"We develop new routes to synthesize thin film materials for advanced nanoscale devices.
For example, novel precursor molecules and
co-reactants afford
ultra-smooth and conformal films at
low temperatures."
John R. Abelson
Office 1-109 Engineering Sciences Building
Telephone 217-333-7258 Fax 217-333-2736
Mail Address Department of Materials Science and Engineering
1304 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801
- Profile
- Research
- Publications
- Awards
Professor Abelson received his BS from Yale University in 1979, was a researcher at the Solar Energy Research Institute (1979-81) and the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris (1981-82), received his PhD from Stanford in 1987, then joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UIUC. He is active in the Materials Research Society and is a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society.
Academic and Scientific Experience
Academic Training
B.S. Yale University, Engineering and Applied Science, 1979
Ph.D. Stanford University, Materials Science and Engineering, 1987
Research Assistant, Solar Energy Research Institute, Golden Colorado, 1979-1981
Visiting Scientist, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris France, 1981-1982
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988-present
Mâitre de Recherches, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris France, autumn 2002 (sabbatical)
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 1982-1983
EG&G Reticon, Sunnyvale, CA, 1986-1987
Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, 1987
Intevac Corporation, 1993-1997
BP Solar Corporation, 1997-2002
3M Corporation, 2000-2003
Dow Corning New Venture Energy, 2002-present
MatSE 200, Introduction to Engineering Materials
MatSE 201, Phases and Microstructures
MatSE 204, Electronic Properties of Materials
MatSE 346, Metallurgy for Engineers
MatSE 360, Electronic Materials and Processing I
MatSE 362, Thin Film Laboratory
MatSE 392, Fundamentals of Laboratory Safety
MatSE 405, Microstructure Determination
MatSE 462, Electronic Materials Characterization
MatSE 489, Materials Selection for Sustainability
MatSE 498, Photovolatic Materials and Devices
MatSE 564, Materials Science of Thin Film Growth
MatSE 584, Point and Line Defects
ENG 598, Energy & Sustainability Engineering
John Abelson’s research is focused on developing novel synthetic methods for thin film materials that are used in advanced microelectronic and energy applications. His group carries out fundamental studies and collaborates with groups in Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Physics, as well as with industry, to evaluate the performance of devices that incorporate these materials. The research is carried out in three interrelated projects.
(i) Novel molecular precursors are used to grow metallic compounds and multicomponent oxides by low temperature chemical vapor deposition. The objectives include low growth temperature and the formation of highly conformal and ultra-smooth films. Recent highlights include the growth of transition metal diboride coatings; the achievement of bottom-up trench filling; the formation of ultra-thin diffusion barriers for copper metallization in microelectronics; and the growth of tribological hard coatings for scanned probe and cutting tool applications.
(ii) Phase-change chalocogenide materials are developed for non-volatile memory applications. The research includes analyses of the electronic and optical properties, and the kinetics of the amorphous to crystalline solid-state phase transition. Recent accomplishments include the direct observation of a population of sub-critical nuclei in the amorphous phase that maps onto the speed of transformation in pulsed laser experiments.
(iii) The nanometer-scale structure of amorphous materials is probed using statistical analysis in the transmission electron microscope, called fluctuation microscopy. The goals include the determination of the size, number distribution, and strain in regions of medium-range order. Recent achievements include the observation of considerable nanoscale order, and subtle differences in that order, in amorphous silicon materials used for solar cells.
University of Illinois (1988-present)
M. Pinarbasi, N. Maley, A. Myers and J. R. Abelson, "Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Deposited by Reactive Sputtering - the Electronic Properties, Hydrogen Bonding and Microstructure," Thin Solid Films 171, (1989): 217-33.
G. Feng, M. Katiyar, N. Maley and J. R. Abelson, "Silicon Epitaxy at 230¡C by Reactive dc Magnetron Sputtering and its In Situ Ellipsometry Modeling," Appl. Phys. Lett. 59, no. 3, (1991): 330-32.
A. M. Myers, J. R. Doyle, G. J. Feng, N. Maley, D. N. Ruzic, and J. R. Abelson, "Energetic Particle Fluxes in Magnetron Sputter Deposition of a-Si:H," J. Non-Crystalline Solids 137/8, (1991): 783-86.
G. Feng, M. Katiyar, J. R. Abelson, and N. Maley, "Dielectric functions and electronic band states of a-Si and a-Si:H," Phys. Rev. B45, no. 16, (1992): 9103-07.
