Gregory N. Parsons
Alcoa Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC, USA
parsons@ncsu.edu

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a chemical method to form ultrathin layers or coatings of materials, primarily metal oxides and metals, onto arbitrary surfaces. The ALD process provides extremely high precision in film thickness and coating conformality, such that current large-scale manufacturing of advanced electronic computer devices requires ALD to form insulating and conducting layers in active transistors and circuits. The careful control provided by ALD processes has caught the attention of many industrial and academic researchers, and there is growing interest in gaining basic insight into about how the process works, and how it can be adapted and used for other future products.

The purpose of this short course is to provide new insight to researchers with prior experience and to those without prior exposure to ALD, to broaden basic understanding and inspire new creative thinking. The first part of the course will cover the basic background of Atomic Layer Deposition, including an introduction to ALD chemistry, history of ALD, an overview of ALD materials, precursors and reactions, and a description of ALD reactor systems. The second part will focus on advances and challenges in ALD, including related Molecular Layer Deposition and Sequential Vapor Infiltration processes, understanding of ALD nucleation and selective area deposition, an overview of ALD in electronics, and a brief summary of new emerging ALD applications. The course attendees will also receive a set of course notes, including a partial list of references to help guide further study.