MATSE 462: Electronic Materials Laboratory

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Textbook: Class notes.

References:

1. J. L. Vessel and W. Ken, "Thin film processes", Academic Press
2. J. M. Poate, K. N. Tu, and J. W. Mayer, "Thin Films", Wiley Interscience, 1966
3. Milton Ohring, "The Materials Science of Thin Films", Academic Press (1992)

Catalog Description, Prerequisites and Schedule:

Introduces seniors and new graduate students to the fabrication, analysis and properties of thin film materials through a combination of lectures and experiments. Covers both the principles and practice of: (a) deposition of thin film materials by vacuum evaporation, sputtering and plasma assisted processes: (b) modification of properties by thermal reaction, surface treatment, etc., and (c) characterization of key properties including electrical conductivity, optical properties, and stress. Methods to optimize the film microstructure and engineering properties via growth techniques are emphasized. Students also undertake an independent project.

Course Topics:

1. Introduction; Thin films and vacuum

2. Deposition Principles and processes

Formation from the vapor state
Evaporation
Sputtering
PA-CVD 4

3. Thermal Reactions

Annealing
Oxidation

4. Properties

Microstructure
Stress, hardness
optical
electrical, magnetic

Course Objectives:

1. To teach students the relationship between microstructure and electronic properties.
2. To demonstrate the role of mechanical stress in the reliability issues for microelectronics thin film systems.
3. To teach students the advantages of the use of correct experimental design in order to circumvent inaccuracies introduced by typical real instrumentation including correction of offsets and thermal voltages.
4. To provide students with the hands-on opportunity to grow thin films under high vacuum environment.
5. To describe typical processing issues for thin film deposition and annealing steps.
6. To provide students with an opportunity to design their own materials solutions for a given set of device constraints.
7. To teach students role of calibration techniques and steps for defining sensitivity and accuracy criterion for instrumentation.

Course Outcomes:

1. Given a thin film of metal on a Si wafer suggest ways of measuring strain and stress of the thin film during thermal annealing.
2. Given an unknown semiconductor be able to determine the carrier concentration and mobility using Hall Effect measurements.
3. Given a thin film sample determine the sheet resistance and contact resistance of the system.
4. Given an evaporation system determine the degree of spatial uniformity of the thin film using geometrical considerations.
5. Show how a thin-film system can exhibit both elastic and plastic deformation characteristics over an extended temperature range.
6. Given thermocouple system demonstrate the role of the junction properties on the accuracy of the measurement.

Assessment Tools:

1. Three 3000 word written reports with properly formatted and annotated figures and tables.
2. Two oral exams on two of the major experiment modules.
3. One group presentation of design project.

Contribution of Course to Meeting the Professional Component

100%

Prepared by:

Leslie Allen, March 2001