REAL-TIME CONTROL OF CURE-ON-THE-FLY (TM) COMPOSITE TAPE LAYING PROCESSES USING FIBER OPTIC FTIR SPECTROSCOPY AND...

FOSTER-MILLER PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL IN SITU FIBER OPTIC FTIR SENSOR TO CONTROL CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION PROCESSES AND PLASMA ETCHING OF SEMICONDUCTORS. THIS NEW PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM WILL BE BASED ON FOSTER-MILLER'S HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL REMOTE FIBER OPTIC FTIR POLYMER REACTION MONITOR. THIS DEVICE WAS DEVELOPED BY FOSTER-MILLER TO MONITOR AND CONTROL POLYMERIC REACTIONS IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS, AND IS A WINNER OF A 1990 R&D 100 AWARD. IN PHASE I, FOSTER-MILLER WILL TEAM WITH SPIRE CORPORATION TO DEMONSTRATE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM. WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THAT THE FIBER OPTIC FTIR DEVICE MEASURE GAS PHASE COMPOSITIONS OF III-V INGAASP PRECURSORS IN REAL-TIME IN ATYPICAL MOCVD REACTOR. WE SHALL RESOLVE KEY ISSUES OF PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION SO THAT THE SYSTEM WILL BE READY FOR IMMEDIATE INTEGRATION INTO AN MOCVD REACTOR. IN CONJUNCTION WITH SPIRE CORPORATION, WE WILLINTEGRATE THE PROCESS MONITOR INTO AN MOCVD SYSTEM IN PHASE II. REPRODUCIBLE GROWTH OF INGAASP EPILAYERS WITH IMPROVED UNIFORMITY IN PHASEII WILL PROVIDE A FIRM BASIS FOR A COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL PHASE III MARKET INTRODUCTION. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PRECISE, REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL OF GAS PHASE REACTANTS IN CVD PROCESS REACTORS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE YIELDAND REPRODUCIBILITY OF CVD AND PLASMA ETCHED SEMICONDUCTORS. THIS WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE COST OF A BROAD VARIETY OF ELECTRONIC AND OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES TO DOD. IT COULD WELL LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT ENHANCEMENT OF THE UNITED STATES' ABILITY TO COMPETE WITH OTHER TECHNICALLY ADVANCED ECONOMIES IN THE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTORS.