Paper VT-WeA10
Structure of Sub-nm Oxides Synthesized by Atomic Layer Deposition: From Isolated Cations to the Emergence of Crystallinity

Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 5:20 pm, Room 20

The history of the AVS has witnessed a dramatic reduction in thickness of thin film materials. Characteristic dimensions of the order of a nanometer are commonplace for a wide range of applications, from energy storage to semiconductor processing, nanostructured photovoltaics, catalysis or beyond Von Neumann computing architectures. This has greatly reduced our margin of error in terms of achieving the right microstructure and properties as well as the long-term stability of materials, particularly when the synthesis takes place at low temperatures and the mobility of surface species is low.

Atomic layer deposition is a thin film technique that is well known for its ability to coat high surface area materials, but it also allows us to grow materials with extremely high precision and high reproducibility. This makes it an ideal model system to understand some of the fundamental aspects of the growth of materials at the nanometer scale and their stability with time and under extreme environments. In this talk I will show how through the combination of different in-situ techniques, from PDF to XAFS and FTIR, the ability to modulate surface reactivity, simulation and theory, we can study the evolution of the structure of materials from isolated cations to a bulk-like structure and isolate the main factors driving the evolution of microstructure. Looking into the future, the development of new in-situ characterization tools at synchrotron radiation facilities worldwide is going to be an enabling capability that will help us understand the driving forces behind the emergence of crystallinity at low temperatures.