Research Interests and Level of Expertise

Ångström-Scale Processing (AP)  Expert Level

since 2008:
Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)
of oxides (Al2O3, HfO2, ZrO2, Ta2O5, RuO2), nitrides (TaNx), and metals (Ru, Au)

since 2015:
Area-Selective Deposition (asD)

since 2017:
Atomic Layer Etching (ALE)
of oxides (Al2O3, ZrO2, SiO2, SiCOH) and nitrides (SiNx)

since 2018:
Molecular Layer Deposition (MLD)
of polymers (Nylon 2,6)

since 2022:
Selective Etching
of oxides (Al2O3, SiO2, SiCOH), nitrides (SiNx), and semiconductors (Si)

Surface Analyses/ Metrology

In Situ

since 2008:
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE),  Expert Level
especially with real-time sampling > 1 Hz

In Vacuo

since 2010:
Photo-Electron Spectroscopy (PES)

  • x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS)  Expert Level
  • ultraviolet photo-electron spectroscopy (UPS)

since 2013:
Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)

  • atomic force microscopy(AFM)  Expert Level
  • scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), including scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS)

On Site

since 2009:
Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (QMS)  Expert Level

Ex Situ 

since 2009:
Electrical Characterization, such as  Advanced Level

  • four-point probe (4PP)
  • current–voltage
  • capacitance–voltage
  • triangular voltage sweep under bias and temperature stress (TVS BTS)

since 2011:
X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)  Advanced Level

since 2011:
X-Ray Reflectometry (XRR)  Advanced Level

since 2015:
Raman Spectroscopy  Advanced Level

since 2021:
Grazing-Incidence Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering (GIWAXS)

Materials Science & Thin Films  Expert Level

since 2008:
ruthenium and ruthenium oxide

since 2013:
high-k oxides (Al2O3, HfO2, ZrO2, Ta2O5)

since 2013:
graphene

since 2018:
polymers (Nylon 2,6)

Vacuum Technology  Expert Level

since 2008:
high- and ultra-high vacuum components, such as

  • various pump types & sizes
  • cross-flow & showerhead reactor designs
  • seals, gas tubes, fittings, valves
  • drives
  • heaters, etc.

Nanotechnology  Expert Level

  • nano-manufacturing
  • nano-fabrication
  • nano-characterization
  • nano-electronics
  • nano-materials

Physical Chemistry  Advanced Level

  • surface chemistry
  • chemical physics

Optics  Advanced Level