SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- TECHNOLOGY/BUSINESS OPPORTUNITYCHARGED PARTICLE- BASED DIRECT WRITING OF BORON AND SILICON CARBIDE STRUCTURES FROM NANO TO MILLIMETER SCALE - Image
- Notice Date
- 3/13/2018
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 238990
— All Other Specialty Trade Contractors
- Contracting Office
- Department of Energy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE Contractor), Industrial Partnerships & Commercialization, 7000 East Avenue, L-795, Livermore, California, 94550
- ZIP Code
- 94550
- Solicitation Number
- FBO371-18
- Archive Date
- 4/16/2018
- Point of Contact
- Connie L Pitcock, Phone: 925-422-1072
- E-Mail Address
-
pitcock1@llnl.gov
(pitcock1@llnl.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- In situ EBID Opportunity : Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), operated by the Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), LLC under contract no. DE-AC52-07NA27344 (Contract 44) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is offering the opportunity to license a new technology for the deposition of boron and silicon carbide thin films via a charged particle process. Background : This invention describes the deposition of boron and silicon carbide films using a novel fabrication method. Prior to this invention, deposition of boron containing materials via charged particle induced dissociation of boron precursor molecules had not been demonstrated. In industry, the main process is chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which relies on thermal dissociation of the precursor molecule to produce film growth. CVD has been used be produce a vast variety of boron containing materials and can be used to direct-write material using a laser beam. Techniques that rely on thermal heating for precursor dissociation such as CVD also involve heating of the substrate to processing temperature. Heating can induce thermally induced effects in the fabricated film and substrate, introducing material degradation and material distortion. This problem is also overcome in this described technology, which is critical in many fabrication environments. Description : The LLNL charged particle deposition technology enables fabrication of material via the charged particle induced dissociation of precursor molecules. For the case electron beam induced fabrication of boron carbide, gaseous boron precursor is delivered to a substrate in a vacuum chamber. Surface adsorbed molecules are dissociated by a beam of electrons. Non-volatile fragments remain on the substrate leading to formation of a boron containing deposit. The vacuum chamber and beam of charged particles are provided by a scanning electron/ion microscope or a large area flood irradiation system. The scanning electron microscope can provide a focused nanoscale beam of electrons or ions which is used to control the deposit feature size down to tens of nanometers. The beam can be scanned over the substrate to pattern features. A motorized stage can be used for patterning larger features across the substrate. The use of a large area flood irradiation system allows deposition of material with feature sizes on the order of hundreds of microns to a few millimeters under current designs and larger with further optimization. The typical work method entails: •1. The substrate is placed in the system and pumped to high-vacuum. •2. Precursor is delivered to the substrate by a gas injection system. •3. Focused charged particles (electrons or ions) are directed at the area where material is to be deposited. •4. Particles irradiate the area until the desired amount of material has been deposited. Advantages : •· Films deposited by charged particle induced dissociation of precursor gas do not suffer thermally induced effects, greatly reducing the film stress that results in cracking. •· Conventional precursors used in chemical vapor deposition such as BCl 3 and B 2 H 6 are highly toxic, pyrophoric gases which are too dangerous to handle in most facilities. •· This technology uses precursors which do not pose a significant health and safety risk to personnel or the instrument. Potential Applications : The ability to deposit boron and silicon carbide at multiple length scale is advantageous in many systems including protective material coatings, optical components and MEMS technology. This is the first demonstrated technology which can rapidly prototype nanosized boron carbide material via the additive approach, giving large advantages over existing techniques. Potential uses include fabrication of ultra-hard and low-Z coatings. Further applications exist in the areas of solid-state neutron detectors, low-κ dielectrics for ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, and other unique semiconductor devices. Given the large application space of boron and silicon carbide coatings and devices the applications span multiple areas and length scales. Development Status: The technology has been demonstrated in a laboratory environment with scaling to desired industrial application requiring optimization for the specific task. This work was carried out at LLNL utilizing a prototype system implemented for the fabrication of millimeter sized boron carbide and silicon carbide films. Scaling the films to smaller or larger sizes can be implemented based on desired film requirements. Deposition rates are on the order of that found with similar techniques such as laser chemical vapor deposition. LLNL is seeking industry partners with a demonstrated ability to bring such inventions to the market. Moving critical technology beyond the Laboratory to the commercial world helps our licensees gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. All licensing activities are conducted under policies relating to the strict nondisclosure of company proprietary information. Please visit the IPO website at https://ipo.llnl.gov/resources for more information on working with LLNL and the industrial partnering and technology transfer process. Note: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Companies interested in commercializing LLNL's Charged Particle Induced Deposition of Boron and Silicon Carbide should provide a written statement of interest, which includes the following: 1. Company Name and address. 2. The name, address, and telephone number of a point of contact. 3. A description of corporate expertise and facilities relevant to commercializing this technology. Written responses should be directed to: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Innovation and Partnerships Office P.O. Box 808, L-795 Livermore, CA 94551-0808 Attention: FBO 371-18 Please provide your written statement within thirty (30) days from the date this announcement is published to ensure consideration of your interest in LLNL's Charged Particle Induced Deposition of Boron and Silicon Carbide.
- Web Link
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FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOE/LLNL/LL/FBO371-18/listing.html)
- Record
- SN04852473-W 20180315/180313231233-dc0b950ccaa9c4f6fcdfd90b24f695c6 (fbodaily.com)
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