James J. Watkins
Professor, Dept. of Polymer Science and Engineering
Co-Director, MassNanoTech Institute
A616 Conte, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9292
(413) 545-2569
watkins@polysci.umass.edu
http://www.pse.umass.edu/~jwatkins/
Templating and Deposition Techniques for Nanostructured Materials
We have developed novel templating and deposition techniques for the fabrication of nanostructures in supercritical fluids (SCFs). Examples include reactive depostions of metals that afford exceptional purity and step coverage in topologically complex features. Cu deposition for interconnect stuctures in advanced ICs is one application. Other examples include the fabrication of robust and uniform mesoporous metal oxide films with excpetional control over pore order and orientation. These materials are prepared by the replication of pre-organized block copolymer templates. The key features of SCFs are the strong temperature and pressure dependences of their physicochemical properties (density, dielectric constant, viscosity) and the environmentally benign characteristics of solvents.
| Research Interest | Potential Application |
|---|---|
| Fabrication of mesoporous metal oxide films with exceptional control over pore structure, order and orientation using block copolymer templates | Ultra-low dielectric constant thin films, bioseparations, catalysis, sensors |
| Reactive deposition of metals and alloys from supercritical carbon dioxide | Microelectronics including interconnect structures, gates, memory and storage devices, catalysis, and sensors |
| Chemical modification and processing of block copolymers in compressed fluids; polymer physics in these environments | Nanostructured materials, photonics, lithography and templates for materials fabrication |
| Processing using supercritical fluids including carbon dioxide | Polymer processing, catalysis, environmentally benign processing |
Honors and Awards
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 1998
- Unilever Award, POLY, PMSE and POLYED Divisions, American Chemical Society, 1998
- College of Engineering and Joint Student Engineering Societies Outstanding Advisor Service Award, 1998
- David and Lucille Packard Fellow in Science and Engineering, 1998
- University Exploratory Research Award, Procter and Gamble Company, 1997
- Arthur K. Doolittle Award, Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering, American Chemical Society, 1996
Publications
- Pai, R. A.; Humayun, R.; Schulberg, M. T.; Sengupta, A.; Watkins, J. J. “Preparation of Mesoporous Materials by 3-D Replication of Block Copolymer Templates in Supercritical Fluids” Science, 2004, 303, 507.
- Blackburn, J. M.; Long, D. L.: Cabanas, A; Watkins, J. J. “Deposition of Conformal Copper and Nickel Films from Supercritical Carbon Dioxide” Science, 2001, 294, 141.
- Cabanas, A.; Long D. P.; Watkins, J. J. “Deposition of Gold Films and Nanostructures from Supercritical Carbon Dioxide” Chemistry of Materials, 2004, 16, 2028.
- Vogt, B. D.; RamachandraRaoV. S.; Gupta, R. R.; Lavery, K. A.; Francis, T. J.; Russell, T. P.; Watkins, J. J. “Phase Behavior of Polystyrene-block-Poly(n-Alkyl Methacrylate)s Dilated with Carbon Dioxide” Macromolecules, 2003, 36, 4029.
- Gupta, R. R.; RamachandraRao, V. S.; Watkins, J. J. “Measurement of Probe Diffusion in CO2-Swollen Polystyrene Using in situ Fluorescence Nonradiative Energy Transfer” Macromolecules, 2003, 36, 1295.
