Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) thin films were grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using a new Al metalorganic precursor, dimethyl aluminum sec-butoxide (C12H30Al2O2), and water vapor (H2O) as the reactant at deposition temperatures ranging from 150 to 300 oC. The ALD process showed typical self-limited film growth with precursor and reactant pulsing time at 250 oC; the growth rate was 0.095 nm/cycle, with no incubation cycle. This is relatively lower and more controllable than the growth rate in the typical ALD-Al2O3 process, which uses trimethyl aluminum (TMA) and shows a growth rate of 0.11 nm/ cycle. The as-deposited ALD-Al2O3 film was amorphous; X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that its amorphous state was maintained even after annealing at 1000 oC. The refractive index of the ALD-Al2O3 films ranged from 1.45 to 1.67; these values were dependent on the deposition temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the ALD-Al2O3 films deposited at 250oC were stoichiometric, with no carbon impurity. The step coverage of the ALD-Al2O3 film was perfect, at approximately 100%, at the dual trench structure, with an aspect ratio of approximately 6.3 (top opening size of 40 nm). With capacitance-voltage measurements of the Al/ALD-Al2O3/p-Si structure, the dielectric constant of the ALDAl2O3 films deposited at 250 oC was determined to be ~8.1, with a leakage current density on the order of 10−8 A/cm2 at 1 V.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are rapidly improving in capacity and life cycle characteristics to meet the requirements of a wide range of applications, such as portable electronics, electric vehicles, and micro- or nanoelectromechanical systems. Recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD), one of the vapor deposition methods, has been explored to expand the capability of LIBs by producing near-atomically flat and uniform coatings on the shell of nanostructured electrodes and membranes for conventional LIBs. In this paper, we introduce various ALD coatings on the anode, cathode, and separator materials to protect them and improve their electrochemical and thermomechanical stability. In addition, we discuss the effects of ALD coatings on the three-dimensional structuring and conduction layer through activation of electrochemical reactions and facilitation of fluent charge collection.

Nanosized zeolites were prepared in an autoclave using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH), and H2O, at various hydrothermal synthesis temperatures. Using transmission electron microscopy and particle size analysis, the nanopowder particulate sizes were revealed to be 10-300 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the synthesized nanopowder was silicalite-1 zeolite. Using atomic layer deposition, the fabricated zeolite nanopowder particles were coated with nanoscale TiO2 films. The TiO2 films were prepared at 300 oC by using Ti[N(CH3)2]4 and H2O as precursor and reactant gas, respectively. In the TEM analysis, the growth rate was ~0.7 Å/cycle. Zeta potential and sedimentation test results indicated that, owing to the electrostatic repulsion between TiO2-coated layers on the surface of the zeolite nanoparticles, the dispersibility of the coated nanoparticles was higher than that of the uncoated nanoparticles. In addition, the effect of the coated nanoparticles on the photodecomposition was studied for the irradiation time of 240 min; the concentration of methylene blue was found to decrease to 48%.

Al-doped ZnO(AZO) thin films were synthesized using atomid layer deposition(ALD), which acurately controlledthe uniform film thickness of the AZO thin films. To investigate the electrical and optical properites of the AZO thin films,AZO films using ALD was controlled to be three different thicknesses (50nm, 100nm, and 150nm). The structural, chemical,electrical, and optical properties of the AZO thin films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,field-emssion scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Hall measurement system, and UV-Visspectrophotometry. As the thickness of the AZO thin films increased, the crystallinity of the AZO thin films gradually increased,and the surface morphology of the AZO thin films were transformed from a porous structure to a dense structure. The averagesurface roughnesses of the samples using atomic force microscopy were ~3.01nm, ~2.89nm, and ~2.44nm, respectively. Asthe thickness of the AZO filmsincreased, the surface roughness decreased gradually. These results affect the electrical and opticalproperties of AZO thin films. Therefore, the thickest AZO thin films with 150nm exhibited excellent resistivity (~7.00×10−4Ω·cm), high transmittance (~83.2%), and the best FOM (5.71×10−3Ω−1). AZO thin films fabricated using ALD may be usedas a promising cadidate of TCO materials for optoelectronic applications.

Atomic layer deposition(ALD) is a promising deposition method and has been studied and used in many different areas, such as displays, semiconductors, batteries, and solar cells. This method, which is based on a self-limiting growth mechanism, facilitates precise control of film thickness at an atomic level and enables deposition on large and three dimensionally complex surfaces. For instance, ALD technology is very useful for 3D and high aspect ratio structures such as dynamic random access memory(DRAM) and other non-volatile memories(NVMs). In addition, a variety of materials can be deposited using ALD, oxides, nitrides, sulfides, metals, and so on. In conventional ALD, the source and reactant are pulsed into the reaction chamber alternately, one at a time, separated by purging or evacuation periods. Thermal ALD and metal organic ALD are also used, but these have their own advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, plasma-enhanced ALD has come into the spotlight because it has more freedom in processing conditions; it uses highly reactive radicals and ions and for a wider range of material properties than the conventional thermal ALD, which uses H2O and O3 as an oxygen reactant. However, the throughput is still a challenge for a current time divided ALD system. Therefore, a new concept of ALD, fast ALD or spatial ALD, which separate half-reactions spatially, has been extensively under development. In this paper, we reviewed these various kinds of ALD equipment, possible materials using ALD, and recent ALD research applications mainly focused on materials required in microelectronics.

