| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M71039/01 |
| Title: |
AUTOMATED OPTIMISATION AND CONTROL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PLASMA PROCESSES |
| Principal Investigator: |
Hopgood, Professor AA |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Materials Engineering |
| Organisation: |
Open University |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 January 2000 |
Ends: |
30 June 2003 |
Value (£): |
155,641
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Intelligent Measurement Sys. |
Plasmas - Technological |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Manufacturing |
Electronics |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The efficiency and effectiveness of plasma deposition and etching processes would benefit from improved control over the physical and chemical interactions throughout the plasma. In a previous EPSRC-funded collaboration between the applicant, GR/J32213, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been used to control plasma deposition processes. Our system can control plasma deposition processes using previously known conditions. It is now proposed that an extended system can be built that can explore the parameter space to find improved operating conditions. The proposed system can therefore 'design' the fluxes of species towards surfaces to match the particular process requirements. Alternative search strategies will be assessed, including contour following, gradient descent, simulated annealing, and genetic algorithms. The development of our AI controller will enable operation in regions of the parameter space that would otherwise be unfeasible owing to the close control that is needed. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing software to seek and exploit 'knife-edge' conditions between deposition and etching. The combination of etching and deposition allows the creation of surface profiles with sub- mm features.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.open.ac.uk |