66th Annual Gaseous Electronics Conference
Volume 58, Number 8
Monday–Friday, September 30–October 4 2013;
Princeton, New Jersey
Session SF1: Plasmas for Nanotechnologies
8:30 AM–10:00 AM,
Friday, October 4, 2013
Room: Ballroom I
Chair: Tomohiro Nozaki, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Abstract ID: BAPS.2013.GEC.SF1.1
Abstract: SF1.00001 : Microplasma synthesis of sub-5 nm metal clusters: A novel platform for study and discovery*
8:30 AM–9:00 AM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
R. Mohan Sankaran
(Case Western Reserve University)
Homogeneous, gas-phase nucleation of particles in reactive plasmas is well
known. Dust formation in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes is
undesired and can lead to deleterious effects on device fabrication and
performance [1]. Recently, plasma systems have been developed to
purposefully synthesize nanoparticles for technological applications [2].
The advantage of plasmas over other chemical methods include the high
purity, uniformity of particle size, and the possibility of accessing unique
chemistries through the non-equilibrium environment.
In this talk, I will present our contribution to this rapidly emerging
field: the development of a new class of atmospheric-pressure,
low-temperature microplasma systems that enables the synthesis of
unagglomerated, sub-5 nm particles in a single step. The synthesis of
clusters in this size range is of current interest for the study and
discovery of novel nanomaterials. To illustrate this point, two examples
will be presented. One, clusters of Ni, Fe, and other metals are produced
from their corresponding organometallic precursors [3]. Alloys with
precisely controlled compositions are also obtained by tuning the relative
amount of the precursors in the plasma phase. The availability of metal
clusters with well-defined size and composition has allowed us to
systematically study carbon nanotube nucleation and growth, and relate the
properties of the catalyst to the as-grown tube diameter and chirality [4].
Two, we have carried out studies of carbon cluster formation and observed
the presence of diamond-phase carbon [5]. The nucleation of diamond at near
ambient conditions supports theoretical predictions of the stability of
sp$^{3}$ diamond over sp$^{2}$ carbon and suggests a
potential route for their existence in the cosmos.\\[4pt]
[1] M. Shiratani et al., Jap. J. Appl. Phys. 30, 1887 (1991).\\[0pt]
[2] U. Kortshagen, J. Phys. D 42, 113001 (2009).\\[0pt]
[3] P. A. Lin, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 10953 (2011).\\[0pt]
[4] W-H. Chiang et al., Nat. Mater. 8, 882 (2009).\\[0pt]
[5] A. Kumar et al., submitted.
*NSF Award No. CBET-0746821 and AFOSR Award No. FA9550-10-1-0160
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2013.GEC.SF1.1