Diagnostics of cold and highly reactive plasmas applied to complex materials and nanomaterials processing

自2008年以来，我一直在蒙塔姆大学领导一个雄心勃勃的研究项目，研究复杂薄膜和纳米材料加工中等离子体表面相互作用的物理学。在此背景下，重要的研究工作致力于发展等离子体源、等离子体诊断和原位表面表征工具，以监测带电和活性中性物质的数量密度和能量分布，以及驱动它们与等离子体暴露的底物和腔室壁相互作用的反应动力学。******近年来，该项目在研究成果和HQP培训方面都取得了极大的成功。更具体地说，我们的研究在与电子和光子学相关的多组分氧化薄膜的等离子体沉积和等离子体刻蚀动力学以及与带电和激发中性物质表征的碰撞辐射模型相结合的新光谱诊断方法的发展方面取得了重大进展。这包括存在无碰撞电子加热的低压微波等离子体，具有纳米颗粒形成和损失动力学循环变化的低压尘埃等离子体，以及由低电场和高频电场产生的非热大气压等离子体。研究人员还探索了对加拿大具有强大技术影响的新应用，包括在大气压下使用冷介质阻挡放电（DBDs）实现木材产品价值最大化，以及在减压下使用微波等离子体的流动余辉等离子体诱导石墨烯薄膜掺杂。******在接下来的五年里，我打算继续研究低温和高反应性等离子体源，并探索将等离子体物理和化学与纳米科学和纳米技术相结合的复杂材料加工的新应用领域。这项研究的影响预计将极大地扩展，因为加拿大设立了一个新的研究主席，研究低温和高活性等离子体的物理和应用，并完成了由CFI授予的3个基础设施项目。通过这些资助获得的一些基于等离子体的仪器在世界上是独一无二的，因此允许前所未有的实验能力来开发和实施基于冷和高反应性等离子体的创新工艺。这项提议的主要成果是产生了关于前沿材料加工方法的新知识。这项研究显然具有竞争优势，但在促进在对加拿大经济具有战略重要性的领域开发新应用方面具有强大的潜力。另一个成果是培训了大量具有与加拿大高科技部门直接相关的多学科技能的顶级HQP。

Since 2008, I have been leading at U. Montréal an ambitious research program on the physics of plasma-surface interactions in complex thin films and nanomaterials processing. In this context, important research efforts are devoted to the development of plasma sources, plasma diagnostics, and in-situ surface characterization tools to monitor the number density and energy distribution of charged and reactive neutral species as well as the reaction kinetics driving their interactions with plasma-exposed substrates and chamber walls.******In recent years, this program has been extremely successful in terms of both research accomplishments and HQP training. More specifically, our research has provided significant advances on many aspects related to the plasma deposition and plasma etching dynamics of multi-component oxide thin films relevant for electronics and photonics as well as in the development of new optical spectroscopic diagnostic methods coupled with collisional-radiative models for the characterization of charged and excited neutral species. This includes low-pressure microwave plasmas in presence of collisionless electron heating, low-pressure dusty plasmas with cyclic variations of the nanoparticle formation and loss dynamics, but also non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure plasmas produced by both low- and high-frequency electric fields. Novel applications with very strong technological impact for Canada have also been explored, including the value maximization of wood-based products using cold, dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) at atmospheric pressure and the plasma-induced doping of graphene films using the flowing afterglow of microwave plasmas at reduced pressure. ******Over the next five years, I intend to pursue my investigations of cold and highly reactive plasma sources and to explore new fields of applications in complex materials processing that combine plasma physics and chemistry with nanoscience and nanotechnologies. The impact of this research is expected to be tremendously extended with the set-up of a new Canada research chair on the physics and applications of cold and highly reactive plasmas and the completion of 3 infrastructure projects awarded by CFI. Some of the plasma-based instruments acquired through these grants are unique in the world, and thus allow unprecedented experimental capabilities to develop and implement innovative processes based on cold and highly reactive plasmas. The main outcome of this proposal is the generation of new knowledge on front-edge materials processing methods. The research is obviously precompetitive, but has a strong potential to contribute to the development of new applications in fields of strategic importance for the Canadian economy. Another outcome is the training of a significant amount of top-level HQP with multidisciplinary skills that are directly relevant to Canada's high-techology sectors.