Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is widely used to deposit thin film coatings for energy storage, catalysis, semiconductor, and other applications. ALD of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) using trimethylaluminum and water is often selected when attempting to apply ALD in a new area. ALD of Al2O3 is a robust and well-studied chemistry that provides conformal and amorphous thin films with atomic-scale thickness control over a wide temperature window. While a number of prior studies have provided insight into how process conditions influence the chemical and microstructure properties of ALD Al2O3, to date we have limited information about the local atomic structure of these amorphous ALD Al2O3 layers. In this work, we employ electron diffraction (ED) coupled with pair distribution function (PDF) analysis to study the atomic structure of amorphous ALD-Al2O3 grown on carbon nanotubes (Al2O3/CNTs) at a range of deposition temperatures from 150-300°C. Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling enables us to obtain amorphous structure models for these ALD Al2O3 layers. We obtain local atomic structure information such as the stoichiometry, pair distances, and the coordination numbers and compare and contrast these results with complementary data from prior reports. This study provides insights into how ALD process conditions impact atomic structure and will help inform future ALD process conditions to produce Al2O3 with target properties.

Influence of process conditions on the local atomic structure of amorphous Al2O3 deposited by atomic layer deposition

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.