News

Welcome Khanh Nguyen, who has joined ALD Research Group as a (very first) bachelor student!

Nguyen was a former student of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, specialized in Physics. He won a Bronze Medal in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Second Prize in the National Excellent Student Contest on Physics, both in 2019. With these honorable achievements, he obtained a direct enrollment to Phenikaa University, where he is following the Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology program of the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering. Since November 2021, he joins ALD Research Group, where he is currently working on programming and developing models for optical analysis of thin films using spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectometry techniques.

Welcome Kim Hue, who has joined ALD Research Group as a research assistant & master student!

Hue obtained her BSc degree in Chemical Engineering and Technology at the University of Science, Vietnam National University with highest honors in 2021 (rank 1/60). During her undergraduate studies, she worked on increasing photocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitrides by coupling metal-oxides for degradation of antibiotics pollutants in aqueous environment and reduction of CO2 in gas phase. From November 2021, she studies MSc in Material Science and works as a research assistant in the ALD Research Group at Phenikaa University.

Welcome Thien Thanh, who has joined ALD Research Group as a research assistant & master student!

Thanh obtained a BSc degree in Theoretical Physics at Hanoi National University of Education in 2020. He achieved 3rd prize for student scientific research at the Faculty of Physics in 2020. His work resulted in a paper published in the science magazine HNUE (Volume 65, Issue 3, 2020). After graduation, He taught Physics in English and supported students studying A-level Physics course. From Oct. 2021, he pursues master’s degree in Materials Science and Nanotechnology and works as a research assistant in the ALD Research Group at Phenikaa University.

Welcome Thanh Huong, who has joined ALD Research Group as a research assistant!

Thanh Huong earned her BSc degree with first-class honors in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University in 2016. After her graduation, she worked for Samsung Display Vietnam for 2.5 years. Then, she relocated to Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea, where she studied MSc in Science Engineering and received the degree in August 2021. During her MSc study, she experienced electronic device fabrication and application in memories, transistors, diodes, and photodiodes using 2D-3D materials. Since September 2021, she works as a research assistant in the ALD Research Group at Phenikaa University. Her current research involves fabrication of advanced nanostructured materials for energy and environmental applications.

Welcome My Hang, who has joined ALD Research Group as a research assistant!

Hang finished her BSc and Master degrees in Environmental Engineering at University of Science, Vietnam National University in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Her previous research activities were on enhancing photocatalytic activity of different metal oxides including CuWO4, TiO2 for degradation of antibiotics pollutants in aqueous environment or textle wastewater treatment. Since March 2021, she works as a research assistant in the ALD research group at Phenikaa University. Her current research focuses on studying Sn- and Cu-based sulfides and oxides by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) and Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (SALD) for renewable energy-related applications.

Our paper has been accepted for publication in Advanced Materials Technologies

This work shows that Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (SALD) indeed represents an ideal platform for area-selective deposition of functional materials by proper design and miniaturization of close-proximity SALD heads. In particular, the potential offered by 3D printing is used to fabricate low-cost customized close-proximity heads, which can be easily designed and modified to obtain different deposition areas, free-form patterns, and even complex multimaterial structures. We also demonstrated that by designing a miniaturized head with circular concentric gas channels, 3D printing of functional materials can be performed with nanometric resolution in Z. This constitutes a new gas-phase 3D printing approach. Because the process is based on ALD reactions, conformal and continuous thin films of functional materials can be printed at low temperatures and with high deposition rate in the open air. Our approach represents a new versatile way of printing functional materials and devices with spatial and topological control, thus extending the potential of SALD and ALD in general, and opening a new avenue in the field of area-selective deposition of functional materials. This paper is the fruit of a great collaboration with LMGP team in Grenoble, France.

Our paper has been accepted for publication in Chemical Engineering Journal (IF > 13).

Here, we present a study on how to control the precursor exposure, a critical parameter in Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (SALD), for the deposition of ZnO films using a close-proximity, open-air SALD approach. A simple physical model supported by Comsol Multiphysics simulations has been developed to study the effect of the substrate velocity as well as the precursor concentration in the carrier gas on film growth rate. We found that the precursor entrainment by the moving substrate induces an asymmetric precursor concentration profile that remarkably affects the obtained growth per cycle (GPC). Also, we show that the mass density and structural properties of the deposited films closely depend on the film growth rate. For instance, fast growth does not always produce dense films. Indeed, a compromise between the growth rate and the precursor consumption should be considered to obtain both good process efficiency and high-quality films. Our findings are particularly relevant for using SALD in large-scale coating applications, in which high deposition rate and good coating density should be obtained with a minimal ALD precursor consumption.

