Technical Design, Implementation and Optimization of an Atomic Layer Deposition Reactor and Its Control System

Technical Design, Implementation and Optimization of an Atomic Layer Deposition Reactor and its Control System

Michael Schaefer¹, Mason Chilmonczyk², Rudy Schlaf³

¹Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa

²Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa

³Department of Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a thin film manufacturing process that allows for angstrom thick layers to be uniformly placed on surfaces (including complex geometries) using self termination reactions via unique precursor gasses (e.g. Trimethylaluminum, Water, Titaniumtetracloride, Ammonia, etc.). Other methods such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) do not guarantee a precisely controlled uniform surface coating due to an inability of controlling the reactions taking place. Our design is advantageous because of the capability of studying manufactured films and interfaces directly via x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS), and inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES). The combination of all three methods allows for a complete electronic structure analysis without taking the sample out of vacuum conditions, thus reducing the amount of surface contamination respectively surface oxidation under ambient conditions.

This presentation covers the technical design and prototyping, control system, and implementation of the ALD reactor with an outlook on goals. The topics include: 1) Solidworks™ modeling and simulation, 2) Production and implementation of previously made designs, 3) Microcontroller usage (Arduino™, LabVIEW™) in an effort to control the necessary parameters like temperatures, pressures, injection timing, and carrier gas flow, 4) Printable circuit board (PCB) design (KiCAD™) and production based off of the prototyped setup, 5) Fabrication of a boxed control to ensure reliable use for an extended period of time, and 6) future optimization procedures and reaction control by studying the precursor injection behavior via differential pressure gauge readout.