(Invited) Sputter Beam Epitaxy for Atomic Ordering in Complex Epitaxial Thin Films

Abstract

Innovation is driven by the materials mankind has mastered to advance society. Our information age traces back to wartime invention of methods to fabricate silicon and germanium crystals with defects lower than 1 part in 100, a threshold at which the intrinsic properties could then be applied. Today, complex materials (>2 elements with atomic ordering) are at a similar inflection point. Unfortunately, improvement beyond 1 defect in 4 has proven challenging: energetic defects abound and many elements are not compatible with current low-defect growth techniques. Despite significant external funding for the materials themselves, a lack of funding for new synthetic technologies has left us with methods unable to reach the inflection point. Our goal is to transform materials discovery by developing a complex material thin film system that can attain 99% atomic ordering in today’s “too-complex” materials. This talk will highlight our progress in thin film growth via Sputter Beam Epitaxy, an approach combining the fabrication strengths of off-axis magnetron sputtering and molecular beam epitaxy.