AVS National Online Short Course Program Now Available!

This Spring the AVS National Online Short Course Program is pleased to offer seven (7) AVS Short Courses, March 4-14, 2025, with our qualified instructors for you via the Zoom platform.  Please review the program and register early to secure your space.

General Information -

REGISTRATION OPEN 
 
Cost Per Course:
 
  • AVS Platinum Member
    $350 (1-day course)
     
  • Non-Member
    $400 (1-day course)
     
  • Full-time Student/Requires Student I.D.
    $200 (1-day course)

Platform: Zoom

Course Includes: Link to PDF file of the copyrighted course notes.

IMPORTANT: You must be present the day of the course, recorded versions will not be available.

Course Times:  Courses will either be half day (4 hours/day) with hourly 10 minutes breaks, or full day (7 hours/day) with morning and afternoon breaks, plus a 30-minute lunch break. Refer to course listings below

  • Half Day: 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (ET)
  • Full Day: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (ET)

Times listed are Eastern Time (ET). Check your timezone!

During the online course you may ask questions. Instructors will review and answer them periodically throughout the course. 

NEW! AVS Online Training Sponsorship Opportunities Available

Looking for additional sponsorship opportunities? Want to reach a broader audience? Consider sponsoring an upcoming AVS Short Course Program (public programs only), Webinar, and/or e-Talk? AVS Online Training has sponsorship opportunities available.

Controlling Contamination in Vacuum Systems

Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET
 
Course Objectives
  • Understand the three phases of vacuum chamber contamination: gases, films, and particulates.
  • Learn the origins of vacuum chamber contaminants and methods for controlling or eliminating them.
Read more...

Instructor
Tim Gessert
Principal Scientist and Managing Member
Gessert Consulting, LLC

Introduction to Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET
 
Course Objectives
  • Understand the analytical measurement technique called Spectroscopic Ellipsometry
  • Learn about measuring the thickness and optical functions of very thin films.
  • Understand concept of polarized light and method of describing optical functions.
  • Determine the thickness and optical functions of a very thin film using spectroscopic ellipsometry.
Read more...

Instructor
Ron Synowicki
Applications Engineer
J. A. Woollam Company

UHV Design and Practices

Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET
 
Course Objectives
  • Understand the pump factors that limit ultimate pressure.
  • Know the degassing methods that minimize the total outgassing rate.
  • Learn how to measure total and partial pressures in UHV.
  • Learn the operating methods necessary to maintain UHV.
Read more...

Instructor
Michael Bagge-Hansen
Staff Scientist
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Partial Pressure Analysis with Residual Gas Analyzers

Date:  Friday, March 7, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET
 
Course Objectives
  • Basic operation principles of mass spectrometers for residual gas analysis.
  • How to specify the best RGA system configuration for your application.
  • How to configure RGA software and process control I/O to perform gas analysis and track real-time changes in gas composition. 
  • Routine maintenance, tuning and calibration procedures.
  • Quantitative compositional analysis and process control (actionable information) options.
  • Spectral Interpretation: Quickly and effectively interpret typical RGA spectra. Monitor the quality of your vacuum process. Fingerprint your gas chamber. Chamber matching opportunities.
  • How to differentiate between background and process gases 
  • Typical chemical interactions between RGAs and sampled gases.
Read more...

Instructor
Gerardo Brucker
Chief Scientist and Business Unit Chief Technology Officer for Mass Spectrometry and Indirect Pressure Measurement
MKS Instruments, Inc.

Semiconductor Device Manufacturing Overview

Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET
 
Course Objectives
  • Gain a "big picture" understanding of the steps involved in making and packaging an integrated circuit.
  • Learn the jargon associated with the microelectronics manufacturing industry.
  • Learn the key concepts and process parameters of each process step.
Read more...

Instructor
Bridget Rogers
Associate Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Dept.
Vanderbilt University

NEW! Plasma-enhanced ALD: Basics, Equipment, Applications

Date: Wednesday & Friday, March 12 & 14, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. ET (2 Half Days)
 
Course Objectives
  • Introduce the fundamental principles of plasma-based processing and thin film preparation by (plasma-enhanced) ALD
  • Explore how reactive and energetic species such as radicals, ions, and photons influence the ALD process and affect the properties of the resulting films, including film conformality on 3D surface topologies
  • Offer a comprehensive overview of plasma-enhanced ALD reactor technologies, highlighting critical design features and process variables
  • Examine several plasma-enhanced ALD processes for key material systems
  • Provide insight into current and potential future uses for plasma-enhanced ALD
  • Compare the advantages and disadvantages of plasma-enhanced ALD to traditional thermal ALD
Read more...

Instructor
Erwin Kessels
Professor
Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

Sputter Deposition

Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET
 
Course Objectives
  • Understand the fundamentals of sputter deposition
  • Review and discuss options for sputtering system design
  • Learn how rf sputtering differs from dc sputtering and understand how rf sputtering works
  • Understand reactive sputtering
  • Understand thin film properties are modified by adjusting sputtering parameters
Read more...

Instructor
Angus Rockett
Head of the Dept. of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines; Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois

Other AVS Events

ICMCTF 2025 Short Course Program
Town & Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center
San Diego, CA
May 11-16, 2025

The International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF) will host a series of Short Course Modules following four (4) tracks. The modules will be in two (2) hour increments.
Track 1 (T1) – Plasmas in PVD Deposition
Track 2 (T2) – Growth of Thin Films
Track 3 (T3) – Control of Film Properties
Track 4 (T4) – Toolbox for Coating Research

VIEW SCHEDULE & REGISTER

AVS Courses by Request 
If you are interested in seeing an AVS Short Course offered in 2025 please complete the AVS Courses by Request form. (Recommended for individual training)


AVS Onsite/Online Training
Do your employees need training now? Are budgets tight? Let AVS bring our short courses and qualified instructors to your organization during these tough economic times via Zoom. Please complete the
AVS Onsite/Online Training request form to receive a proposal. (Recommended for group training)

AVS Professional Development Webinar:
From Idea to Entrepreneur: Practical Advice to Build Your Business

Presenters: Craig Hunter, Katy Jinkins, and Tom Kelly
Date: February 13, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ET

REGISTER HERE


AVS Publications Webinar:
Responding to Reviewer Comments

Presenters: Dan Graham, Stephanie Law, Alex Shard, Amy Walker, Joshua Zide
Date: April 24, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ET

REGISTER HERE

Have an Idea for a Webinar or e-Talk?

We welcome suggestions for future Webinars and/or e-Talk topics and speakers.

Please e-mail Webinar suggestions to David Adams, AVS Short Course Chair, david_adams@avs.org.  

Please e-mail e-Talk suggestions to Matthew Jordan, AVS e-Talk Chair, matt_jordan@avs.org.