Plasma-Surface Interactions at Low Ion Energies

等离子体是离子、电子和中性分子/原子的气相集合体。当材料表面暴露在等离子体中时，会发生许多复杂的物理和化学作用。特别是，高能离子可以猛烈地移动，电子相互作用，或与表面原子形成化学键。高能气相离子与表面之间化学键(反应)的形成和断裂，人们知之甚少。这项研究致力于加深对这种反应机理的理解，并控制等离子体-表面相互作用的结果。实验结果将促进相关理论的发展和测试，并将反应散射动力学的新知识引入化学课程。这项研究的发现将对表面科学和等离子体处理、表征和处理、涂层或蚀刻固体表面的重要技术产生影响，应用范围从表面功能化到微电子制造和空间探索。这项研究应该产生一种新的范式，根据等离子体中形成的特定离子的反应性和总体散射动力学来选择等离子体化学物质和条件，从而加快并降低许多应用的等离子体工艺的开发成本。

Plasmas are gas-phase assemblies of ions, electrons, and neutral molecules/atoms. When materials surfaces are exposed to plasmas, many complex physical and chemical interactions take place. In particular, energetic ions can dislodge violently, interact electronically, or form chemical bonds with surface atoms. The formation and breakage of chemical bonds (reactions) between energetic gas-phase ions and surfaces are very poorly understood. This research is focused in improving the understanding of such reaction mechanisms and controlling the outcome of plasma-surface interactions. The experimental results will stimulate the development and testing of relevant theories, and introduce new knowledge on reactive scattering dynamics into chemical curricula.Findings from this research should impact surface science and plasma processing, important technologies for characterizing and treating, coating, or etching solid surfaces for applications ranging from surface functionalization, to microelectronics fabrication, and space exploration. The research should lead to a new paradigm for selecting plasma chemistries and conditions, based on the reactivity and overall scattering dynamics of specific ions formed in the plasma, thus speeding up and making less expensive the development of plasma processes for many applications.