Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) Tool for Growth and Fabrication of Advanced Materials and Devices for Defense Applications
Abstract
This proposal is for the purchase of a Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) tool for the University of Houston (UH). PLD is a popular thinfilm deposition method, widely employed in academia for a variety of functional materials of complex oxides, nitrides, borides, carbides, silicides, fluorides, sulfides, semiconductors, low-vapor pressure metals, polymers, and graphene. The advantage of PLD is congruent (stoichiometric) evaporation i.e. the composition of the film will be same as that of the evaporated target. PLD can operateover a wide range of pressures, and in reactive gas atmospheres. Very high deposition rates are possible which enable growth of thick films with high quality. Since the time frame to optimize thin film growth using PLD is much shorter than other deposition methods, it is the best option to quickly assess new materials prior to in-depth studies.UH lacks a PLD tool that is commonly found in universities in similar tier. Unlike materials characterization tools, deposition tools are generally not accessible at outside institutions. The PLD tool will be invaluable to several projects at UH that are of interest to the DoD.1. Fast quench detection in superconducting devices for advanced naval power systems (funded by ONR)PLD will enable growth of multi-layer architecture of RE-Ba-Cu-O (REBCO, RE=rare-earth) superconductor thin/thick films with oxide dielectric films, to implement fast quench detection, a critical need for superconducting devices being built by the Navy.2. Defect tolerant superconductor tapes for energy storage and propulsion systems for Navy (funded by Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division) PLD will be utilized to grow heteroepitaxial superconductors on low-resistive nitride thin films to create defect-tolerant tapes for superconducting coils being built by the Navy.3. Integration ofThin-Film Flexible Batteries into Tactical Shelters (funded by ARL) PLD will enable fabrication of thin-film electrodes and electrolytes leading to enhanced interfacial properties and high-performance, solid-state, flexible batteries.4. Novel Ice-shedding coatings for aircrafts (funded by AFRL, NAVAIR) PLD will be used for selective deposition of inorganics to improve the durability of anti-icing coatings for aircraft engines and wings.5. Reduce fuel consumption and reduce surface corrosion of ships (proposal submitted toNAVSEA)Durable anti-scaling and anti-bio-fouling coatings with improved erosion resistance will be fabricated by PLD for marine applications.6. Ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor and piezoelectric thin-films on economical silicon and metal substratesSince PLD is a low-thermal budget process, it will be beneficial to deposit epitaxial buffer and seed layers to manage lattice and thermal mismatch between foreign substrates and functional materials.7. Low-cost solar cells using non-toxic earth abundant materials The ability of PLD to grow stoichiometry films will be invaluable to this project to grow high-purity ternary and quaternary thin films based on Cu, Zn, Sn and S/Se.8. Thermally robust quantum materials and qubit concepts for higher temperature quantum computersPLD will be a powerful tool to deposit thin films of SrTiO3, charge density wave materials and superconductors to fabricate devices for future quantum computers.9. Clean hydrogen by photocatalytic water splitting PLD is an ideal method to grow high-quality cobalt oxide thin films and nanoparticles and will accelerate our photocatalysis research to produce clean hydrogen from sun light.The PLD system will be a key education tool for courses on thin film deposition, semiconductors, superconductors, photonics, flexible electronics, batteries.Many students will be able to learn to use the PLD tool quickly compared to other complex methods which will boost their interest in materials and device science and engineering.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 24, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312719
Entities
People
- Venkat Selvamanickam
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Houston System