About

Raymond A. Adomaitis is a Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, with a joint appointment at the Institute for Systems Research. He holds a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. After completing his doctoral studies, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University focusing on computational nonlinear dynamics, and subsequently joined the ISR at the University of Maryland as a postdoctoral fellow. His research interests focus on the simulation and design of thin-film manufacturing processes, with applications in microelectronics, alternative energy, nanomanufacturing, and spacecraft systems. Most of his current efforts are directed toward developing physically based models of atomic layer deposition surface reaction kinetics to provide simulation tools for the scale-up and optimization of these manufacturing processes. He is affiliated with the Maryland NanoCenter and the University of Maryland Energy Research Center (UMERC). Adomaitis is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and has received numerous awards including the NSF Young Faculty Award, the University of Maryland Teacher of the Year, and the ISR Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award. His teaching activities include undergraduate and graduate courses in solar energy, chemical engineering computations, and process design.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence
• Political Science
• Materials science
• Process engineering
• Thermodynamics
• Nanotechnology
• Engineering ethics
• Chemical engineering
• Geology
• Chemistry
• Law
• Physics
• Physical chemistry
• Automotive engineering
• Electrical engineering

Selected publications

• Regression analysis of temperature-dependent alumina atomic layer deposition growth per cycle using trimethylaluminum and water as precursors

  Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A Vacuum Surfaces and Films · 2025-10-09

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Temperature-dependent alumina atomic layer deposition (ALD) growth per cycle (GPC) data were collected from studies of the trimethylaluminum (TMA)/water ALD process. The data were used in three regression approaches based on fitting the data to globally defined polynomials in temperature T, and two linear piecewise-continuous representations of the fitted data, each patterned after the hypothesized existence of an ALD window exhibiting constant or linear GPC(T) dependence. All three regression approaches identified a low-T region characterized by rising GPC with T, reaching a maximum of approximately 1.1 Å cycle−1 slightly below 200 °C, followed by a slower decline in GPC with T after this point. The results indicate that a temperature-independent ALD window for the TMA/water system may be relatively small (with lower and upper limits of 177 and 208 °C, respectively), if it exists at all.

  PublisherDOI

• Scale Up Analysis of a Plasmon-Enhanced Ethylene Oxide Production Process

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Scale up analysis of a plasmon-enhanced ethylene oxide production process

  Computers & Chemical Engineering · 2024-09-20 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Optimal design of a coupled photovoltaic–electrolysis-battery system for hydrogen generation

  Sustainable Energy & Fuels · 2023 · 6 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Process engineering

  A computational algorithm to model a coupled solar-hydrogen system is presented. The results demonstrated that optimizing the system's cost and hydrogen production rate implicitly ensures the levelized cost of energy is minimized.

  PublisherDOI

• Reaction Network Analysis for Atomic Layer Deposition Processes

  Bulletin of the American Physical Society · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Chemical engineering
  • Nanotechnology
  Publisher

• PROJECT: 2020 Solar Decathlon Middle East, reACT reGENERATED: Final Report

  2020-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Team Maryland was invited to the 2020 Solar Decathlon Middle East for the purpose and intention of bringing US representation to this particular International Solar Decathlon competition. The reACT faculty leaders and their deans, were committed to seizing this opportunity to advance sd2017 reACT to adapt to the Middle Eastern climate and cultural context, which would underscore the versatility of the foundational sustainability standards and principles it was built on. Efforts were well underway, and, while we were greatly saddened by the request to withdraw from the competition itself, we were pleased that the University encouraged us to continue forward with reconstructing reACT and convert it to the University’s first real Sustainability Laboratory and Living Building.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Perspective and update from the National Science Foundation

  APS Annual Gaseous Electronics Meeting Abstracts · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Computer Science
  • Engineering ethics
  Publisher

• Application and Development of Atomic Layer Deposition Techniques to Improve Thermo-Optical Coatings for Spacecraft Thermal Control and Advanced Optical Instruments

  ThinkTech (Texas Tech University) · 2019-07-07

  articleOpen access

  Vivek Dwivedi, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA

  Publisher

• Applications of Atomic Layer Deposition in the Modification of Carbon Nanotubes

  Carbon · 2019-07-15

  article

  Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a cost-effective nanoadditive-manufacturing technique that allows for conformal coating of substrates with atomic control in a benign temperature and pressure environment. Using paired precursor gases, thin films can be deposited on flat or textured surfaces ranging from glass, polymers, aerogels, and metals. Through atomic layer control, where single layers of atoms are deposited, fabrication of metal transparent films, nano-laminates, and coatings of nano-channels and pores is achievable. Reaction mechanisms in ALD are normally self-limiting, allowing for atomically accurate control of nanometer (nm) thicknesses. Therefore, high uniformity and precise thickness control make ALD an attractive process for the creation of novel nano-scale devices. Decreases in resistivity and density of electrical wire are needed to improve the function of electronics, electric motors and cables. Such improvements may be accomplished by adding ballistically conducting, metallic carbon nanotubes (CNT) to Cu. ALD was used to coat multiple substrates including CNT with Cu in an effort to make CNT-Cu composites which is more conductive and less dense than Cu. In addition, ALD can be used to as a method to deposit the catalyst layer seed layer for CNT growth using Ni. The ALD of copper metallic films can follow multiple reaction pathways depending on the ALD precursors used. For this work the reaction pathway was deposition of copper oxide and then post process annealing in a hydrogen environment. Copper(II) diacetylacetonate (Cu(acac)2) and ozone are used as precursors for copper oxide. As-deposited copper oxide films prepared at 180°C resulted in a growth per cycle of 1.0 A/cycle with low film resistivity.

  Publisher

• Estimating the thermochemical properties of trimethylaluminum for thin-film processing applications

  Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A Vacuum Surfaces and Films · 2018-08-23 · 10 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The published thermochemical property data for vapor- and liquid-phase trimethylaluminum (TMA) monomer and dimer species are reviewed in this letter. A regression scheme is developed to estimate the missing data to produce a complete set of Gibbs-free energy of formation values over temperature ranges relevant to predicting the vapor pressure and degree of TMA dimerization within thin-film deposition gas delivery and reactor systems.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Photoelectrochemical Films for Solar H2 Production: A Combinatorial CVD Approach

  NSF · $325k · 2008–2012

• The Nearest Uniformity Producing Profile (NUPP): A Generalized Optimization Criterion for Thin-Film Processing Applications

  NSF · $307k · 2006–2010

• GOALI: Physically Based Models of Atomic Layer Deposition for High-Throughput Reactor Design

  NSF · $296k · 2012–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Vivek Dwivedi

  Goddard Space Flight Center

  10 shared

• Gary W. Rubloff

  10 shared

• Hossein Salami

  Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States)

  9 shared

• Ioannis G. Kevrekidis

  Johns Hopkins University

  8 shared

• Ali Çınar

  Illinois Institute of Technology

  7 shared

• Yi-Hung Lin

  National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center

  7 shared

• Hsiao-Yung Chang

  University of Maryland, College Park

  6 shared

• Aisha Alobaid

  University of Maryland, College Park

  5 shared

Labs

• Adomaitis LabPI

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2011
• NSF Engineering Education Scholar, 1995
• University of Maryland Teacher of the Year, 1996
• University of Maryland Professor of the Year, 1997
• ISR Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award, 2005