Plasma Aided Nanotechnology (PlasmaNano)

PlasmaNano research group focuses on plasma based/assisted/enhanced processes for growth, patterning and functionalization of 2D and 3D functional materials and nanostructures.

Depending on generation conditions and gas chemistry, plasmas used for processing are ionized gases including electrons, positive and negative ions, photons, atoms, radicals, molecules and clusters.

This complex environment can be used to: 

1. Dissociate molecules as to promote chemical growth of various nanostructures (nanotubes, nanowalls, nanoflakes, compact or porous thin films); 
2. Promote radical formation that can significantly enhance the etching rate in the presence of energetic ions; 
3. Extract positive or negative ions of various atomic species than by further manipulation can be accelerated to desired energies to induce physical vapor deposition or ion implantation; 
4. Promote atmospheric pressure chemistry that can functionalize surfaces, assist catalytic reactions, assist formation of oxides or nitrides, nucleate nanoparticles, dissociate volatile organic compounds or stimulate biological processes.

Most common cleanroom generic processes involving plasmas are:

• Thin film deposition by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) using magnetron plasma sputtering.
• Growth of thin films and nanostructures by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD).
• Dry/plasma etching patterning by Reactive Ion Etching (RIE).  
• Thin film growth by Plasma Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (PAMBE). 
• Thin film growth by Plasma Assisted Atomic Layer Deposition (PAALD).  
• Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII).

The PlasmaNano group uses the Plasma Lab infrastructure that includes several magnetron plasma sputtering setups (2 inch and 150x200 m² substrates), different types of plasma sources (microwave, inductively and capacitive coupled, dielectric barrier discharges), plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy and plasma diagnostics capabilities such as Langmuir and thermal probes, optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The group is also responsible for research assistance on cleanroom plasma based processes such as PVD, PECVD and PAALD.