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Chemical Vapor Deposition Laboratory

The Hill Hall 302 Chemical Vapor Deposition lab is equipped to safely use pyrophoric gases (silane, for example) to grow amorphous or nanocrystalline silicon films and silicon nanocrystal powders by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The lab is also shared with the Advanced Coatings and Surface Engineering Laboratory (ACSEL)

Instruments

  1. PECVD Cluster Tool

    The REMRSEC's cluster tool was manufactured by MV Systems. It presently has three modular process zones, and can be expanded to have as many as seven. It can grow on substrates up to 4"x4" (nominal). It uses a robust, low temperature radiant heating design to heat the substrates up to 450 C. It is equipped with a 100 W RF power supply to generate plasma. The cluster tool is currently supplied with nitrogen, hydrogen, argon, sulfur hexafluoride, ammonia and silane. This allows it to grow Si nanowires, nanocrystalline Si, morphous Si, and SiN.

  2. Si Nanoparticle Reactor

    The REMRSEC's Si nanoparticle reactor uses a dilute mixture of silane in argon. When this mixture is exposed to a plasma in a quartz tube, Si nanoparticles approximately 7 nm in diameter are formed by a vapor phase process. The nanoparticles are captured on a substrate or mesh located downstream from the reactor tube. The Si nanoparticles are very sensitive to oxygen and moisture. The capturing substrate or mesh can be removed from the reactor in a load lock and transferred to a nearby glove box for processing in a dry, oxygen free atmosphere.