Copper Atomic Layer Deposition In The Garage: The Most Popular ALD YouTube Video With 358.078 views!

Who wondered that one could do ALD in their home?

In this video, Ben Krasnow, a Sênior Hardware Engineer at Google Life Sciences and founder of the Youtube Channel Applied Sciences, teaches us about ALD by using copper metal on glass.  

The precursors ben used were copper(I) chloride and hydrogen, processed in a hot-wall tube quartz tube furnace. Ben continues explaining some previous concepts and techniques, prior to ALD,  for a better general understanding, such as metal evaporation, sputtering, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). 

The basis of his experiment is from an article from 2004, almost 20 years ago, in which Dr. Per Mårtensson and Prof. Jan-Otto Carlsson reported for the first time the deposition of copper using the ALE (atomic layer epitaxy) technique. 

When we say “made at home" it might sound simple, but some gear and ability are necessary to perform the experiment correctly. Vacuum equipment, precursor cylinders, flow controllers, pressure controllers, and careful handling with heat are required.