United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

University of Utah Research Foundation

Other

Applied Materials, Inc.

Michael R Snure

Ashutosh Tiwari

Kelson D Chabak

Nicholas R Glavin

Gene P Siegel

James M Mann

Kaushal Kishore Singh

Omkaram Nalamasu

Nety M Krishna

David W Weyburne

Eric Michael Hunt

Badri Narayanan

Makarand Karmarkar

Qing S Paduano

Albert M Hilton

Catalin S Badescu

Eric W Blanton

Cristian Ciobanu

Jeff L Brown

Martin M Kimani

A method for making a selective-area lift-off thin film comprises depositing a van der Waals (vdW) buffer on a substrate; depositing a thin film material (or device structure) on the van der Waals buffer; depositing an adhesion layer on the thin film material; forming a stressor layer on top of the thin film layer; and bonding a handle layer to the stressor layer. Force may be applied to the layered structure by one or more of rolling, bending, and shearing. The area selected for lift-off may be defined by one of laser cutting and mechanical scribing. The vdW buffer includes one or more of hBN, graphite, and graphene. The handle layer is a one of a polyimide tape, thermal release tape, UV release tape, water- or solvent-soluble tape, Kapton tape, and Scotch tape. The stressor layer is a metal film, e.g. Ni, Cr, Ti.

Stress-induced selective-area lift-off of thin films and devices on van der Waals buffer layers

Systems, methods and apparatus incorporating Gallium Nitride heterostructure (Al,In)GaN-materials in flexible, strainable and wearable radio frequency devices. These devices include (Al,In)GaN-based high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), which enable amplification of microwave radio frequencies from approximately 300 MHz to approximately 300 GHz for flexible and conformal wireless transmission.

Method for flexible radio-frequency devices

A method of forming a spboron nitride (BN) layer on a surface of a substrate, the method comprising providing first and second precursors at the surface of the substrate, the first precursor being a source of boron and the second precursor being a source of nitrogen; heating the substrate to a temperature greater than a pyrolysis point for either of the first and second precursors; pyrolyzing the first precursor at the surface of the substrate; activating the second precursor at the surface of the substrate with the pyrolyzed first precursor; and adsorbing the pyrolyzed first precursor and the activated second precursor onto the surface of the substrate.

Growing two-dimensional materials through heterogeneous pyrolysis

A low pressure process for producing thin film crystalline black phosphorus on a substrate and a black phosphorus thin film made by the process. The process includes flowing a phosphorus-containing gas into a deposition chamber and depositing phosphorus from the phosphorus-containing gas onto the substrate in the chamber. The substrate is selected from (i) a gold substrate, a gold-tin alloy substrate, a silver substrate and a copper substrate and (ii) a substrate comprising a thin film of metal selected from gold, tin, silver, copper and alloys of the foregoing metals. The substrate and phosphorus are heated to a temperature ranging from about 350&#xb0; to less than about 500&#xb0; C. to form a phosphorus intermediate composition. The substrate and intermediate composition are heated to a temperature of greater than 500&#xb0; C. to less than about 1000&#xb0; C. convert the metal phosphorus intermediate composition to the black phosphorus thin film.

Method and apparatus for producing a nanometer thick film of black phosphorus

Systems, methods and apparatus for radio frequency devices

A semiconductor device includes a mechanical release layer, such as a van der Waals buffer layer, with a predetermined material roughness and thickness adjacent to a first substrate; a nucleation layer adjacent to the mechanical release layer; and a first semiconductor layer attached to the nucleation layer. The first semiconductor layer, the nucleation layer, and a portion of the mechanical release layer are releasably connected to the first substrate. The predetermined material roughness and thickness of the mechanical release layer determines a bonding strength of the first semiconductor layer to the first substrate. The semiconductor device may include an aluminum nitride insert layer adjacent to the first semiconductor layer; an aluminum gallium nitride barrier layer adjacent to the aluminum nitride insert layer; and a second semiconductor layer adjacent to the aluminum gallium nitride barrier layer. The semiconductor device may include a second substrate attached to the released first semiconductor layer.

Growth of III-nitride semiconductors on thin van der Waals buffers for mechanical lift off and transfer

A method of synthesizing zinc selenide crystals. The method includes forming an aqueous growth medium by combining a mineralizer solution of an alkali nutrient with a feedstock including zinc and selenium. A seed crystal is added to the growth medium. The aqueous growth medium and seed crystal are pressurized and a thermal gradient applied such that a temperature of a first portion of the aqueous growth medium is greater than a second portion of the aqueous growth medium. The zinc and selenium are dissolved into the mineralizer solution from the feedstock in the first portion of the aqueous growth medium and spontaneously forms at least one single crystal of zinc selenide on the seed crystal in the first portion of the aqueous growth medium.

Heteroepitaxial hydrothermal crystal growth of zinc selenide

Nanostructured films including a plurality of nanowells, the nanowells having a pore at the top surface of the film, the pore defining a channel that extends downwardly towards the bottom surface of the film are provided. Also provided are methods including exposing a growth substrate to an anodizing bath, applying ultrasonic vibrations to the anodizing bath, and generating a current through the anodizing bath to form the nanostructured film. The nanostructured films may be formed from TiOand may be used to provide solid state dye sensitized solar cells having high conversion efficiencies.

Nanostructured films and related methods

Methods for fabrication of copper delafossite materials include a low temperature sol-gel process for synthesizing CuBOpowders, and a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process for forming thin films of CuBO, using targets made of the CuBOpowders. The CuBOthin films are optically transparent p-type semiconductor oxide thin films. Devices with CuBOthin films include p-type transparent thin film transistors (TTFT) comprising thin film CuBOas a channel layer and thin film solar cells with CuBOp-layers. Solid state dye sensitized solar cells (SS-DSSC) comprising CuBOin various forms, including 'core-shell' and 'nano-couple' particles, and methods of manufacture, are also described.

Copper delafossite transparent P-type semiconductor thin film devices

The present invention provides methods of forming metal oxide semiconductor nanostructures and, in particular, zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor nanostructures, possessing high surface area, plant-like morphologies on a variety of substrates. Optoelectronic devices, such as photovoltaic cells, incorporating the nanostructures are also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Dayton, OH, United States of America

Michael R Snure