Invited Paper TF2-MoM8
Atomic Layer Deposition: A Scalable Process for Enabling the Next Generation of High Performance Materials

Monday, October 22, 2018, 10:40 am, Room 104B

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a platform technology that has been widely demonstrated throughout the semiconductor industry, but is not yet widely accepted for modification of high surface area materials. However, R&D literature has shown ALD to impart significant processing and performance gains in all areas of advanced materials. For energy applications like energy storage and fuel cells, it has been perceived as slow and too expensive to consider as a realistic process for commercial adoption. However, Forge Nano has patented, constructed, and demonstrated a high throughput ALD capability at manufacturing scales, unlocking new potential for lower cost integration of ALD into products.

For example, in energy storage, as the mobility and portability requirements grow, so does the need for higher energy density materials, higher power density systems, and enhanced lifecycles of devices, all of which create additional stresses at interfaces within energy storage modules such as lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. It is now widely accepted that the interfaces of lithium-ion battery electrode materials can be highly dynamic in nature, and are the source of detrimental effects such as electrolyte decomposition, particle fracturing, crystal phase transformations and other causes of performance fade. The next generation of energy storage devices will be designed and engineered with tailored interfaces to overcome some of these materials challenges. ALD is a critical tool for anyone attempting to modify interfaces at the R&D scale. Therefore, ALD should also be at the manufacturing scale to maintain an edge in a competitive market. This talk will discuss ALD as a means of controlling surface phenomena and its application for powder modification for a spectrum of technologies ranging from batteries to catalysis.