Electronic and Photonic Materials

Ion Beam Assisted Deposition

This project involves the use of Ion Beam-Assisted Deposition (IBAD) to control thin film orientation and enhance material properties. We use a model system, magnesium oxide (MgO), as a biaxially textured template film for the heteroepitaxial deposition of high temperature superconductors, tunable microwave materials, and ferroelectrics. We are exploring the mechanism of initial nucleation of biaxial texture using a novel in-situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) substrate, which can provide real-time mass accumulation with ~10 ng/cm2 resolution, in conjunction with surface sensitive Reflection High Energy Diffraction (RHEED). Orientation of films on the nanometer scale is important for a wide range of applications. Understanding the texturing mechanism can be applied to other technically useful materials such as polycrystalline thin film solar cells and nano-scale materials for renewable energy and electronic applications.