We propose to acquire thin film deposition and characterization equipment for use in our ongoing and future research programs, including sample preparation benches, a modern and flexible sputter deposition and thermal evaporation system, and ellipsometer. The deposition system will be used to deposit a variety of conducting (Au,Al,Zn,In,etc.) and dielectric (ZnO,SiO2,etc.) films and will be used by a large number of faculty and students. An automated ellipsometer will be used to characterize the films produced by the deposition system and our existing chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors.
