循环，包括自限化学反应，在亚单层的亚单层中合成。通过将远程等离子体源、流动蒸汽输送模块、原位椭偏仪和负载锁定连接与手套箱集成在一个系统中，这种定制的ALD系统能够以保形方式沉积密集、无针孔的各种材料薄膜，包括金属、氮化物和氧化物。这可以在有限的热预算内使用定制合成的前体，在具有复杂表面拓扑结构的传统和空气敏感基板上完成，并在晶格尺度上精确控制材料的化学计量和厚度。研究人员将利用这些能力沉积功能薄膜材料，作为高性能逻辑和功率晶体管、铁电存储器、光波导、量子光子器件、量子隧道结、拓扑量子比特、电池、热伪装器件、生物传感器和生物医学植入物的核心组件。该仪器将使研究能够导致微电子，量子科学和生物医学工程领域的变革性技术。它还将加速开发新的ALD前体和优化其沉积工艺。该项目由民用、机械和制造创新部（CMMI）的主要仪器研究计划（MRI）和先进制造计划（AM）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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 Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a customized plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) system, which will be housed in a shared facility at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This instrument will provide regional and national access to its unique capability of depositing various high-quality thin-film materials with atomic precise thickness at low processing temperatures. It will be used by investigators to develop multiple technologies critical for U.S. economic development and national security, including microelectronics, 5G/6G wireless communications, quantum information science, biotechnologies, and energy storage. In addition, this PE-ALD system will be used in four undergraduate courses in electronic materials and processing at UIUC, providing hands-on training of the next-generation of scientists and engineers as future workforce for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing industry. It will also enable the development of a learning module about the ALD technique for K-12 students for UIUC's Engineering Open House, and PE-ALD related summer research projects for local high-school students from minority groups. These outreach events will contribute to sustaining the diverse STEM talent pipeline. A core capability driving nationally important innovations in next-generation semiconductor and nanotechnology manufacturing is advanced nanoscale thin-film deposition capabilities. ALD is a unique and powerful vapor-phase deposition technique in which ultrathin, i.e., typically nanometer scale, films are synthesized sub-monolayer by sub-monolayer by repeating two sequentially executed half cycles involving self-limiting chemical reactions on a substrate surface. By integrating a remote plasma source, flow-through vapor delivery module, in situ ellipsometry, and load-lock connection with a glove box in a single system, this custom-built ALD system provides the capability to conformally deposit dense, pin-hole-free thin films of a wide spectrum of materials, including metals, nitrides, and oxides. This can be done using custom-synthesized precursors within a limited thermal budget, on both conventional and air-sensitive substrates featuring complex surface topologies, with precisely controlled material stoichiometry and thickness on the lattice scale. The investigators will utilize these capabilities to deposit functional thin film materials as the core component in high performance logic and power transistors, ferroelectric memory, optical wave guide, quantum photonic devices, quantum tunnel junctions, topological qubits, battery, thermal camouflage devices, biosensors, and biomedical implants. This instrument will enable research which will lead to transformative technologies in microelectronics, quantum sciences, and biomedical engineering. It will also accelerate development of new ALD precursors and the optimization of their deposition processes.This project is jointly funded by the Major Instrumentation Research Program (MRI) and the Advanced Manufacturing Program (AM) in the division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI).This 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.