MRI: Acquisition of a Sputtering-Evaporation System for Thin Film Deposition

This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Instrumentation program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).The award supports the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (UAF) campus with the acquisition of a hybrid sputterer-evaporator system to add transformative thin-film materials synthesis capabilities to the campus. The instrument will facilitate the fabrication of a wide range of state-of-the-art complex layered materials for research in a broad range of applications that rely on precise control of the chemical, structural, and compositional properties of thin film interfaces.

This range of materials covers the broad scope of researchers intending to use the instrument. The instrumentation is also robust for high user throughput and complements the cutting-edge materials characterization facilities already operating on campus. The instrument provides a state-of-the-art research and educational experience for the graduate students and postdocs that will serve as its primary user base.

It aides in the recruitment and training of a diverse graduate student population at the University of Arkansas by enabling a more competitive research experience and by providing an exciting, user-friendly route to high-level scientific research. It is anticipated that it will impact translation of related materials research into technologies, stimulating entrepreneurial activity in Northwest Arkansas.

It will enhance the standing in materials science and engineering through the efforts of large-scale collaborations on campus and investment in young researchers.

A number of research themes have emerged on the UAF campus that highlight the need for a general thin-film synthesis instrument. One theme focuses on energy conversion at electrochemical interfaces, where researchers aim to fabricate and characterize nanocomposites, alloys, and heterostructures for electrocatalysis and battery applications. Another theme studies the fabrication of state-of-the-art quantum devices from thin films and 2D materials.

A third theme aims to develop complex functional interfaces and three-dimensional materials by surface engineering and additive manufacturing. A fourth theme emphasizes chemical, photochemical, and electrochemical reactions relevant to biological sensing and organic chemical reactions. Thin- film synthesis has broad application across these emergent themes.

This award provides the campus with an instrument that significantly improve the relevant research capabilities. The instrument facilitates the fabrication of a wide range of complex layered materials (semiconductors, metals, and insulators) by RF plasma sputtering and electron-beam evaporation. It also includes a heating stage and gas plumbing that enables in situ chemical control of materials synthesis that covers the broad scope of intended researchers’ interests.

The instrument will be housed in and available to users of the Institute of Nanoscience and Engineering on the UAF campus. The cutting-edge materials characterization facilities already operating in that facility complement the scientific impact of the thin-film instrument to be acquired. Users of the instrument include primarily graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from the UAF campus, though it is also accessible to undergraduate students and R&D and startup activity adjacent to the campus and throughout the region

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.