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Title: Engineering the Mechanical Properties of Ultrabarrier Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition for the Encapsulation of Printed Electronics

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4928855· OSTI ID:1265679
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Direct deposition of barrier films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto printed electronics presents a promising method for packaging devices. Films made by ALD have been shown to possess desired ultrabarrier properties, but face challenges when directly grown onto surfaces with varying composition and topography. Challenges include differing nucleation and growth rates across the surface, stress concentrations from topography and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch, elastic mismatch, and particle contamination that may impact the performance of the ALD barrier. In such cases, a polymer smoothing layer may be needed to coat the surface prior to ALD barrier film deposition. We present the impact of architecture on the performance of aluminum oxide (Al2O3)/hafnium oxide (HfO2) ALD nanolaminate barrier films deposited on fluorinated polymer layer using an optical calcium (Ca) test under damp heat. It is found that with increasing polymer thickness, the barrier films with residual tensile stress are prone to cracking resulting in rapid failure of the Ca sensor at 50{degree sign}C/85% RH. Inserting a SiNx layer with residual compressive stress between the polymer and ALD layers is found to prevent cracking over a range of polymer thicknesses with more than 95% of the Ca sensor remaining after 500 h of testing. These results suggest that controlling mechanical properties and film architecture play an important role in the performance of direct deposited ALD barriers.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; EE0004946
OSTI ID:
1265679
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1229650
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 8; ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 37 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Toward Environmentally Robust Organic Electronics: Approaches and Applications journal September 2017
Waterproof Flexible InP@ZnSeS Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diode journal March 2020
Review of Organic/Inorganic Thin Film Encapsulation by Atomic Layer Deposition for a Flexible OLED Display journal September 2018
Atomic layer deposited Al 2 O 3 capping layer effect on environmentally assisted cracking in SiN x barrier films journal January 2019
Beneficial impact of materials with reduced dimensionality on the stability of perovskite-based photovoltaics journal August 2019
Thin film encapsulation for the organic light-emitting diodes display via atomic layer deposition journal November 2019
Waterproof Flexible InP@ZnSeS Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode text January 2020

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