You are invited to the ALD mini symposium, where the latest developments in ALD applications for industry will be presented.
- Date: Thursday March 19, 2026
- Time: 10:15 – 12:00
- Location: Technohal, Auditorium (TL 1.133)
In addition to the mini-symposium on new developments in ALD, there will be group visits in the afternoon. Please join us for informal and free discussions about your work on Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) with our guests and international ALD experts.
Afternoon Group visits/ visitors (session A)
Time: | 13:30 – 15:00 |
Location: | Carré, room CR-2630 |
Local hosts: | Alexey Kovalgin (group IDS), Fred Roozeboom (group IM) |
For whom: | Members of EE and physics-oriented groups, like Integrated Devices and Systems (IDS, prof. J. Schmitz), Nano Electronic Materials (NEM, prof. G. Rijnders), Integrated Optical Systems (IOS, prof. Sonia García), Adaptive Quantum Optics, (AQO, prof. P. Pinkse), Mesoscale Chemical Systems (MCS, prof. H. Gardeniers), Molecules and Materials (MM, prof. J. Huskens), etc. |
Enroll with: | If you want to join this session, please enroll with IDS secretariat: Marthe Kampman: secr-ids-eemcs@utwente.nl |
Afternoon Group visits/ visitors (session B)
Time: | 15:00 – 16:30 |
Location: | Meander, room ME-366 |
Local hosts: | Fred Roozeboom, Louis Winnubst, (both group IM) |
Members of Chemical Engineering-oriented groups, like Inorganic Membranes (IM, prof. A. Nijmeijer), Mesoscale Chemical Systems (MCS prof. H. Gardeniers), Catalytic Processes & Materials (CPM, profs. J. Faria and L. Lefferts), Photo-Catalytic Synthesis (PCS, prof. G. Mul), Sustainable Process Technology (SPT, prof. S. Kersten), Physics of Complex Fluids (PCF, prof. F. Mugele), Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage (prof. M. Huijben), etc. | |
Enroll with: | If you want to join this session, please enroll with IM secretariat: Anne Tiehuis; m.j.tiehuis@utwente.nl |
Area-Selective Deposition Processing for Integrated Circuits and Photonics in the A.I.-Era, and more.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping computation, driving unprecedented demand for specialized chips with higher density, faster interconnects, and energy-efficient architectures. Meeting these requirements pushes relentless miniaturization, 3D integration and photonics in the semiconductor industry. However, the current fabrication processing is causing challenges toward future downscaling, especially for the complex stacking and 3D structures. In this talk, thin-film fabrication will be mainly presented, including selective deposition processes of films with different properties. Area selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) process enabling depositing atoms at specific, desired surface locations. Through embedding selective ALD into patterned substrates, vertical Ångstrom resolution can be achieved as well as lateral resolution. The continuous downscaling of transistors drives the selective deposition of dielectrics and metals for extreme alignment accuracy. Inherent selective deposition methods, which critically depend on initial nucleation control, will be presented. The fundamental mechanism lies in tuning the chemical thermodynamic and kinetic differences, including terraces, step edges, facets of the same material and on different materials by utilizing the differences in local electronegativity, acid-base properties, etc. To enhance the selectivity, various inhibitor-assisted selective deposition methods, e.g. self-assembled monolayers, have been utilized for the alignment of dielectrics on dielectrics. Furthermore, thin films fabricated ranging from metals, oxides to multicomponent composite films with tailored properties are important for enabling diverse technological applications. These bottom-up approaches may provide ultimate solutions to various applications such as logic, memory, optoelectronics, and displays, but also in catalysis and sustainable energy, etc.
Rong Chen
School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, People’s Republic of China. rongchen@mail.hust.edu.cn
Prof. Rong Chen is a full professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) with the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, by courtesy of the China-EU Institute for Clean and Renewable Energy (ICARE) of HUST, and College of Future Technologies. She received her MSc and PhD degrees from Stanford University, BSc from the University of Science and Technology of China. She was a senior research scientist at Intel Labs before she joined HUST. Her research focuses on atomic level manufacturing, by understanding surface science, and applying to a range of problems in semiconductor manufacturing, nanotechnology, and sustainable energy.
