Date: Monday, November 11, 2013
Time: 2:00 pm
Location: PHYS 401

TITLE:
Investigation of Atomic Layer Deposition of Metal Oxides on III-V Semiconductors

ABSTRACT:
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is becoming a leading technique for the fabrication of nanoscale materials because of its precise thickness control and unprecedented capability of film uniformity and surface conformality. Applications for such materials are diverse, ranging from Li-ion batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells to coatings on 3D structures and replacing SiO2 with high dielectric constant materials in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs).

Our current understanding of ALD is based on ideal, one-pathway mechanisms. However, recent studies have shown we know very little about what reactions actually take place during ALD. The purpose of this research is to widen our understanding of the fundamentals of ALD by characterizing specific ALD processes such as the deposition Ta2O5 on InAs(100), post-deposition annealing effects on TiO2 thin films, the diffusion phenomenon of III-V semiconductor substrate atoms through metal oxide overlayers and explore the diffusion barrier capabilities of Al2O3 in these thin film systems.