Unique ALD/MLD-Enabled Material Functions

Introduction

UniEn-MLD research seeks the extremity of the atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) thin-film technique to enable unforeseen material functionalities. The targeted metal-organic materials and interface-engineered superstructures are designed and elaborated so that the unique advantages of this atomic/molecular precision gas-phase synthesis approach can be best exploited.

Unique Material Assemblies

New science evolves from our aim at:

1. Unique material assemblies (bonding schemes, crystal structures, layer piling sequences, interface interactions) not accessible through conventional synthesis.
2. Synergistic combinations of different material functionalities, including those that would be mutually exclusive in conventional materials.

An important project part is the search for new innovative organic components capable of bringing, e.g., structural guidance, redox control, carrier doping, or stimuli-switching into the hybrid material, to create the desired functionalities.

Technical Advantages

The technical advantage follows from the specific ALD/MLD mechanism which yields the new adventurous materials as high-quality large-area homogeneous and conformal coatings, even on demanding surfaces. This opens attractive new avenues for technology advances in important and strongly emerging fields, such as:

• Efficient magnetic information storage
• Local energy harvesting and storage

These areas are also addressed within the UniEn-MLD action.

Experience and Feasibility

This project builds on my long experience in frontier functional material research, and my pioneering role in the development of the ALD/MLD technology for building a beautiful variety of intriguing metal-organic materials. Our proof-of-concept results also support the main hypotheses and feasibility of this ambitious UniEn-MLD research.