Prof. Chen is currently serving as the associate editor of Int. J. Extrem. Manuf., editor of Physica B: condensed matter, editorial board member of Chem. Mater., J. Vac. Sc. Technol. A&B, Nanomanufacturing and Metrology, Moore and More, etc. She has also served as Guest Editor for three journal special issues, Chair or Committee Member for six international conferences, and Reviewer for more than 60 prestigious journals including Nature, Nature Rev. Methods. Prof. Chen is the recipient of several awards, the Tencent Xplorer Award, Science and Technology Award for Chinese Youth, Qiushi Distinguished Young Scholars, Distinguished Young Investigator of China Frontiers of Engineering, as well as IEEE SMC 2020 Distinguished Academic Contribution Award, the special gold prize (with the congratulations of the jury) of Geneva International Inventions, the Simon Karecki Award of Semiconductor Research Association, the Texas Instruments Woman’s Fellowship for Leadership in Microelectronics.
Atomic Control at Commercial Scale: Advancements of ALD in HVM for Compound Semiconductor and Battery Applications
For 50 years, Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has revolutionized a range of applications, from microelectronics to solid state lighting with the power of Ångstrom-level surface control. Key to the adoption of ALD in new markets was the successful transfer of these solutions from small-scale demonstration to processes viable in high-volume manufacturing (HVM) environments. In this talk, two of Forge Nano’s unique scaling methodologies will be discussed using real-world applications and proof points. First, Forge Nano’s novel catalyzed ALD process for semiconductor processing will be introduced, showcasing performance improvements of 25% to photonic integrated circuits through the replacement of PECVD SiN moisture barriers with ALD-grown nanolaminates. Second, enabling factors for production-scale application of powder ALD (PALD) to both the anode and cathode of Li-ion battery powders will be outlined. This development is culminating with the launch of the Forge Battery facility where ALD with >1600 L/day powder throughput is used in the manufacturing flow for 21700 cylindrical cells with industry-leading energy density and capacity.
Matt Weimer
Forge Nano, Thornton, CO 80241, USA; mweimer@forgenano.com
Dr. Matt Weimer uses his synthetic chemistry roots to advance surface engineering and discovery for powder and wafer ALD applications. During his PhD in Chemistry from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a graduate appointment at Argonne National Laboratory, he synthesized novel ALD precursors and pioneered development of in situ XAS to explore surface reaction mechanisms. After a postdoctoral position at ANL in fundamental battery research, he joined Lam Research in New Products Development. Dr. Weimer has led the wafer development team at Forge Nano for the past 5 years, launching the TEPHRA™ product to the More-than-Moore market.
Tyler J. Myers
Forge Nano, Thornton, CO 80241, USA; tmyers@forgenano.com
Dr. Tyler J. Myers earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder, specializing in applications of atomic layer deposition (ALD). During his doctoral work, he paired scientific research with commercialization efforts, advancing early-stage IP in positions at CU Innovations and Intellectual Ventures. Dr. Myers has since held key technical sales and marketing roles at leading ALD equipment companies. He is widely recognized within the ALD community as the former producer of the ALD Stories podcast, launched during his tenure at Beneq Oy. He now serves as Senior Technical Sales Engineer at Forge Nano, where he led marketing efforts for the 2024 debut of the TEPHRA™ ALD cluster platform.
About Forge Nano
Forge Nano is a technology company pioneering battery and semiconductor innovations using its platform technology, Atomic Armor™. Atomic Armor™ is a scalable, adaptable nano-scale coating system that strengthens America’s most critical systems – at the atomic level. The superior surface coatings produced by our Atomic Armor™ process allow our partners to unlock peak performance. Learn more at https://www.forgenano.com.
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