9413727 Asmussen Plasma assisted processing of thin films has been identifed as an important, emerging manufacturing technology for producing wear, heat, and corrosion resistant surfaces and for the fabrications of electronic and photonic materials. In order to achieve the commercialization of these plasma processes, intelligently controlled, user-friendly plasma manufacturing technology must be developed. One class of plasma machines that have exhibited great potential to address many plasma assisted manufacturing problems are microwave plasma reactor systems. Their electrodeless nature together with their ability to create high densities of excited and charged species have made both high-pressure and low-pressure discharges an attractive technology for many plasma processing applications. Past and ongoing research by the investigators and others has demostrated the potential of these microwave plasma machines in the commercial manufacturing of hard thin film coatings and electronic and photonic materials. Of particular note, are the microwave processing applications related to diamond thin film deposition and the processing of silicon and III-V electronic and photonic materials. Building upon these past successes, their research activities described in this proposal are concerned with the continued development, optimization, and intelligent control of this important manufacturing technology. The proposed work will be carried out in the Electronics and Surface Properties of Materials (ESPM) Center Laboratories at Michigan State University. In the Center, microwave plasma machines and associated plasma processes are being developed by an interdisciplinary group of engineering faculty. Thus, the requested instrumentation will augment an already very active research laboratory and will allow ESPM Center research activities to more rapidlly expand into new materials characterization technologies, process optimizations, and plasma process control, and will enhance ongoing research in plasm a machine development, modeling, and diagnosis. In particular, the requested equipment will provide the instrumentation needed for new, specific plasma process development and optimization activities, will provide additional computer resources for plasma machine modeling and reactor control efforts, will enable new and strengthen ongoing materials and microstructure characterization efforts, and will provide instrumentation required for the recently initiated plasma process control activities. Finally, requested instrumentation will allow plasma machine development to proceed into new creative direction. A substantial fraction of the requested equipment funding is for instrumentation for new ESPM Center efforts and will aid new Center faculty members with their instrumentation needs. Thus, it is expected that this request will greatly improve the Center's research capability on intelligent process control, plasma process development, and materials characterization techniques. The requested laboratory instruments represent and important addition to the capabilities of the ESPM Laboratories and it will allow the Center to more effectively perform its interdisciplinary research and education missions.