J. R. Abelson, "Plasma Deposition of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon: Studies of the Growth Surface," Applied Physics A56, (1993): 493-512. Invited review article.
A. Nuruddin, J. R. Doyle and J. R. Abelson, "Macro-Trench Studies of Step Coverage in a-Si:H Film Growth," J. Appl. Phys. 76, no. 5, (1994): 3123-29.
J. R. Abelson, L. Mandrell and J. R. Doyle, "Hydrogen Release Kinetics from the a-Si:H Surface During Reactive Magnetron Sputter Deposition: an Isotope Labelling Study," J. Appl. Phys. 76, no. 3, (1994): 1856-70.
I. Petrov, A. Myers, J. E. Greene and J. R. Abelson, "Mass and Energy Resolved Detection of Ions and Neutral Species Incident at the Substrate During Reactive Magnetron Sputtering of Ti in Mixed Ar + N2 Mixtures," J. Vac. Sci. Tech. A12, no. 5, (1994): 2846-54.
Y. H. Liang, N. Maley and J. R. Abelson, "Improved Stability of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Films Grown by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering at High Substrate Temperature," J. Appl. Phys. 75, no. 7, (1994): 3704-06.
D. G. Cahill, M. Katiyar and J. R. Abelson, "Thermal Conductivity of a-Si:H Thin Films," Phys. Rev. B50, no. 9, (1994): 6077-81.
Y. H. Yang, M. Katiyar, N. Maley, and J. R. Abelson, "Sub-surface a-Si:H to µc-Si:H Transformation During Magnetron Sputter Deposition Determined by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry," Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, no. 14, (1994): 1769-71.
M. Katiyar and J.R. Abelson, "Methods to Enhance Absorption Signals in IR Reflectance Spectroscopy: A Comparison of Methods," J. Vac. Sci. Tech. A13, no. 4, (1995): 2005-12.
M. Katiyar, Y. H. Yang, and J.R. Abelson, "Hydrogen Surface Reactions During a-Si:H Growth by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering: a Real-Time Kinetic Study by In-situ IR Absorption," J. Appl. Phys. 77, no. 12, (1995): 6247-56.
Y. H. Yang and J. R. Abelson, "Spectroscopic Ellipsometry of Thin Films on Transparent Substrates: A Formalism for Data Interpretation," J. Vac. Sci. Tech. A13, no. 3, (1995): 1145-49.
Y. H. Yang and J. R. Abelson, "Deposition of px-Si at 470¡C by Magnetron Sputtering onto a µc-hydrogenated Silicon Seed Layer," Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, no. 24, (1995): 3623-25.
A. von Keudell and J. R. Abelson, "Evidence for Atomic Hydrogen Insertion into Strained Si-Si Bonds in the a-Si:H Sub-surface From in-situ IR Spectroscopy," Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, no. 26, (1997): 3832-33.
A. Nuruddin and J. R. Abelson, "Does a Dipole Layer at the p-i Interface Reduce the Built-in Voltage of Amorphous Silicon p-i-n Solar Cells?" Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, no. 19, (1997): 2797-99.
C. S. McCormick, C. E. Weber, J. R. Abelson, and S. M. Gates, "An Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Transistor Fabricated at 125¡C by DC Reactive Magnetron Sputtering," Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, no. 2, (1997): 226-27.
A. von Keudell and J. R. Abelson, "The Interaction of Atomic Hydrogen with Very Thin Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Films Analyzed Using in situ Real Time Infrared Spectroscopy: Reaction Rates and the Formation of Hydrogen Platelets," J. Appl. Phys. 84, no. 1, (1998): 489.
C. Weber and J. R. Abelson, "Amorphous Silicon Buried Channel Thin Film Transistors," IEEE Trans. on Electron Devices 45, no. 2, (1998): 447-52.
A. von Keudell and J. R. Abelson, "Direct Insertion of SiH3 Radicals into Strained Si-Si Surface Bonds During Plasma Deposition of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Films," Phys. Rev. B59, no. 8, (1998): 5791-8.
J. M. Gibson, M. M. J. Treacy, P. M. Voyles, H.-C. Jin and J. R. Abelson, "Structural Disorder Induced in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon by Light-Soaking," Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, no. 21, (1998): 3093-5.
D. Kwon, H. Lee, J. D. Cohen, H. C. Jin, and J. R. Abelson, "Optical Spectra of Crystalline Silicon Particles Embedded in an Amorphous Silicon Matrix," J. Non-Cryst. Solids (1998): 227-230, 1040-44 .
