Design and implementation of a novel portable atomic layer deposition/chemical vapor deposition hybrid reactor

We report the development of a novel portable atomic layer deposition chemical vapor deposition (ALD/CVD) hybrid reactor setup. Unique feature of this reactor is the use of ALD/CVD mode in a single portable deposition system to fabricate multi-layer thin films over a broad range from "bulk-like" multi-micrometer to nanometer atomic dimensions. The precursor delivery system and control-architecture are designed so that continuous reactant flows for CVD and cyclic pulsating flows for ALD mode are facilitated. A custom-written LabVIEW program controls the valve sequencing to allow synthesis of different kinds of film structures under either ALD or CVD mode or both. The entire reactor setup weighs less than 40 lb and has a relatively small footprint of 8 × 9 in., making it compact and easy for transportation. The reactor is tested in the ALD mode with titanium oxide (TiO2) ALD using tetrakis(diethylamino)titanium and water vapor. The resulting growth rate of 0.04 nm/cycle and purity of the films are in good agreement with literature values. The ALD/CVD hybrid mode is demonstrated with ALD of TiO2 and CVD of tin oxide (SnOx). Transmission electron microscopy images of the resulting films confirm the formation of successive distinct TiO2-ALD and SnO(x)-CVD layers.