From Films to Flight: test and calibration of optics and instruments for space applications

Alexandra E. Curtin, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305 USA

The Laboratory for Atmosphere and Space Physics (LASP) has built instruments and spacecraft for solar, atmospheric, and space science dating back to the 1940s. Over the last seven decades we have worked on everything from the Voyager missions to student CubeSat projects. The Test and Calibration group is responsible for environmental testing of everything from individual optics to fully integrated instruments and satellites. Recent projects have required the calibration of UV spectrometers and cameras for atmospheric science on Earth and orbiting Mars. Our work starts with characterization of filters, mirrors, and lenses, optics coated with thin and thick films that are subjected to wide temperature ranges in the vacuum of space. Final instrument performance is dependent on everything from optical coating materials science to mechanical tolerances in the instrument construction. To deliver an instrument that will function in the environment of space, we must understand how the performance of each optical component and the optical path as a whole affects our science data. We use homegrown environmental test chambers and vacuum chambers fitted with multiple illumination sources to and beam paths to emulate imaging modes required by each instrument. Along the way we touch on thin film quality, multi-channel plate detector design, and finally, thermal vacuum testing of the instrument (or satellite) under flight conditions.

Industrial Thin Film Applications: Decorative and Tribological Coatings

Bryce Anton, Director of Technology,  . 6400 Dry Creek Pkwy, Longmont, CO 80503

Abstract: Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PE-CVD) process are routinely used for providing attractive, durable finishes for a wide variety of consumer products.  The same types of deposition systems and resulting coatings are also used for providing enhanced wear and impact resistant coatings in extreme environments such as high-performance engines and metal cutting/forming tools.  This talk will provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges that an industrial equipment manufacturer faces in this ever-growing field and ways in which they are addressed.  In particular, the increasing role that versatile Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) films play in both Decorative and Functional coating applications will be presented.

Plasmas and Thin Films:  Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

Ellen R. Fisher, Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80524-1872

Plasma processing represents a powerful approach to modification of a range of substrates utilizing an array of chemistries and morphologies – a “big stick” in the world of thin films.  New applications for plasma deposited thin films continue to be developed and they are employed in a vast array of industries to produce high impact, high value products.  One strategy for increasing the robustness of plasma surface modification and deposition processes lies in increasing our understanding of the fundamental chemistry of the gas phase chemistry in plasmas, the resulting film chemistry and perhaps most importantly, the gas-surface interface.  This talk will focus on recent work in our laboratory that explores not only the impact of the plasma on the surface, but also the effect of the substrate on the plasma chemistry.  Data on systems used for plasma assisted catalysis (PAC), deposition of antimicrobial films as well as hydrophobic fluorocarbon polymers, and plasma production of low D carbon materials will be presented.  As one example, we have combined a range of spectroscopy techniques, materials characterization tools, and plasma-surface interface studies to reveal that the presence of a catalytic substrate in the plasma system results in significant changes in the plasma chemistry, most notably affecting the internal temperatures (vibrational, rotational) of various plasma species.  Changes in plasma composition as well as substrate surface chemistry and morphology were also observed.  Connections between these results and other trends we observe at the plasma-surface interface will be discussed. 

Ultra-Thin, Solid-State Batteries for Flexible Electronics

Brian Berland, Chief Science Officer, ITN Energy Systems, Inc., 8130 Shaffer Pkwy, Littleton CO 80127-4107

ITN Energy Systems has developed and demonstrated a promising new thin, flexible solid state lithium rechargeable battery (SSLB) for flexible electronics, smart wearables, and medical devices.  Combining ITN’s SSLB technology with a novel, ultra-thin flexible ceramic solves the capacity and packaging issues that have thus far limited the thin film battery technology to limited niche markets. With a capacity greater than 20 mAh in a thickness less than 250 microns, including hermetic packaging, the new SSLB enables energy density greater than 1,000 Wh/l while maintaining the long recognized benefits of enhanced safety and durability provided by the all solid state chemistry. Results are also presented for a new Flexible Integrated Power Pack (FIPP) that add in-field solar recharging by combing the SSLB with high efficiency CdTe solar cells. The new SSLB and FIPP products support operation across a wide range of duty cycles including high current pulses required for many wireless, display, and medical device applications. Results are presented for the battery and FIPP performance, including environmental and safety compliance testing. 

