Proposal Number: CTS-0610181 Principal Investigator: Mark T. Swihart Institution: SUNY Buffalo Proposal Title: Third International Symposium on Gas-Phase and Surface Chemistry of Vapor Phase Materials Processing
The objective of the Third International Symposium on Fundamental Gas-Phase and Surface Chemistry of Vapor Phase Materials Processing is to bring together researchers that are studying such processes (chemical vapor deposition, dry etching, aerosol synthesis of nanomaterials, etc.) in a variety of contexts and for a variety of applications. This symposium provides a unique venue for communication among these researchers who would otherwise attend conferences more narrowly focused on a particular application or methodology, and who therefore would not otherwise come into contact. For example, there are may shared interests and opportunities for cross-fertilization between researchers working in microelectronics and those working on thin film deposition in other contexts, such as hard coatings. Intellectual Merit: This symposium will address the state of the art in vapor-phase synthesis and processing of materials with emphasis on gas-phase and surface chemistry and its effects on growth/etching rates and material morphology and properties. Materials of interest include semiconductors (elemental and compound), oxides, carbon in all forms, metals, and ceramics, processed in the form of thin films, bulk materials, or nanoparticles. Processes of interest include (but are not limited to): chemical vapor deposition (thermal, rapid thermal, plasma-assisted, photon-assisted, ion-assisted, particle-assisted etc.), atomic layer deposition, vapor-phase etching, molecular- and chemical-beam epitaxy, and aerosol synthesis. Particular areas of emphasis include kinetics of gas-phase and surface reactions underlying the vapor-phase processing of materials, including fundamental measurements of kinetic constants as well as in-situ probing during film growth/etching and particle synthesis; surface and interfacial chemistry during heteroepitaxy and selective epitaxy; new precursors and growth/etching chemistries; quantum-chemistry calculations for predicting thermochemistry, mechanisms, and rate parameters in the gas phase and on surfaces; in-situ monitoring and control of materials composition, morphology, stress, electrical, and optical properties; fundamentals and in situ monitoring of gas-to-particle conversion; particle formation issues during CVD; models describing the kinetics and transport phenomena that occur during vapor-phase materials processing, with special emphasis on hierarchical models leading from the molecular to the mesoscopic level (properties) and from the mesoscopic to the macroscopic level (processes). Broader Impacts: NSF funding will be used to support the participation of graduate students and junior faculty in this symposium as speakers, poster presenters, or attendees. Particular efforts will be made to attract and support female researchers and members of minority groups underrepresented in science and engineering.