CoSi2 was formed through annealing of atomic layer deposition Co thin films. Co ALD was carried out using bis(N,N'-diisopropylacetamidinato) cobalt (Co(iPr-AMD)2) as a precursor and NH3 as a reactant; this reaction produced a highly conformal Co film with low resistivity (50 μΩcm). To prevent oxygen contamination, ex-situ sputtered Ti and in-situ ALD Ru were used as capping layers, and the silicide formation prepared by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was used for comparison. Ru ALD was carried out with (Dimethylcyclopendienyl)(Ethylcyclopentadienyl) Ruthenium ((DMPD)(EtCp)Ru) and O2 as a precursor and reactant, respectively; the resulting material has good conformality of as much as 90% in structure of high aspect ratio. X-ray diffraction showed that CoSi2 was in a poly-crystalline state and formed at over 800˚C of annealing temperature for both cases. To investigate the as-deposited and annealed sample with each capping layer, high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) was employed with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). After annealing, in the case of the Ti capping layer, CoSi2 about 40 nm thick was formed while the SiOx interlayer, which is the native oxide, became thinner due to oxygen scavenging property of Ti. Although Si diffusion toward the outside occurred in the Ru capping layer case, and the Ru layer was not as good as the sputtered Ti layer, in terms of the lack of scavenging oxygen, the Ru layer prepared by the ALD process, with high conformality, acted as a capping layer, resulting in the prevention of oxidation and the formation of CoSi2.

Ta(OC2H5)5와 NH3를 이용하여 Cycle-CVD법으로 산화탄탈륨 막을 증착하였다. Cycle-CVD법에서는 Ta(OC2H5)5와 NH3사이에 불활성 기체를 주입한다. 하나의 cycle은 Ta(OC2H5)5주입, Ar주입, NH3 주입, Ar 주입의 네 단계로 이루어진다. Cycle-CVD법으로 산화탄탈륨 막을 증착할 때, 온도 250-280˚C에서 박막의 증착 기구는 원자층 증착(Atomic Layer Deposition:ALD)이었다. 265˚C에서 Ta(OC2H5)5:Ar:NH3:Ar:NH3:Ar의 한 cycle에서 각 단계의 주입 시간을 1-60초:5초:5초:5초로 Ta(OC2H5)5 주입 시간을 변화시키면서 산화탄탈륨 막을 Cycle-CVD법으로 증착하였다. Ta(OC2H5)5주입시간이 증가하여도 cycle 당 두께가 1.5Å/cycle로 일정하였다. 265˚C에서 증착된 박막의 누설 전류는 2MV/cm에서 2x10-2A/cm2이었고 열처리후의 산화탄탈륨 막의 누설 전류값은 10-4Acm2 이하고 감소하였다. 증착한 산화탄탈륨 막의 성분을 Auger 전자 분광법으로 분석하였다. 265˚C에서 증착한 막의 성분은 탄탈륨 33at%, 산소 50at%, 탄소 5at%, 질소 12at% 이었으며 900˚C, O2300torr에서 10분 동안 열처리한 박막은 탄탈륨 33at%, 산소 60wt%, 탄소 4at%, 질소 3at%이었다. 박막의 열처리 온도가 높을수록 불순물인 탄소와 질소의 박막 내 잔류량이 감소하였다. 열처리 후의 박막은 O/Ta 화학정량비가 증가하였으며 Ta의 4f7/5와 4f 5/2의 결합 강도가 열처리 전 박막보다 증가하였다. 열처리 후 누설 전류가 감소하는 것은 불순물 감소와 화학정량비 개선 및 Ta-O 결합 강도의증가에 의한 것으로 생각된다.

Ti[N (C2H5 CH3)2]4 [tetrakis(ethylmethylammino)titanium.TEMAT]와 NH3를 반응가스로 하여 각각 펄스(pulse) 형태로 시분할 주입되는 새로운 박막 증착방법(이하 Cycle-CVD라 함)을 이용하여 TiN박막이 SiO2.기판위에 증착되었다.Cycle-CVD에서 반을로 내로 주입되는 반응가스와 Ar가스는 TEAM 펄스, Ar 펄스,NH3펄스, Ar 펄스의 순서로 시분할주입되었고, 이렇게 차례대로 주입되는 4개의 펄스를 하나의 cycle로 규정하고, Cycle-CVD는 이러한 cycle이 연속하여 반복적으로 주입되도록 설계되었다. 기판온도가 170˚C-210˚C에서는 atomic layer deposition(ALD)특성을 보였고, 200˚C에서 충분한 반응가스의 펄스시간 후에 cycle당 증착된 박막의 두께가 0.6nm/cycle로 포화되는 양상을 보여주었는데, 이는 cycle당 증착된 TiN 박막의 두께가 1.6 monolayer(ML)/cycle에 해당된다. 이와 같이 반등가스의 흡착을 이용ㅇ하여 TiN이 제한된 표면반응만에 의하여 ALD 기구에 의해 증착이 이루어지므로 TiN 박막의 두께는 단지 cycle 횟수만으로 정확하게 제어할 수 있었고, 우수한 step coverage 특성을 얻었다. 또한 반응가스간의 기상반응을 방지함으로써 입자의 발생을 억제할 수 있었고, 상대적으로 낮은 온도임에도 불구하고 4at% 이하의 낮은 탄소함량을 갖는 양호한 특성을 보여주었다.