Brian Everhart, Drake Austin, Jose Flores, Michael Newburger, Deep Jariwala, Troy Olsson, Nicholas Glavin, AV Incorporated/Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
Laser processing has demonstrated transformative potential for tailoring thin-film materials across metals, oxides, transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), and metal nitrides, leveraging continuous-wave (CW) laser heating under controlled gas environments for high-throughput materials synthesis. This data-driven approach enables mapping of structure–property relationships across reaction conditions, enabling the mapping of application-ready films as well as precursors for subsequent reactions and device fabrication. For example, precisely tailored molybdenum oxide precursor films can improve orientation-specific selenide crystallinity and corresponding refractive indices, verified by micro-ellipsometry. Building on this structure–property mapping, laser processing is applied to condition electrodes and tailor crystallinity for seeding high-quality aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) films. AlScN is a BEOL-compatible ferroelectric with strong potential for nonvolatile memory and related computing functions. Because the underlying electrode structure (e.g., aluminum and other metals/nitrides) critically influences AlScN growth, this work applies localized laser processing to pre-condition electrode microstructure and surface chemistry on Si/SiO_₂ within BEOL thermal budgets (≤ 400 °C). Spatially confined heating in a reducing atmosphere drives recrystallization, grain coarsening, and oxide reduction. Synchrotron GIWAXS enables mapping of phase/orientation changes of both the underlying electrode as well as the AlScN grown from the electrode seed layer, enabling structure-property mapping of electrode composition and its impact on AlScN crystallinity and orientation. Collectively, this work demonstrates laser processing as a transferable pathway for applying structure–property maps to synthesize high-quality thin films for next-generation electronics.