"MicroScale - Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas", Dr. R. Mohan Sankaran, Case Western Reserve University

Low-temperature plasmas play an essential role in the manufacturing of integrated circuits which are ubiquitous in modern society. In recent years, these top-down approaches to materials processing have reached a physical limit. As a result, alternative approaches to materials processing are being developed that will allow the fabrication of nanoscale ma- terials from the bottom up. The aim of our research is to develop a new class of plasmas, termed “microplasmas” for nanomaterials synthesis. Microplasmas are a special class of plasmas formed in geometries where at least one dimension is less than 1 mm. Plasma confinement leads to several unique properties including high-pressure stability and non-equilibrium that make microplasams suitable for nanomaterials synthesis. Vapor-phase precursors can be dissociated to homogeneously nucleate nanometer-sized metal and alloyed nanoparticles. Alternatively, metal salts dis- persed in liquids or polymer films can be electrochemically reduced to form metal nanopar- ticles. In this talk, I will discuss these topics in detail, highlighting the advantages of micro- plasma-based systems for the synthesis of well-defined nanomaterials.