*Fieke van den Bruele, Frank Grob, Yves Creyghton, Robin Koldeweij, Paul Poodt, TNO/Holst Centre, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Atomic Layer Deposition is a deposition technique capable of producing ultrathin conformal films with control of the thickness and composition of the films at the atomic level. For these reasons, ALD has become a key enabling technology for further miniaturization in the micro-electronics industry. The major drawback of ALD, however, is its low deposition rate that makes implementation of ALD in high-volume and low-cost markets a challenge. The last few years have seen major progress in the development of spatial atomic layer deposition. The main advantages of spatial ALD are the high deposition rates that can be achieved (nm/s as compared to ~nm/min for conventional ALD) and the possibility to conduct atmospheric pressure deposition. The first industrial applications exploited today for spatial ALD is surface passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells and new applications, such as encapsulation, diffusion barriers and roll-to-roll processing, are emerging. We will present our roll-to-roll spatial ALD technology and some examples of applications, such as the manufacturing of barriers foils and buffer layers for flexible thin-film photovoltaics. We will also touch upon the use of atmospheric pressure plasma technology to be able to do plasma enhanced Spatial ALD, to enable high speed Spatial ALD at low temperatures.