Proposal Number: CTS-9876251 Principal Investigator: Mahendra Sunkara Institution: University of Louisville
This CAREER plan addresses research in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and student training in CVD. The main objective of the research program is to obtain molecular understanding of the controlling factors for growing large, single crystals during chemical vapor processing. A set of selective nucleation and growth experiments, using a microwave CVD reactor, will be carried out. Atomic force microscopy will be used to characterize the early stages of individual crystal growth during CVD. This experimental program will be complemented with Monte Carlo simulations focused on calculating the growth rates and morphologies of individual crystals. The morphologies of simulated crystals will be compared with those observed experimentally to determine the effects of gas-surface reactions, dislocations, and impurities on growth faceting. These studies along with proposed experiments on controlled nucleation of platelet shaped crystals will be used to develop substrate independent methods for growing large single crystals of diamond from the vapor phase and gallium nitride from the liquid phase. The education plan is to develop courses in the areas of CVD and thin film characterization. The development of interactive World Wide Web educational materials for delivery of both lecture and laboratory courses is also planned.
