Graduate student wins best poster awards at the Materials Research Society Annual Meeting

1/3/2020 Joseph Park, Illinois ECE

Illinois ECE graduate student Jinhong Kim won two best poster awards for advanced ALD and CVD techniques and applications at the Materials Research Society Annual Meeting.

Written by Joseph Park, Illinois ECE

Judges of the MRS symposium and Jinhong Kim (right)
Judges of the MRS symposium and Jinhong Kim (right)
Illinois ECE graduate student Jinhong Kim recently won two best poster awards for advanced ALD and CVD techniques and applications at the Materials Research Society (MRS) Annual Meeting. This is a highly prestigious and competitive award from the largest international conference on materials.

Kim's award-winning poster is entitled "Microplasma driven, atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 patterning without etching process at RT." His research focused on demonstrating a microplasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) process in an array of microplasmas. 

Diagrams of the 50 x 20 microcavity plasma array and enclosure for Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD)
Diagrams of the 50 x 20 microcavity plasma array and enclosure for Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD)
Kim's work examined the deposition of aluminum oxide and how the modest size of the array enables it to be positioned near the processing chamber which results in conformal coverage of patterned surfaces and ALD growth rates near the theoretical limit. The growth temperatures he observed were considerably lower than the aluminum oxide films grown at higher temperatures by conventional PEALD/ALD processes. Compared to conventional PEALD, the plasma-induced polymer etching avoidable has now opened the door to a simple process for etching-free patterning aluminum oxide films with standard photoresists and subsequent lift-off. 

Kim would like to thank Professors James Gary Eden and Sung-Jin Park. "This has been a competitive process in MRS. I am thankful that our research is in the subject that our colleagues are interested in. Thank you so much for guiding me throughout the process and I hope that the awards bring you joy and pride."


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This story was published January 3, 2020.