Dr. Thuy Huong Ta joins ALD Research Group as a postdoctoral researcher!

ALD Research Group warmly welcome a new member: Dr. Thuy Huong Ta!

Thuy Huong finished her BSc degree in Engineering Physics at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in 2013. From 2014 – 2015, she joined Kasai Research Group as an exchange student at Osaka University, Japan. Huong obtained her MSc degree in Engineering Physics at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in 2016. From 2016 to 2020, she was a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Anh Kiet Tieu at School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia, and obtained her PhD degree in Materials in 2020. Since September 2020, she works as a postdoctoral researcher in the ALD research group at Phenikaa University. 

Our paper has been accepted for publication in Applied Surface Science (IF > 6).

We employed atomic layer deposition (ALD) to deposit ultrathin SiO2 layers on P25 TiO2 nanoparticles to fabricate TiO2/SiO2 core/shell nanostructures. The ALD process carried out in a fluidized bed reactor working at atmospheric pressure using TiCl4 and H2O as precursors, enabling the deposition of SiO2 at 100 °C with the ability to control the thickness at the sub-nanometer level. By controlling the thickness of the SiO2 in a very narrow range, i.e., below 2 nm, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 can be tuned. In particular, an enhancement was obtained for the SiO2 layers with a thickness of below 1.4 nm, in which the layer with a thickness of about 0.7 nm exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity; for the layers thicker than 1.4 nm, the photocatalytic activity was strongly suppressed. The photocatalytic activity enhancement and the degradation mechanism of RhB by the TiO2 /SiO2 photocatalysts were investigated by combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and the aid of charge carrier and radical scavengers. Our findings have revealed an improvement of photogenerated charge separation due to the SiO2 coating and the dominating role of hydroxyl radicals in the degradation of RhB. 

Breaking news: our paper has been accepted for publication in Chemistry of Materials (IF > 10).

In this work, we present a low-temperature, open-air process based on spatial atomic layer deposition (SALD) that yields high purity SiO2 films at temperatures down to room temperature. The films were obtained by operating our SALD system in CVD mode (i.e. allowing precursor crosstalk), using an oxygen plasma in combination with Trivinylmethoxysilane. 3D printing was employed to fabricate custom heads integrating both the precursor injector and the atmospheric plasma generator. Our results show that conformal, pinhole-free SiO2 thin films can be deposited by our atmospheric plasma-enhanced spatial chemical vapor deposition (APE-SCVD) approach at low temperatures (RT – 180 °C) on different substrates, including silicon wafers, micro-glass slides, or even on polymeric substrates with a high growth rate up to 2 – 5 nm/min. Even though the deposition of SiO2 was carried out at low temperatures in the open air using a metalorganic precursor, no contamination from SiNx or SiCx, was observed by FTIR and XPS measurements. Our results open the door to the low-temperature, fast printing of Si-based devices. This work was done in collaboration with Dr. David Muñoz-Rojas in LMGP, University Grenoble Alpes, France.

Our new paper has been accepted for publication in Chemical Communications (IF > 6).

In this work, omnidirectional Au nanoparticle-embedded ZnO/CdS core/shell heterostructures were fabricated on ITO substrates for photoelectrochemical water-splitting photoelectrodes by combining electrospinning, hydrothermal treatment, photoreduction and chemical bath deposition. The obtained omnidirectional heterostructures harvested solar light efficiently, provided good electrical conductivity, and enhanced the charge transfer between CdS and ZnO that eventually enhanced photoconversion efficiency. 

On the 19th September 2019, ALD Research Group was officially founded!

On the photo from the left to the right, Dr. Vu Van Truong, Dr. Dang The Hung, Dr. Bui Van Hao, Dr. Vu Ngoc Hai and Dr. Dao Van Duong, the leaders of potential research groups receive Establishment Decision from President of Phenikaa University, Prof. Dr. Pham Thanh Huy. 

The 2019 Best Thesis Prize of French Chemical Society (the solid state chemistry division ) has been awarded to Viet Huong Nguyen.

His PhD was performed in the laboratory LMGP, and CEA-INES, France on the development of transparent electrodes by vacuum-free and low-cost deposition methods for photovoltaic applications. The thesis manuscript is available online from here.

Congratulations, Dr. Viet Huong Nguyen!