The objective of this proposal is to understand the role of radicals in atomic layer deposition of complex and multifunctional metal oxide thin films. Specifically, this proposal aims to construct one coaxial waveguide microwave source to effectively dissociate gas molecules in generating energy and flux controlled radicals and implement in-situ quartz crystal microbalance to study the reaction kinetics in an radical-enhanced atomic layer deposition (RE-ALD) process leading to compositionally controlled metal oxide thin films with tailored materials and electronics properties. We will employ several state-of-the-art surface analytical techniques to elucidate chemical coordination and charge state of metal ions, and assess the effect of radicals, compositions, and microstructures on the measured electrical properties of the as-synthesized metal oxide thin films.
If successful, this research will lead to an enabling and novel process that is capable of tuning the functionalities and meeting the increasingly more stringent specifications of these complex metal oxide materials by changing their fundamental characteristics, such as composition, crystallinity, and electronic structures. Defining the process parameters to achieve these objectives will make metal oxides essential building blocks for many technologically important applications such as electronic components, thermal barrier coatings, catalysts, laser optic coatings, biomedical coatings, chemical sensors, and solid oxide fuel cells. The proposed work will also contribute to the education and training of graduate, undergraduate, and high school summer intern students through engineering courses and hands-on research.
