Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a materials growth method belonging to the general class of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques. In ALD, utilizing repeated, separate self-terminating gas-solid reactions of compatible compounds [1, 2], thin uniform material layers can be grown on three-dimensional topographies of unprecedented complexity [3]. ALD is has in the past decade been a core enabler of the continuation of Moore’s Law of transistor miniaturization. As a true multi-tool of nanotechnology, interest in ALD keeps on growing to new application areas, which is see in growth of scientific [4] and patent literature and increased participant count and number of conferences organized around the topic worldwide.

This invited contribution deals with the on-going open science effort started in 2013 called “Virtual project on the History of ALD” (VPHA). VPHA aims to clarify the early details of ALD development, especially related to the two independent discoveries of ALD (early names of ALE: “atomic layer epitaxy” and “molecular layering”). VPHA has been fully based on volunteers and has had no dedicated funding. The author has — with help of many collaborators — envisioned and coordinated VPHA much as a free-time “work-hobby”. So far, three scientific articles [5-7] and many conference presentations have been published related to VPHA. Already it is clear that the information found out VPHA has started to influence the ALD community and literature. VPHA has a dedicated website for open information sharing http://vph-ald.com and a related blog http://aldhistory.blogspot.fi (by the author). Introduction and invitation to participate in VPHA can be found from the website and it has also been separately published [8]. The material produced in VPHA serves as solid basis for describing the history of ALD for scientific purposes and hopefully also catalyzes impact beyond the direct scientific field(s) concerned.

In the invited talk, the author will go through learnings from the VPHA. In addition to scientific learnings, learnings will be seen from an organizational viewpoint. VPHA is a unique effort with over 70 volunteered scientist from over 20 countries in four continents. When VPHA started, there were no models on how to coordinate such activity efficiently. The author’s hope is that some of the good practices developed in VPHA could live on in other open science efforts in the future — maybe even in the field of ALD?

At the time of writing this abstract (mid-March, 2018), VPHA is not finished. There is still early ALD literature (especially in Russian, but also in other languages) that needs to be red and commented upon. The author’s aim is further to coordinate the writing of one more article related to VPHA, the final review article (optional Item 10 in the VPHA Publication Plan, accessible via http://vph-ald.com), with a broad alphabetical author list, continuing a step further from Ref. 7. More volunteers are welcome to join and contribute to VPHA.

Cited references:

[1] R. L. Puurunen, Surface chemistry of atomic layer deposition: a case study for the trimethylaluminum/water process, Journal of Applied Physics 97 (2005), Art No. 121301 (52 pages). DOI: 10.1063/1.1940727

[2] S. M. George, Atomic layer deposition: an overview, Chemical Reviews 110 (2010) 111-131. DOI: 10.1021/cr900056b

[3] F. Gao, S. Arpiainen, R. L. Puurunen, Microscopic silicon-based lateral high-aspect-ratio structures for thin film conformality analysis, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A 33 (2015), Art. 010601. DOI: 10.1116/1.4903941

[4] E. Alvaro, A. Yanguas-Gil, Characterizing the field of atomic layer deposition: authors, topics, and collaborations, PLOS One, (2018) Jan 10, 19 pages. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189137

[5] R. L. Puurunen, "A short history of Atomic Layer Deposition: Tuomo Suntola's Atomic Layer Epitaxy", Chemical Vapor Deposition 20 (2014) 332-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cvde.201402012. Open Access.

[6] A. A. Malygin, V. E. Drozd, A. A. Malkov, V. M. Smirnov, "From V. B. Aleskovskii’s "Framework" Hypothesis to the Method of Molecular Layering/Atomic Layer Deposition", Chemical Vapor Deposition 21 (2015) 216-240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cvde.201502013.

[7] E. Ahvenniemi et al. (in total 62 co-authors in alphabetical order; corresponding author: R. L. Puurunen), “Review Article: Recommended reading list of early publications on atomic layer deposition—Outcome of the “Virtual Project on the History of ALD”, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, A 25 (2017) 010801 (13 pages). http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4971389. Open access.

[8] Virtual project on the history of ALD: update and invitation to participate, Dated October 25, 2015 (Puurunen, Koshtyal, Pedersen, Van Ommen, Sundqvist); original introduction and invitation to participate dated July 25, 2013 (Puurunen, Abdulagatov, Sundqvist, Titoff). https://avs.scitation.org/doi/suppl/10.1116/1.4971389