I-Corps team: Advanced computational simulation for thin film manufacturing

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

Thin film deposition is a critical manufacturing process for many industries including solar, semiconductor, flat panel display, LED and others. Thin film vapor deposition is accomplished using complex and expensive manufacturing equipment in which thermal and vapor flux uniformity are critical to producing high quality products. To create new or improved designs, thin film manufacturers rely upon inefficient, iterative, trial and error design techniques. This project will develop high fidelity computational simulation tools for the thin-film industry. These advancements will allow manufacturers to design better fabrication equipment and optimize processes with faster design cycles. Outcomes will be the increased performance and reduced cost of thin film products. This project will develop high fidelity computational simulation methods for industrial thin film processes and equipment. The commercialization pathways of these software tools will be developed and potential customers identified and contacted. The predictive simulation methods combine thermal, fluid dynamics, and film growth models into a comprehensive simulation which will be optimized for industrial usage. The scope of this project is to start with manufacturing hardware specifications and processing conditions which will be modeled on a case by case basis. The interactions between manufacturing equipment, processes, and product performance will be developed for the end user. As the project advances, this analysis will be tailored to specific industries by creating unique standalone software applications. These packages would be licensed annually and used by design teams enabling engineers to leverage the significant benefits of high fidelity simulation without requiring the years of specialized training. This project will result in the development of unique simulation capabilities that will benefit the thin film industry.