Investigation on spatially separated atomic layer deposition by gas flow simulation and depositing Al2O3 films

Suh, Sungin; Park, Sang‐Hyun; Lim, Hajin; Choi, Yu‐Jin; Hwang, Cheol Seong; Kim, Hyeong Joon; Won, Seok-Jun

doi:10.1116/1.4737123

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A similar decrease in the Al 2 O 3 ALD growth rate versus substrate speed has been observed previously for this rotating cylinder reactor and for other spatial ALD reactors. 21,22,24,[32][33][34] The Al 2 O 3 growth rate in Fig. 2(a) begins to display selflimiting behavior at 53 RPM for 2, 4, and 6 spacers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Spatial atomic layer deposition for coating flexible porous Li-ion battery electrodes

Yersak

Sharma

Wallas

et al. 2017

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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Ultrathin atomic layer deposition (ALD) coatings on the electrodes of Li-ion batteries can enhance the capacity stability of the Li-ion batteries. To commercialize ALD for Li-ion battery production, spatial ALD is needed to decrease coating times and provide a coating process compatible with continuous roll-to-roll (R2R) processing. The porous electrodes of Li-ion batteries provide a special challenge because higher reactant exposures are needed for spatial ALD in porous substrates. This work utilized a modular rotating cylinder spatial ALD reactor operating at rotation speeds up to 200 revolutions/min (RPM) and substrate speeds up to 200 m/min. The conditions for spatial ALD were adjusted to coat flexible porous substrates. The reactor was initially used to characterize spatial Al 2 O 3 and ZnO ALD on flat, flexible metalized polyethylene terephthalate foils. These studies showed that slower rotation speeds and spacers between the precursor module and the two adjacent pumping modules could significantly increase the reactant exposure. The modular rotating cylinder reactor was then used to coat flexible, model porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. The uniformity of the ZnO ALD coatings on the porous AAO membranes was dependent on the aspect ratio of the pores and the reactant exposures. Larger reactant exposures led to better uniformity in the pores with higher aspect ratios. The reactant exposures were increased by adding spacers between the precursor module and the two adjacent pumping modules. The modular rotating cylinder reactor was also employed for Al 2 O 3 ALD on porous LiCoO 2 (LCO) battery electrodes. Uniform Al coverages were obtained using spacers between the precursor module and the two adjacent pumping modules at rotation speeds of 25 and 50 RPM. The LCO electrodes had a thickness of $49 lm and pores with aspect ratios of $12-25. Coin cells were then constructed using the ALD-coated LCO electrodes and were tested to determine their battery performance. The capacity of the Al 2 O 3 ALD-coated LCO battery electrodes was measured versus the number of charge-discharge cycles. Both temporal and spatial ALD processing methods led to higher capacity stability compared with uncoated LCO battery electrodes. The results for improved battery performance were comparable for temporal and spatial ALD-coated electrodes. The next steps are also presented for scale-up to R2R spatial ALD using the modular rotating cylinder reactor. Published by the AVS. https://doi.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Spatial atomic layer deposition for coating flexible porous Li-ion battery electrodes

Yersak

Sharma

Wallas

et al. 2017

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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“…Since the materials are deposited layer by layer in atomic level, ALD is an excellent technology to precisely control the thickness of deposited thin films [1,2]. However, this intrinsic superiority comes along with a serious limitation: low throughput, especially in the industrial level ALD applications [3,4]. The conventional single wafer ALD, for instance, can only achieve 1.1~1.3 Å/cycle growth rate, that is a few nm per min for deposition of Al 2 O 3 [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Choice of gap size is an critical issue in designing spatial ALD reactors, because inappropriate gap size may result in intermixture of precursor gases, and hence intermixing reactions [4]. To investigate the influence of the gap on the flow fields, Suh et.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…al. performed gas flow simulations and Al 2 O 3 deposition experiments for a rotary spatial ALD reactor with a gap of 5 mm [4]. Generally, too big gaps (> 5 mm) will inevitably cause precursor gases intermixing, whereas too smaller gaps (<1 mm) will hinder the gas flow, and thus the deposition process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, too big gaps (> 5 mm) will inevitably cause precursor gases intermixing, whereas too smaller gaps (<1 mm) will hinder the gas flow, and thus the deposition process. Smaller gaps also pose a practical problem of wafer movement in massive production when the large wafer size and uneven wafer surfaces are considered [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Effects of gap size, temperature and pumping pressure on the fluid dynamics and chemical kinetics of in-line spatial atomic layer deposition of Al2O3

Pan

Jen

Yuan

2016

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

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Low throughput is a major limitation for industrial level atomic layer deposition (ALD) applications. Spatial ALD is regarded as a promising solution to this issue. With numerical simulations, this paper studies an in-line spatial ALD reactor by investigating the effects of gap size, temperature, and pumping pressure on the flow and surface chemical deposition processes in Al 2 O 3 ALD. The precursor intermixing is a critical issue in spatial ALD system design, and it is highly dependent on the flow and material distributions. By numerical studies, it's found that bigger gap, e.g., 2 mm, results in less precursor intermixing, but generates slightly lower saturated deposition rate. Wafer temperature is shown as a significant factor in both flow and surface deposition processes. Higher temperature accelerates the diffusive mass transport, which largely contributes to the precursor intermixing. On the other hand, higher temperature increases film deposition rate. Well-maintained pumping pressure is beneficial to decrease the precursor intermixing level, while its effect on the chemical process is shown very weak. It is revealed that the time scale of in-line spatial ALD cycle is in tens of milliseconds, i.e., ~15 ms. Considering that the in-line spatial ALD is a continuous process without purging step, the ALD cycle time is greatly shortened, and the overall throughput is shown as high as ~4 nm/s, compared to several nm/min in traditional ALD.

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Mechatronic Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition for Closed‐Loop and Customizable Process Control

Penley,

Cho,

Brooks

et al. 2024

Adv Materials Technologies

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A customized atmospheric‐pressure spatial atomic layer deposition (AP‐SALD) system is designed and implemented, which enables mechatronic control of key process parameters, including gap size and parallel alignment. A showerhead depositor delivers precursors to the substrate while linear actuators and capacitance probe sensors actively maintain gap size and parallel alignment through multiple‐axis tilt and closed‐loop feedback control. Digital control of geometric process variables with active monitoring is facilitated with a custom software control package and user interface. AP‐SALD of TiO2 is performed to validate self‐limiting deposition with the system. A novel multi‐axis printing methodology is introduced using x‐y position control to define a customized motion path, which enables an improvement in the thickness uniformity by reducing variations from 8% to 2%. In the future, this mechatronic system will enable experimental tuning of parameters that can inform multi‐physics modeling to gain a deeper understanding of AP‐SALD process tolerances, enabling new pathways for non‐traditional SALD processing that can push the technology towards large‐scale manufacturing.

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Investigation on spatially separated atomic layer deposition by gas flow simulation and depositing Al2O3 films

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Spatial atomic layer deposition for coating flexible porous Li-ion battery electrodes

Spatial atomic layer deposition for coating flexible porous Li-ion battery electrodes

Effects of gap size, temperature and pumping pressure on the fluid dynamics and chemical kinetics of in-line spatial atomic layer deposition of Al2O3

Mechatronic Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition for Closed‐Loop and Customizable Process Control

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