Thin Film Nucleation, Growth, & Microstructure Evolution

Course Objectives

•  Understand the primary experimental variables and surface reaction paths controlling nucleation/growth kinetics and microstructural evolution during vapor-phase deposition.
•  Develop an appreciation of the advantages/disadvantages of competing growth techniques.
•  Learn how to better design film growth processes.

Course Description

Thin-film technology is pervasive in many applications, including microelectronics, optics, magnetics, hard and corrosion resistant coatings, micromechanics, etc. Progress in each of these areas depends upon the ability to selectively and controllably deposit thin films (thickness ranging from tens of angstroms to micrometers) with specified physical properties. This, in turn, requires control - often at the atomic level - of film microstructure and microchemistry.
Essential fundamental aspects, as well as the technology, of thin-film nucleation and growth from the vapor phase (evaporation, MBE, sputtering, and CVD) are discussed in detail and highlighted with "real" examples. The course begins with an introduction on substrate surfaces: structure, reconstruction, and adsorption/desorption kinetics. Nucleation processes are treated in detail using insights obtained from both in situ (RHEED, LEED, STM, AES, EELS, etc.) and post-deposition (TEM and AFM) analyses. The primary modes of nucleation include 2D (step flow, layer-by-layer, and 2D multilayer), 3D, and Stranski-Krastanov. The fundamental limits of epitaxy will be discussed.

Experimental results and simulations will be used to illustrate processes controlling 3D nucleation kinetics, island coalescence, clustering, secondary nucleation, column formation, preferred orientation, and microstructure evolution. The effects of low-energy ion-irradiation during deposition, as used in sputtering and plasma-CVD, will be discussed with examples.

Course Content

The course provides an understanding of:
•  the role of the substrate in mediating growth kinetics
•  the nucleation process
•  film growth modes
•  epitaxy
•  the development, and control, of film stress (strain engineering)
•  polycrystalline film growth , texture, and microstructure evolution
•  structure-zone models of film microstructure
•  the role of low-energy ion/surface interactions during film growth
•  the relationship between film growth parameters and film properties

Who Should Attend?
Scientists and engineers involved in deposition, characterization, or manufacturing/marketing of thin film deposition equipment.

Instructor:  
Joe Greene , Director of the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory and the D. B. Willett Professor of Materials Science, University of Illinois

Course Materials:
Course Notes

Short curriculum
	Joe Greene is the D.B. Willett Professor of Materials Science at the Univ. of Illinois and the Tage Erlander Professor of Materials Physics at Linköping University, Sweden. The focus of his research has been the development of an atomic-level understanding of adatom/surface interactions during the dynamic process of vapor-phase crystal growth in order to controllably manipulate microchemistry, microstructure, and, hence, physical properties. Joe has published more than 420 papers and review articles, 20 book chapters, and co-edited 4 books in the general areas of crystal growth, thin-film physics, and surface science. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Thin Solid Films and past Editor of CRC Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Sciences . He has also Chaired the Thin Film Division and the Education Committee of the IUVSTA. Major awards include the John Thornton Award (1991), the Tage Erlander Award (1991), Senior University of Illinois Scholar (1991), an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (1992) from Linköping University, Fellow of the AVS (1993), the Technical Excellence Award from the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the 1996 DOE Award for Sustained Outstanding Research, the 1998 David Adler Award in Materials Physics from the APS, Fellow of the American Physical Society (1998), the 1998 Aristotle Award from SRC, the D.B. Willett Professor of Engineering, the 1999 MRS David Turnbull Award, the 2001 International Scientist of the Year, and election to the US National Academy of Engineering.