HWCVD · Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition - Education of skills and cross fertilization

Final Activity Report Summary - HWCVD (Hot-wire chemical vapour deposition - education of skills and cross fertilisation)

'In hot-wire chemical vapour deposition' (Catalytic CVD), surface reactions and thin film formation are governed by reactions between chemical radicals only. There is no risk of damage to sensitive electronic layers due to the impact of energetic ions. The efficient hydrogen removal from the growing surface, along with an effective network relaxation, leads to semiconductor and dielectric layers with low defect densities and high electronic quality at deposition rates that are unequalled by conventional deposition methods. At the end of August, 160 scientists from 30 countries gathered at Utrecht University to exchange the latest news on processes and applications involving Hot-Wire CVD. HWCVD gives approaches to many challenging issues that are encountered along the path dictated by Moore's law for the density of circuits on a chip, such as: high reliability of thin dielectric layers, better step coverage, avoidance of plasma damage to low-k material, and independence of the type of underlying layers [Y. Akasaka, Osaka Univ.]. HWCVD can also be used to produce very large area devices, such as displays with thin film transistor active matrices and thin film solar cells. It has now been proven that solar cells, made with a microcrystalline silicon layer, are totally stable for more than 5000 hours of light exposure [J. Andreu, Univ. Barcelona]. Since the process of HWCVD is independent of the shape of the object to be coated, both on a macroscopic scale as well as on a nanoscopic scale, many odd-shaped objects can be conformally coated. The technology can create hard, impenetrable coatings on tools, biopassive coatings on implantable medical devices, and it can provide surface modifications, e.g., to impart water resistance to fabric and paper [K. Gleason, MIT, Cambridge].We have witnessed groundbreaking developments and numerous innovations in the use of HWCVD for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes [J.M. Bonard, Rolex S.A., Geneva; and A.M. Bonnot, LEPES-CNRS, Grenoble]. Within the family of nanotubes, single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are the most promising material to bridge the gap between nanoelectronics and the emerging field of molecular electronics. Hot-Wire CVD can offer a self-assembling process which allows to anchor and in situ wire SWNTs at predetermined places by patterning a thin catalyst cobalt film. The European Commission has supported this Conference by means of travel and participation grants for young promising researchers. Thanks to this subsidy, 42 Early Stage Researchers and also more experience researchers from a large variety of countries have been able to participate in the Conference. Christine Richardson (Caltech, USA) and Jirka Stradal (Utrecht University) received awards for the best 'Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher' oral and poster presentations, respectively. We have further completed and implemented the following: Early Stage Researcher's Interests Compendium, Extended Abstract Book, development of Training and Complementary Skills, Early Stage Researcher's Poster Award, Early Stage Researcher's Oral Presentation Award, Composing a Questionnaire, Evaluation of this Conference using the Questionnaire.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union