Oxygen plasmas: a sharp chisel and handy trowel for nanofabrication

Abstract

Although extremely chemically reactive, oxygen plasmas feature certain properties that make them attractive not only for material removal via etching and sputtering, but also for driving and sustaining nucleation and growth of various nanostructures in plasma bulk and on plasma-exposed surfaces. In this minireview, a number of representative examples is used to demonstrate key mechanisms and unique capabilities of oxygen plasmas and how these can be used in present-day nano-fabrication. In addition to modification and functionalisation processes typical for oxygen plasmas, their ability to catalyse the growth of complex nanoarchitectures is emphasized. Two types of technologies based on oxygen plasmas, namely surface treatment without a change in the size and shape of surface features, as well as direct growth of oxide structures, are used to better illustrate the capabilities of oxygen plasmas as a powerful process environment. Future applications and possible challenges for the use of oxygen plasmas in nanofabrication are discussed.

Permanently hydrophilic, piezoelectric PVDF nanofibrous scaffolds promoting unaided electromechanical stimulation on osteoblasts

“…14 Modification solely with plasma is another effective method for altering the surface properties of polymers that has been widely utilized in numerous studies and applications, but it has not yet been applied to PVDF porous scaffolds for their use in tissue engineering. [15][16][17][18][19] Plasma is considered as one of the best tools to modify polymeric surfaces homogeneously, and with no need for further specialized equipment or additional steps, along with the versatility of the effects that different plasmas have on polymeric surfaces in terms of chemistry and topography. Aiming at improving surface wettability of piezoelectric PVDF scaffolds and ultimately achieving enhanced lifetime, we herein effectively employed this surface modification strategy in our scaffolds.…”

Plasma treatments and photonic nanostructures for shallow nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond

“…3(b) and 3(c), we analyze the concentration of ionized oxygen O + 2 . In a biased O 2 plasma, O + 2 is the main etching species as the charged ions are effectively accelerated towards the SCD sample and will induce physical etching [30,31]. We find a 50 times higher concentration of O + 2 in the 435 V-bias O 2 plasma compared to the 0 V-bias O 2 plasma (see Fig.…”

3D‐Printed Multilayered Reinforced Material System for Gas Supply in CubeSats and Small Satellites

“…[38][39][40] If the proposed materials for the tank and the capillary tube are to be used, the xenon propellant feed system can be built to accommodate 100 g of fuel at 100 bar for a specific mission.…”

“…Considering the aforementioned results and if this design is proved to work, this will be the first 1U independent xenon feed system for electric propulsion modules and can be attached to a satellite to accomplish various missions, such as orbit keeping or even orbit transfer. This will help in reducing the cost of building big size satellites, and it will also help in reducing the cost of future space exploration missions by integrating novel materials into space technology …”