This course is intended for senior technicians, scientists, engineers or graduate students.

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a powerful and enabling thin film deposition technology with a growing range of applications including semiconductors, energy, catalysis, thin film encapsulation, and emerging areas of nanotechnology. ALD fills a unique niche in thin film deposition technology where exceptional control is required for thickness, stoichiometry, and other film properties at an industrially relevant scale. New chemistries specifically designed for ALD are enhancing the repertoire of materials that can be grown, encompassing the whole range from insulating to conductive layers. New developments in the area of in situ tools for monitoring ALD growth are also enhancing the properties of films grown with ALD. Although generally limited to relatively thin layers, there is a growing interest in spatial ALD to scale to larger size substrates and thicker layers for new and emerging applications, and the field will continue to grow in size and application while demanding new solutions specific to ALD.

This introductory course will cover the essentials of ALD including discussion of practical issues such as reactor design, precursor choice, in-situ growth monitoring, and scale-up, as well as providing insight into the molecular scale phenomena that dictate the final product. We will also cover new developments in materials applications and ALD chemistries, as well as emerging applications in non-traditional thin film areas. This full day course allows sufficient time to cover both the fundamentals of ALD and more recent approaches including plasma ALD and spatial ALD. Potential students are encouraged to contact the instructor to highlight their background and specific goals.