Y. Lubianiker, J. D. Cohen, H.-C. Jin and J. R. Abelson, "The Effect of Embedded Microcrystallites on the Light-Induced Degradation of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon," Phys. Rev. B60, no. 7, (1999): 4434 .
D. Kwon, C.-C. Chen, J. D. Cohen, H.-C. Jin, E. Hollar, I. K. Robertson, and J. R. Abelson, "Electronic Transitions Associated with Small Crystalline Silicon Inclusions within an Amorphous Silicon Host," Phys. Rev. B60, no. 7, (1999): 4442.
K.-M. Yu, W. Walukiewicz, S. Muto. H.-C. Jin and J. R. Abelson, "The Effects of X-ray Induced Structural Changes on the Microstructure of a-Si After Thermal Crystallization," Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, no. 14, (1999): 2032.
J. E. Gerbi and J. R. Abelson, "The Deposition of Microcrystalline Silicon: Direct Evidence for Hydrogen-Induced Surface Mobility of Si Adspecies," J. Appl. Phys. 89, no. 2, (2000): 1463.
M. K. Erhardt, H.-C. Jin, J. R. Abelson, and R. G. Nuzzo, "Low Temperature Fabrication of Si Thin Film Transistor Microstructures by Soft Lithographic Patterning on Curved and Planar Substrates," Chemistry of Materials 12, no. 11, (2000): 3306-15.
A. Nuruddin and J. R. Abelson, "Improved Transparent Conductive Oxide / p+ / i Junction in Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells by Tailored Hydrogen Flux During Growth," Thin Solid Films 394, no. 1-2, (2001): 48-62.
P. M. Voyles, J. E. Gerbi, M. M. J. Treacy, J. M. Gibson and J. R. Abelson, "Absence of an Abrupt Phase Change in Silicon with Deposition Temperature," Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, no. 24, (2001): 5514-17.
M. Katiyar and J. R. Abelson, "Investigation of Hydrogen Plasma Induced Phase Transition From a-Si:H to µc-Si:H Using Real Time Infrared Spectroscopy," Mat. Sci. & Eng. A (2001): 304-306, 349-52 .
J. E. Gerbi, P. M. Voyles, M. M. J. Treacy, J. M. Gibson, W. Chen, B. J. Heuser, and J. R. Abelson, "Control of Medium Range Order in Amorphous Silicon via Ion and Neutral Bombardment During Growth," MRS Proc. (2001): 664, A27.3.1.
J. H. Sung, D. M. Goedde, G. S. Girolami, and J. R. Abelson, "Remote Plasma CVD of Conformal ZrB2 Films at Low Temperature: A Promising Diffusion Barrier for ULSI Electronics," J. Appl. Phys. 91, no. 6, (2002): 3904.
P. M. Voyles and J. R. Abelson, "Medium-Range Order in Amorphous Silicon Measured by Fluctuation Electron Microscopy," Solar Energy Materials (2003). Invited review article.
H.-C. Jin, J. R. Abelson, M. K. Erhardt, and R. G. Nuzzo, "Fabrication of a-Si:H Photoconductive Image Sensor Arrays on Curved Substrates Using Soft Lithography," J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B 22:5, (2004): 2548-2551 .
S. V. Khare, S. M. Nakhmanson, P. M. Voyles, P. Keblinski and J. R. Abelson, "Evidence from atomistic simulations of fluctuation electron microscopy for preferred local orientations in amorphous silicon," Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, (2004): 745.
B. A. Sperling and J. R. Abelson, "Simultaneous short-range smoothening and global roughening during growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films," Appl. Phys. Lett. 85:16, (2004): 3456-3458.
B. A. Sperling and J. R. Abelson, "Comment on "Formation of nanocrystallites governed by the initial stress in the ultrathin hydrogenated amorphous silicon films" [J. Appl. Phys. 90, (2001): 1067] Journal of Applied Physics, 95, no. 5, (2004): 2936.
- University of Linkoping, Sweden, external Examiner, "Fakultetsopponent" (1995)
- IBM University Partnership Award (1995-1997)
- Xerox Senior Faculty Award, UIUC (1996)
- Incomplete list of teachers ranked as excellent, UIUC (1993, 1997)
- Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising, UIUC (1997)
- Incomplete list of teachers ranked as excellent, UIUC (2000)
- Fellow, American Vacuum Society (2004)