Dr. Berland serves as the Chief Science Officer for ITN Energy Systems. In this role, he directs technology and business development activities with a focus on moving technologies from the lab to commercialization. Over the last twenty years, he has led research and development activities in energy generation and storage materials, including those for flexible electronics. Prior to joining ITN, Dr. Berland was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Colorado in the labs of Professor Steven George, a world leader in ALD chemistry. He holds a BS in Chemistry from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Colorado.

Perovskite Solar Cells

Joseph Berry, National Renewal Energy Laboratories, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401

Photovoltaic devices based on hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite absorbers have reached outstanding performance over the past few years, surpassing power conversion efficiency of over 25% for single junction and present multiple paths to tandems with efficiencies beyond 30%.  This talk will discuss recent progress and challenges in hybrid perovskite solar cells (HPSCs) with an emphasis on the role of materials integration challenges needed to enable device performance, tandem processing and stability.  Specifically, this talk will highlight recent progress at NREL, the challenges of stability and tandems based on HPSC devices, as well as work to develop scalable HPSCs approaches for these systems. Details of material formation, the resulting interfaces and the role of processing in creating efficient device stacks, critical to high-volume manufacturing will be touched upon.  Our studies at NREL indicate formation dynamics for the active layer and interface to the contacts directly impacts the ability to create efficient stable devices and enable tandems from common (i.e. nonorthogonal) solvents.  Advanced concepts to improve low and wide bandgap HPSC systems critical to enabling tandems will also be presented. Data on the optoelectronic material and system properties as characterized by an array of analytical tools including time resolved spectroscopy, structural studies and device level evaluation will be presented to validate the technological relevance of advances and suggest overarching themes for research directions.

Modern Concepts in Computer Memory and Storage Operation

Dr. Robert K. Grubbs, Micron Technology 

32 level 3D NAND storage cell stack

Computer memory and storage have become an almost invisible and integral part of the modern human experience as the world becomes more electronically connected.  The growing demands for computer storage and memory can be attributed to a number of factors including:  cell phones, electronic commerce, social media, corporate and government surveillance efforts, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars and big data; all of which require ever increasing amounts of electronic processing. These demands continue to push the electronic memory and storage industry to unprecedented levels of sophistication, design and reliability. The ability of modern semiconductor processing techniques to construct three dimensional storage and memory modules has enabled massive storage densities that are pushing the limits of present manufacturing techniques. 

Computer storage/memory fabrication techniques differ from traditional CMOS processing flows in that high temperatures are required for activating doped gate regions. All subsequent steps in CMOS flow (and subsequent memory array steps) are then required to have temperatures below this high temperature anneal. Additionally, CMOS active areas are typically planer in nature and are still are constrained by the surrounding silicon real estate.  Modern memory and storage devices take advantage of the 3^rd dimension. Today’s storage/memory processing techniques for fabrication are challenged not only by enabling true three dimensional stacks of memory cells, but also by the temperature limitations of the materials utilized to fabricate those 3D structures.

In the following talk I will cover the differences between computer storage and memory and explain the underlying the electronic mechanism of how computer memory and storage work. Basic operation of DRAM, NAND and the novel 3D Crosspoint^TM memory will be presented. Challenges to 3D scaling, device shrink and temperature constraints will be discussed. 

Tons per day Production of ALD-Coated Powders for Batteries and other Markets

Daniel Higgs, ALD NanoSolutions, Inc., 580 Burbank Street, Unit 100, Broomfield, CO 80020

ALD has typically been labelled as expensive and slow. Recent advances in continuous processing of ALD-coated powders enable tons per day of production at costs on the order of $/kg. With lower costs comes wider market adoption.

Lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and distributed energy storage are driving today’s growth in the battery energy storage market. Longer term, grid-scale batteries will generate a large impact too. Overall, the dramatic changes and expansion of the battery industry are creating huge new materials markets. Every major chemical and advanced materials company in the world is attracted to this opportunity.

However, for new devices like EVs to take meaningful market share, the materials for electrodes, electrolytes, and other battery components need to be engineered at the nanometer, or even atomic, scale. It is this demand for engineering new materials that improve energy storage, safety, and power management metrics, combined with the desired cost stack of inputs to the final battery price, that has a big impact on ALD Nano’s business.

The key for success in to enable the new battery materials with atomic layer deposition technologies that not only solve various technical challenges to reach performance metrics, but can also scale at very low cost. This talk will discuss high throughput production of ALD onto powders for various industries including cathode active materials for batteries and other ALD-coated powders.