Synchrotron Radiation to study Atomic Layer Deposition
ALBA Synchrotron
Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) relies on sequential exposures of the sample surface to vapor-phase chemical precursors to deposit thin films in a cyclic manner. Each ALD cycle usually results in a sub-monolayer of the desired material. ALD is known for its ultimate thickness control at the atomic level and excellent conformality on complex 3D substrates. These major advantages have been crucial for the introduction of ALD in the microelectronics industry. To continue the industrialization of ALD for a broad range of applications, a fundamental understanding of the underlying chemical and physical processes is needed. Given the low amounts of material that are usually deposited per ALD cycle, fast and surface sensitive techniques are required to study ALD processes.
The high brilliance of a Synchrotron Radiation (SR) light source enables to study the atomic structure of matter as well as its properties. SR-based spectroscopic, scattering, and diffraction techniques are usually quiet fast and have a high degree of accuracy, precision and sensitivity. Therefore, they are very well suited to study ALD growth. However, until now, the use of SR to study ALD has remained a niche activity of a few groups, mostly because of technical obstacles, the limited availability of beam-time and/or issues concerning the use of certain precursors at synchrotron facilities.
This workshop is organized by the ALBA Synchrotron and the COST action HERALD, and aims to gather scientists who are working in both the fields of ALD and SR-based material characterization. The goal is to share experiences, to discuss how to answer fundamental research questions about ALD with SR-based experiments, to find solutions for technical obstacles and to develop new ideas for SR-based ALD experiments.
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